Friday, February 24, 2006

Americans Worried About Bird Flu

A poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health indicates that 60 percent of US citizens are concerned about avian flu, but less than a third of us think it will invade our country this year.

Other results from the poll: 46 percent will stop eating chicken if the US poultry industry is infected; 75 percent will reduce or avoid travel, 71 percentwill skip public events, and 68 percent will keep their children at home, and stay home themselves while the outbreak lasts.

Broken down by race (why?), nearly 70 percent of African-Americans said they are concerned about bird flu, compared to 54 percent of whites. The AP report didn't mention other groups.

Of course the virus has yet to mutate to a form that is easily transmitted to humans, but we all have to worry about something, don't we?