Flu epidemic

[k_in_k]

There has been a flurry of news reports the last couple of days about a possible bird flu epidemic in the next year or two. Some predictions are that it could be a pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Flu Pandemic that killed many millions of people. But even it is not as bad as 1918, and killed people in the thousands (instead of the millions), it could still cause a tremendous economic downturn worldwide. Perhaps even enough to cause a large stock market correction and bursting of the real estate bubble in the United States (which is just waiting for something bad to burst it). Certainly doesn't seem to be a good time to be speculating in either real estate or most stocks. Not that I have the money to do either, but I figure I am going to feel the effects anyway in higher prices. But if I get infected during an influenza pandemic, I guess prices will be the least of my worries. If the government can't deliver regular flu vaccine (as in last winter's shortage), it will be even less prepared for producing massive quantities of vaccine for a new variant of bird flu. Our government is so focused on typical Weapons of Mass Destruction that we may vulnerable to something much more deadly. But maybe we will get lucky and any pandemics will be delayed for another 10 or 20 years. It's really hard to predict either way.
---Hope for the best and pray very hard that the worst case scenario does not happen,
~Ken