I've been mostly ignoring the hype about the dangers of Avian flu, but I think I might start perking my ears up now that I've been reading "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History". It's a nice background on the run up to the epidemic - the situation of medical science in the US at the time (only just out of the dark ages), and the people who made it that way. That's followed by a description of the how the flu spread - it was greatly helped by the US mobilization for the war. The huge military cantonments that were built for new draftees were ideal breeding grounds.

The scary part of that pandemic was how many young people got killed. Normally, flu kills the weak - the very young, the very old, and those who have compromised immune systems. That one killed people in the prime of life, and the reasons are truly terrifying: apparently, the body's immune system went into overdrive against the virus, and killed the lungs as an unintended side effect. Not in a pleasant way, either - the descriptions sound reminiscent of the symptoms of Ebola.

In most respects, this book is scarier than any horror flick...