Russ Steele
The bird flu has recently reappeared in China, Hong Kong Viet Nam and Japan. We learned yesterday at a presentation by Dr. George Rebane, Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation, for local church leaders that flu pandemics comes in waves. It looks like another wave has been launched in Asia.
I was disappointed that so few of the invited church leaders showed up for the briefing yesterday, given the need for public awareness and preparation should we be faced with an H5N1 pandemic in the US, California and Nevada County. Once a pandemic starts it is too late to prepare. The time to prepare in now, yet there does not seem to be much interest in the community. Given the seriousness this issue, I will add a weekly flu pandemic report to NC Media Watch.
We will continue to our weekly global warming updates, but in the scheme of things, being prepared for a large scale emergency is more important than attempting to control global warming. The SESF has prepared a report on the current lack of large-scale emergency planning and public education in Nevada County. This situation is examined from the perspective of a impending 'bird flu' pandemic, the most probable large-scale emergency to impact Nevada County in the near future. You can download a copy on the SESF Reports page. We will add more resources in the coming weeks.
UPDATE: This bird flu update from CNN
"The number of cases in 2006 was more than it was in 2005, which is more than it was in 2004 ... so it continues to go up in people," said John Bartlett, is an infectious disease expert at John Hopkins University.
