Bird Flu Hits Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand - More Deaths In Indonesia

Googling the words "bird flu" through Google News sometimes only pulls up a few stories about how various countries, and cities, are working through pandemic preparedness programs, or you find ten variations on a new warning from the World Health Organisation that a worldwide pandemic could kill 60 million, 100 million or 200 million.

But some days, like today, the computer screen jolts you like an electric shock. A storm of new outbreaks, more deaths, more dire warnings unfold in front of your eyes. It's not if, but when the pandemic hits, the experts say, and you wonder, again, is the week it begins?

Will this be the week in which historians, those who survive anyway, will look back and say, "That was the week we learned there was no turning it back. The pandemic had begun."

It's an alarming list of news stories that doesn't bode well for 2007 :

Indonesia : Mother, Son Die Within Days Of Each Other - Reality Of New Virus Clusters Come Into Focus

China Urges Unity Across Asia To Fight Spread Of Avian Influenza

4000 Chickens Died Last Week Of H5N1 Infection In Japan's Largest Poultry Growing Region

Ducks, Pigeons Die Suddenly From Bird Flu As Virus Hits Thailand

Indonesia Set To Ban Backyard Poultry In Renewed Fight Against Spread Of Bird Flu

Vietnam : Bird Flu Virus Discovered In Four Provinces In Past Ten Days

Indonesia : Four Dead From Bird Flu Virus This Year, Hospitals Prepare For More Human Outbreaks

Reports Of Bird Flu Outbreaks Spreading Across Asia

Bird Flu Pandemica Poses Grave Threats To Global Markets - Impacts Predicted To Be Worse Than Terror Attacks

Bird Flu Speads In Asia, Jump Seen In Indonesian Cases