Bird Flu Lands On Bali

There is a story at Time/CNN which should once again remind us that even though the avian bird flu is not in the headlines much, it is still out there, and can still pose a huge risk to the world.

It says that the island of Bali has always been a separate part of Indonesia. A Hindu province inside the biggest Muslim country in the world, a jet-setting resort inside a poor, rural nation, and a zone free of human cases of avian influenza in the nation that has recorded the most bird flu infections in the world. But Bali is bird flu free no longer. Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the death of a young Balinese woman from H5N1 avian flu, the second case on the island in less than a month. Although Indonesian and WHO officials were quick to note that there was nothing clinically unusual about the Bali deaths, both victims apparently contracted the virus from infected poultry, the presence of human bird flu cases on a small island that hosts well over a million foreign tourists a year only adds to fears that H5N1 could eventually trigger a deadly flu pandemic that could spread around the world.

It is nice to see that the Indonesian government is now cooperating with the WHO, as all countries should be doing, so that if it does make the jump, to a human to human transmission virus, that they will be in a position to treat it quickly and effectively. It is not a frighten the heck out of us story, but a precautionary one, to give people who may be traveling to Bali, or Indonesia a heads up.

I have several former co-workers and current friends, at Panda Express, who are from Indonesia, and have family still living there, and said they are worried at how rapidly the "flu" has spread throughout their nation. I worry as well, because two former co-workers that I like very much, have returned to live in Indonesia, and live near poultry farms. So for their sake and all of ours, I hope a "cure" can be found soon.

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