The United Nations warned an expected human avian flu pandemic could kill up to 150 million people, naming a special coordinator to lead a global strategy to contain it.
UN chief Kofi Annan appointed David Nabarro, a Briton who is one of the leading World Health Organization's (WHO) public health experts, as senior UN coordinator for avian and human influenza.
"Let's say the range of (human) deaths could be anything between five and 150 million. I believe the work we are doing over the next few months on prevention and preparedness will make the difference between for example whether the next pandemic leads us in the direction of 150 (million) or in the direction of five," Nabarro said.
"We expect the next (human) influenza pandemic to come at any time now. It is likely to be caused by a mutant of the virus that is currently causing bird flu in Asia," Nabarro told reporters as he outlined a three-pronged strategy to deal with the threat.
Are we just worrying over nothing? Or is A Great Spanish Flu Pandemic v2.0 something to be genuinely worried about? Something I think we're freaking out over nothing. Sometimes I think we're just getting ubercomplacent. Which is it?
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