[Phsstpok]

I worked as an EMT in New York in the early 70s as the idea of dealing with a pandemic in the jet age was first really getting attention. I had to transport a patient from Kennedy Airport with a suspected hemorrhagic fever to a hospital in the city. Today it would have been done in isolation garb, the "space suits," and we wouldn't have been picking him up off of a commercial aircraft with other passengers. At least he was in a closed in compartment and we were given gauze masks.

He didn't have hemorrhagic fever, I was happy to find out.

About the best line Tom Clancy ever wrote was in Executive Orders when one of the medical characters was talking about funding for viral research. He pointed out that the movie "Outbreak" had a bigger budget than our funding on this type of stuff.

It will happen. It will also probably affect "emerging world" countries hardest, as they have the easy transportation but lack the sanitation and medical resources to deal with anything. Tourist countries could also be really bad.

Here we'll just suddently discover that we have the infrastructure to make telecommuting a VERY good idea.

Being crass and heartless I can always hope that, if it has to hit, it hits the Jihadi world with a vengance. Of course they'd accuse us of biological warfare. Since even Nobel Prize winners do that now, blaming us for creating AIDS to attack black people, what's the difference?

[Veto!]

He didn't have hemorrhagic fever, I was happy to find out.

Scary story. But now you're immune to whatever the heck he had. Yes, the emerging world will submerge once again if the ultimate virus strikes. It will be Bush's fault, of course, even it if happens in 2015. But the Gates Foundation will be ready with 2394870239843 doses of vaccine earmarked for every country but the USA.

(I like your tag line almost as much as mine :)