I’m not seeing much reporting on what might be one of the most interesting (and alarming) medical stories of the year: scientists have recreated (under tightly controlled conditions) the 1918 Influena virus that killed anywhere from 50 million to 100 million people world wide, depending on who you listen to. The NY Times had this story. The journal Foreign Affairs carried a better article by Michael T. Osterholm , titled "Preparing for the Next Pandemic", which, because it’s meant to be read by people with a higher than 6th grade reading level, has a much more comprehensive view on both that particular strain of flu and the nature of the flu virus in general.
And that is that. The CDC has their general flu web page up, the World Health Organization has theirs as well, but has this page devoted to the Avian Flu too; Science Daily carried this story about the 1918 virus resurrection, but as far as general discussion goes, not a peep. I’m hoping that this is due to my lousy research skills, and not the far more frightening idea that nobody gives half a hump about the topic.
I’ll keep looking (and hoping) but please feel free to send articles my way.
Update: I came across this story from BusinessWeek and this (more alarmist) article from Bill Sardi care of LRC.com. I’ll keep looking.
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