Avian Flu looks a lot like 1981 Spanish Flu

Well, if the Avian Flu looks like the 1918 flu (though the article doesn't say whether this is a recent evolutionary change for the H5N1 or whether it's had these features all along), then it brings to mind an old saying.

It's like the monkey said when he backed into the fan.

"It won't be long now!"

Here's the CDC chart on bird flu deaths, by year. You'll note that for most countries, the current month of January - if multiplied by 12, the number of cases is running well ahead of 2005.
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2006_01_25/en/index.html

The CDC has a new publication out "Assessing the Pandemic Threat". Interesting reading.
http://www.who.int/entity/csr/disease/influenza/H5N1-9reduit.pdf
CONTENTS:
1. The H5N1 outbreak in 2004: a pandmemic in waiting?
2. Lessons from past pandemics
3. Understanding the outbreaks in poultry
4. Action in the face of an uncertain threat

Tables and Boxes
- Influenza A viruses:sloppy, capricious, and promiscuous
- Investigations of human-to-human transmission
- Human cases, Viet Nam
- Human cases, Thailand
- The origin of pandemic viruses
- The WHO global influenza programme: a network of flu "detectives"
- Previous outbreaks of pathogenic avian influenza worldwide
- Documented human infections with avian influenza viruses
- Non-medical interventions at the national level
- Non-medical interventions at the international level