Is Were Bird Flu Fears Overblown?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes, yes it was.

PARIS - Fears of a flu pandemic originating from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus were overblown, the head of the World Organization for Animal Health said Thursday.

But "the risk was overestimated," said Bernard Vallat, director general of the animal health organization, also known as the OIE.

"We have never seen such a stable strain," Vallat said.

But wasn't there a consensus saying the flu pandemic from H5N1 was going to wipe out huge swaths of the universe? Didn't world governments pour billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars into foreign economies to help contain the *deadly* bird flu? Hmmmm, how can that many scientists be that wrong about something that just a year ago they were so positive about?

However, although bird flu is nothing to worry about any more, the UN is preparing us for the next horrible catastrophe that will DEFINITELY happen:

At the same time, the United Nations influenza coordinator said that governments around the world need to do more to prepare for the dramatic economic impact of the next flu pandemic.

“The economic consequences could be up to $2 trillion -- up to 5 percent of global GDP removed,” he said, reiterating previous World Bank and UN estimates.

I see your $2 trillion and raise you $50 gagillion.

You have to give the UN credit, you pretty much have to chop off their arm to get it out of your pocket.

If the global scientific community and the UN didn't have a clue about bird flu, I wonder what else they may not have a clue about--something that is costing us billions of $$$ each year. I'll give you a hint: It's getting warm in here.