A large brokerage firm in Canada is quite worried about the potential economic ramifications of an Avian flu pandemic:

Some of the repercussions projected in the report, were a pandemic were to break out, include:

A dramatic slowdown in the economy, equal to the Great Depression. A rampant decline in spending would result from people panicking, which would put a sudden stop in spending.

High levels of unemployment, with many people unable to work.
Travel restrictions on the free-flow of goods and people across borders. "In a world that depends so heavily on global trade, this would have a very damaging effect on economic activity," said Cooper.

(Via Instapundit)

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Russia is slaughtering thousands of foul in an attempt to curb a potential flu outbreak.

Russia's concern is justified, as evidenced in this article:

Aug 15, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Avian influenza has cropped up in chickens near Russia's Ural Mountains, possibly signaling a continued westward march of the deadly H5N1 virus, news services in Russia reported today.

The Chelyabinsk region along the southern end of the Urals is the sixth area in Russia to have been hit by avian flu outbreaks recently, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters. The Urals separate Siberia from European Russia.

A regional official said 60 chickens in the village of Oktyabrskoye died over the weekend, according to an online report by Mosnews.com. The report said testing had detected an H5N1 virus in the dead birds. However, the AFP and Reuters reports said it was not yet known if the virus was H5N1.

More here.

The vaccine that showed such promise about a week ago is needed in such large quantities, that some scientists are worried that it may not be effective in fighting a potential outbreak:

But other scientists are less upbeat. "Needing two doses of 90µg is the worst-case scenario," says James Robertson, principal scientist of the virology division of the UK National Institutes for Biological Standards and Control in Potter’s Bar. "You are not going to get very far with that."

In Rochester, researchers are looking for a "vaccine shortcut."

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