The Next Plague - Avian Flu (History Channel)
With the current threat of Avian Flu spreading worldwide, President Bush talked openly about the possibility of an epidemic in the coming years. The Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization say that we are long overdue for a deadly epidemic, and it isn't a question of if but when. Here in the US the questions are already being asked. Are we ready? How can we prevent it? What will be the cost in lives? We'll look at what effect a large-scale epidemic would have on the United States and the rest of the world. We'll ask what steps pharmaceutical companies are taking in developing vaccines and an antidote. If a nationwide quarantine is put into effect, who will enforce it--the National Guard? We also examine new evidence that the Great Epidemic of 1918 may have been an Avian Flu.