News of mankind's impending doom seem to come and go with regularity but somehow we are still managing to survive to wreak havoc for all the other creatures of the planet. The latest scare to our continuation as a species came in the form of Bird Flu last week when it turned up in East England which much fanfare and doom from the media but was largely shrugged off by the bored general public.
Not to dismiss the seriousness of anyone who has contracted this disease but it's name does not strike fear into the heart of the population. The Black Death, The Plague, Ebola virus or even methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus all have mighty names that command you take them serious.
The phrase "bird flu" conjures up visions of mallards sucking down Lemsip and pigeons cradling the telephone in one weak wing and croaking, "No, I'm sorry, I can't come in and poop on any windscreens today - I think I'm coming down with something."
Maybe scientists could name it wing-borne obliteration and give us a proper go at worrying ourselves to an earlier grave.
7 comments:
Point of fact, the flu is nothing to sneeze at, as anyone who is familiar with the history of the disease will tell you:
http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
It bears noting that this pandemic is all but forgotten today.
People obsess over teensy risks yet keep stuffing their faces so as to bring on the heart disease and climbing into their deathtrap cars. But of course it's easier to gasp at something in the news than make any real lifestyle changes.
Wikipedia tells me that bird flu is also known as "influenza A virus subtype H5N1", which sounds a lot scarier to my ears.
It's still a young disease, it can still earn a reputation if it tries. Most people don't know this, but the "Black Death" started out as the "Shadowy Minor Inconvenience."
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 would scare the bejesus out of me but Shadowy Minor Inconvenience just doesn't cut it.
I would not be bird brained enough to sneeze at it mark, i was just sticking my beak in and saying it deserves a better name.
How about the Winged Harpy of Doom?
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