A Pandemic, Part 1

This story is obviously fiction (previously posted elsewhere, but I am “beefing” it up). As of today the Pandemic Flu outbreak has not yet started. When I originally posted this, over a year ago, I had read on the CDC web site FAQ (seriously) that the “Bird Flu” has already jumped person to person. It didn’t spread because the people infected got so sick, so fast and died, that it didn’t have a chance to spread. Today I look and there is nothing on the main CDC.gov web page linking to Pandemic Bird Flu. It dropped off the radar like SARS and West Nile Virus. The next scare to be swept under the carpet will probably be "global warming". Ahem..

The scenario I paint here is not at all out of the realm of possibility, I do think.

1 Sept. 2008.
Schools closed today and they had just opened this week! My son (17) came home on the bus half way through the day. They had their flu immunization shots at school this morning. Someone’s using their head there. Then they sent the kids home and locked everything up. The kids have all their books and lists of work to do each day for 30 school days, as long as they are well. They provided a sealed packet of quizzes that patents are supposed to administer and return when the kids go back to school. The Flu has only spread badly through New York and southern California, but there are spotty cases/outbreaks in most populated areas. Of those it looks like Minneapolis, Atlanta, Salt Lake and Dallas are the worst.

There is little news coming out of Africa, where things started, that is at all good. One week ago the Flu was said to be at its peak there. A lack of food, communication and medical care resulted in devastating casualties. Some estimates are as high as 30% of the overall population is dead and nearly 90% sick. I am sure the poor are bearing the worst of the casualties.

All of the other continents have outbreaks, but Brittan has managed to stay Flu free. They were the first country to close their borders entirely, even to their own citizens outside the country. It’s easier when you are an island I suppose. They gave a weeks notice and put everyone entering that week into quarantine and it has worked, so far. Now they just have to stick it out.

Europe as a whole is doing OK so far. Spain and Italy have massive problems and I heard the islands of Cyprus, Sicily and Sardinia are completely lost. The riots and looting left the islands wasted and travel was completely cut off.

Russia has been totally dark as far as information goes. They have probably taken drastic steps to close their borders and combat the problem, but who can say.

3 Sept. 2008.
The US President announced yesterday that all non-essential, civilian Federal Government agencies will “close to traffic” the day after tomorrow. This means all non essential staff will work from home, if possible and are able. It will impact all of the parts of the civilian government like, HHS except the CDC, the NSF, IRS, Treasury, FCC, etc. I work at NIH and they were sending anyone home who even "seemed" sick, which included me. I smoke and have a bad Ragweed allergy, so “out you go coughing-sneezing guy”. Fine by me. I hit the liquor store on the way home, to stock up, just in case things get bad. I have stocked up on about everything else I could, last year.

Sitting at home watching the news, I see that today all US airlines suspended flights as mandated by the FAA. The CDC was concerned that at least two variations of the Flu exist now and don’t want to contaminate one part of the country with another’s Flu. The Surgeon General was on TV announcing the move. When I went out for a smoke, I thought that I haven’t seen the skies this empty since late September 11th 2001.

The State Pandemic plans, which were tossed together hastily, were just today “unified” under a Federal plan. It was announced by the Press Secretary, who had a bad cough and was alone on stage. Marshal Law will be rolled out as the Pandemic spreads. New York and San Diego are already there and are doing their best to deal with the looting and general unrest. In New York its worse, some Hospitals have bodies piling up fast and they are trying to decide the best way to handle the problem. Arguments were feverish about some of the more gruesome options, but they have nowhere to put them all. The whole northeastern US is now in some stage of Pandemic and it is spreading south. Some states are limiting travel, but not really enforcing it. To top all this off, I just heard a category 2 hurricane “Michael” is churning in the middle of the Atlantic, heading west and a large tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico is raising concerns too.