Is a Flu Pandemic Imminent? --Part 1

I came across this article in the February 28, 2018, Chicago Tribune that I had put aside back then for possible future coverage on one of my blogs.  "Is a flu pandemic imminent:  One like 1918 outbreak is possible, expert warns" by Dennis Thompson.

This was marking the 100th anniversary of the 1918 "Spanish Flu" outbreak.

"One hundred years ago, the deadliest influenza pandemic of a all time made a ravaging march across the globe.

"The 'Spanish' flu of 1918-1919 infected an estimated one-third of the world's population and killed between 50 million and 100 million people, modern epidemiologists estimate.

"This raises the inevitable question as the United States battles its way through another severe flu season -- could a pandemic as devastating in scope occur in the future?

" 'It's '100 percent' certain that another global flu crisis will happen, said Dr. Greg Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  "There's absolutely no controversy that we will have another pandemic," Poland said.  'What's unpredictable is the severity of it."

Well, Reckon He Was Exactly Right.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE 'V": I just want to let you know that if you start choking, I will not use the Heimlich maneuver, but will throw shoes at your back from six feet away."