Must we therefore conclude that the alarm raised over a possible pandemic and the rush to stockpile Tamiflu amount to a conspiracy to line the pockets of G.W. Bush's cronies? Not necessarily. One strain of the bird flu virus, H5N1, has demonstrated a high mortality rate in both birds and people, and the concern is that it could mutate into much more contagious form in humans. The World Health Organization considers the risk of a pandemic "serious."
Bird flu threat overestimated?
Granted, there are well-informed skeptics in the scientific community who argue that public health officials have overestimated the threat of a pandemic - and the skeptics could be right - but the "better safe than sorry" approach is too widespread to be discounted as an aberration of the Bush administration. The World Health Organization, the health ministries of China, Japan and other Asian countries, and the health commissioner of the European Union have all called for bird flu preparedness plans that include the stockpiling of Tamiflu.
you go rummie.