Pandemic Flu: Preparing the Troops?

I am in the US military and ran upon something curious this morning. I was in the post CTMC (Consolidated Troop Medical Clinic) for a few hours getting a physical to make sure I'm still healthy enough to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. As with all things relating to the military, it included a lot of waiting, during which I entertained myself with an excellent Olympic womens' volleyball match between China and Cuba and with the various informative pamphlets in the facility.

As with most medical facilities the pamphlets were focused on the mundane: tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse, post traumatic stress disorder, STDs, and the like. One stood out as odd, featuring a group of soldiers in uniform wearing surgical masks on the cover. The title was "Pandemic Flu."

The first few pages were dedicated to a history of pandemic flu, the outbreaks over the past century and what makes a flu outbreak "pandemic." It also gave a summery of the H5N1 virus, citing bird to human infection, mortality rates, and potential for mutation into a contagious virus.

As for the last few pages, I unfortunately got called away. I have to go back on Friday, so I will grab a copy of my own. It was a guide on how to deal with a pandemic flu outbreak, but I don't know the exact content. I will edit this post when I do.

This pamphlet struck me as odd. Pandemic flu doesn't seem to be a big concern in the mainstream. Why are military personnel being indirectly warned about a potential epidemic of a virus that has largely been marginalized?

Have a happy Airborne day to yall

Two reasons:

1) The Pentagon probably hired PR firm to scare the crap out of you guys for conditioning purposes to accept a vaccine they are testing/or will test on you guys. The more troops who get the shots, the more money the vaccine company makes (free experimental subjects of a real human population too!), and the more kick backs from lobbyists to congress critters in the form of weekend getaways, campaign contributions, etc...

2) The outbreak begins as international travelers begin returning to their home countries after the Chinese summer Olympics. But you didn't hear that from me...

Which do you think?

Certainly makes sense to me! What better way to carry a horrific organizim anywhere than at a location where the H

I have to be honest and say that the rest of that phamphlet was a letdown. Just some crap about washing your hands and such. I would delete the post if I could figure out how. Until then bury this one under failed leads. Sorry!

[edit on 25-8-2008 by WhiteOneActual]

Don't feel bad, its better to chase a lead and find nothing rather then just leave it and think "What if...". O well, thanks for trying to liven up the H5N1 forum

Fox