AVIAN FLU UPDATE:

Last year, for the first time since avian flu emerged as a global threat, the number of human cases was down from the year before. As the illness receded, the scary headlines — with their warnings of a pandemic that could kill 150 million people — all but vanished.

But avian flu has not gone away. Nor has it become less lethal or less widespread in birds. Experts argue that preparations against it have to continue, even if the virus’s failure to mutate into a pandemic strain has given the world more breathing room.

As I’ve noted here repeatedly, regardless of what happens with this particular pathogen, we’re woefully underprepared for new outbreaks of deadly disease.