The BBC quotes Professor John Oxford from Queen Mary's College concerning a flu epidemic:

"I would class the potential threat from the next pandemic as exceeding high,' he told BBC News. 'I don't think we have ever been so close to an outbreak; a global outbreak as we are now. Mother Nature has always been the greatest threat - bigger than any bio-terrorist," he warned. [BBC]

Further on in the story Maria Zambon from the Health Promotion Laboratory says:

"It would cause an enormous global burden of disease and death and we are particularly concerned that it might well affect the young adult population and in doing so bring society to a halt."

I feel nervous. I've had flu for 10 days now and it's the worst attack I've ever had: a hacking mucus-clogged cough, a gratingly sore throat, ear ache, muscle pain and a feeling that I'll never be free of it. Not that I'm one to whinge, you understand. I bear my troubles with good-humoured courage.

The BBC provides some reassuring information for those with concerns.

5:49:50 PM