Bloggers and personal websites have been covering the bird flu (or avian flu) for years -- even before the terrifying Sars outbreak in Canada and Southeast Asia. However, as the disease has spread and there have been more warnings from scientists and government leaders about the possibility of an
unstoppable pandemic the number of bird flu bloggers has increased.
Even more alarming was a recent
study that found that the
flu virus that caused the
deadly 1918 flu pandemic also originated in birds just like the H5N1 strain that looms as a human threat today. There have also been recent reports of the disease spreading into Europe. A
timeline provided by
Nature shows how the threat from bird flu
has expanded since the first outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997.
Here are some recent coverage of the bird flu in the blogosphere:
Scientists discover that killer 1918 flu pandemic originated in birds.
BloggingWallStreet says:
Sure it's a problem in Asia. Asia's mostly third world countries and cities with chickens running loose in the streets. People in third world countries still keep chickens for their own nutrition. Very few people do so in the U.S. anymore and those that do are mostly very isolated living in rural locations where it would be more difficult for the virus to spread. It's such an annoying non-issue that I find myself shutting off the TV.
This is a common misconception about the risk from bird flu. The threat to the U.S. and other countries is not directly from chickens. The threat is if bird flu mutates and acquires the ability to transmit easily from human to human. If this happens chickens and other birds are no longer necessary to spread bird flu and the disease could spread like wildfire around the world.
Boing Boing says H5N1 is getting scarier every day. The post includes information that from the Financial Times that the bird flu has a 76% fatality rate.
Bush's Bird Flu martial law plan is unpopular.
Bird Flu or Avian Flu? Technorati shows 19,364 posts for "Bird Flu" and
9,684 posts for "Avain Flu" so it looks like bloggers prefer Bird Flu.
Bloggers frequently point to resources at the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as the Wikipedia page for Avian Influenza.
Sin City responds to MSNBC.com's "No One... Is Ready" alarming bird flu feature. Just Chance is starting to get a little worried.
Here is a short list of blogs providing ongoing bird flu coverage:
The Coming Influenza Pandemic?
Avian Flu: Preparing for a
Pandemic?
Science News Blog
iFlu.org
Health News Blog
Avian Flu.. What we Need to Know
The Bird Flu Blog
The Flu News Blog
Bird Flu Watch
Bird Flu Monitor
Updated 10-11-05
We have set up a Bird Flu section where you can find updates and past coverage of bloggers blogging about the bird flu.
