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Thursday, November 16, 2006posted by Sydney on 11/16/2006 08:51:00 AM 1 comments 1 Comments:Bioterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, dirty bombs... all part of the vernacular in a brave (?) new world. And all, of course, chilling in their possibilities. I was intrigued to note, however, that researchers have discovered a couple of important changes in the H5N1 virus-- changes that make it more prone to glom onto human cells. Viruses with this propensity have been found in SE Asia, Azerbaijan, and... Iraq. Is it just my paranoia, or is anyone else worrying about our young men and women in Iraq who are rotating home and, good fortune willing, who will eventually be returning en masse? Have we so easily forgotten the main vector for the flu pandemic of 1918: returning troops? Sure, terrorism is ugly, it's not going away any time soon, and we must be prepared for its many manifestations. But H5N1, after a flurry of attention, is flying lower on the radar screen, even as it continues to shift and drift...and Nature can dish out things that would make the most inveterate terrorist quake with fear. By 6:36 PM , at |
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