Bird flu.. treat it with chicken soup?

We've all heard recent rumors about a potential bird flu epidemic. So far the few reported outbreaks have been in the eastern nations. But several cases have been discovered in Turkey (no puns, please). It seems to be spreading, altho incidents have been kept to a minimum, probably due to extra precautions currently being taken.

You might ask yourself, "What's the big deal? I've had the flu before. While it's never any fun, how bad can it get?" You only need to look back less than a hundred years for your answer.

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people worldwide than WW1. Somewhere between 20 and 40 MILLION people died, and the epidemic has been considered the most devastating epidemic in recorded history. More people died in one year of the epidemic than in four years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347-1351.

Altho it started as something as inconsequential as a common cold, the influenza of 1918 was far more serious. In the two years that it ravaged the earth, a fifth of the world's population was infected. Oddly enough, the flu was most deadly for people aged 20 to 40. Exactly the opposite of most illnesses that attack the very young or elderly.

Of the U.S. soldiers who were mobilized to Europe during WW1, half of the casualties were due to the Spanish Flu, as it was known, totaling an estimated 43,000 servicemen.

During 1918, the death rate for 15 to 34 year olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher than previous years. People who were infected generally died within days. Stories were told of people on their way to work suddenly developing flu symptoms and dying that evening.

The flu had an impact on American life for decades to come. The average lifespan in the U.S. dropped by 10 years. And children would skip rope to this morbidly-catchy rhyme:

I had a little bird,
Its name was Enza.
I opened the window,
And in-flu-enza.