Pestilence News
The AP is reporting some grim news on the pestilence (Luke 21:11) front. Scientists have been doing some projections on what would happen if bird flu jumped species and became contagious to humans. According to the report (Yahoo News - Group Estimates Potential Flu Death Toll):

More than a half-million people could die and more than 2.3 million could be hospitalized if a moderately severe strain of pandemic flu virus hits the United States, a research group said Friday. The report from the Trust for America's Health assumes that 25 percent of a country's population would become infected if a strain of avian flu became highly contagious and humans had no natural immunity against it. The researchers also assumed the severity of the strain would fall about midway between the pandemic of 1918 and the pandemic of 1968. The research group says the staggering number of potential deaths and hospitalizations would overwhelm the nation's health care system - and displays the need for greater planning and resources.

I'm glad scientists and the health care community are taking steps now to plan for this. Previous reports have stated that it is only a matter of time before there is another global flu pandemic like the 1918 outbreak and the more they can do now to prepare and raise awareness so that the public won't panic, the better.