A flu pandemic has been considered almost certain for the past 5 years or so. It's been a matter of "when", not "if" it will occur. The medical community has been literally pleading with government agencies to take it seriously.
IBM (and other large corporations) have been looking ahead -- just like they planned for potential havoc on 2000-1-1. They are making contingency plans to stay in operation. Under Sarbanes-Oxley, corporate executives can be held personally liable if they don't have disaster recovery plans in place, and a flu pandemic qualifies as a natural disaster.
Somebody is now responsible for everything. Weather seem a little different than last year? Man made climate change. Influenza A pandemic hits as one has hit for centuries? Someone manufactured the virus and set it loose.
And there WAS potential for widespread havoc from "Y2K". That nothing happened was the direct result of years and $$$ spent fixing the darned bug.