Ill-founded panic over the next pandemic
Calm down - hysteria clouds the coverage of the bird flu outbreak
February 24, 2006

THE global outbreak of avian flu has led to a growing pandemic of human reaction and panic. Conventional wisdom says that the disease could lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of Australians. This is purely speculative.

First, some context. The deadly H5N1 virus is spreading from country to country largely following the annual flight paths of migratory bird life. No one really expected the virus to race around the world with such speed. After remaining largely entrenched among wildlife in parts of Asia for many years, the virus is moving further afield. Why, nobody knows, and there remains much about avian flu that we do not understand.