busker

H5N1

Now there's  a juicy moniker for a nation that loves putting numbers to everything.

Like, "9/11", without which most Brits would still be unaware that we date the wrong way round on this side of the Atlantic.

And now H5N1.

Sounds particularly good in a southern accent, and it won't be long, I fear, before it's sounding alarums in *any* sort of accent.

At present, it's largely met with bovine - make that avian - bewilderment or outright dismissal.

• Never mind, that'll change soon enough ... and where the hell is Romania anyway?
• Michael Leavitt knows where, and he's sort of trying to signal something about high risk.
• Over where my lot are, they're talking when, not whether for a pandemic. Gloomy coves.
• Me, I'm hard-pressed to find people who even know what the blessèd word means.
• Not a problem they have over in Corfu: From 'pandemos' - "pertaining to all people": pan meaning "all" and demos meaning "people."
• Think epidemic. Even better, think *global* pandemic.
  • Well, not right now, of course. Finish your latte first.
• But *then* have a think about how hairy things might be getting, around about the time when the Year of the Bird Dog lopes into view.

• Or just think pandemic overeaction.

• For wilder imaginations, think cosy spur and catalyst for pols everywhere to "indulge in unfettered cooperation." Yeh, right.
• Let's see how co-operative everyone is when they're stuck with a 'Jabs Shortage'

Post scriptum: The always pertinent 'Chele comments with two effective links: