Inevitable and Overdue

Medbroadcast reports on a two-day conference on infectious diseases at which the flu was the starring disease. An influenza pandemic is "inevitable and overdue."

Based on the experience of the three pandemics of the 20th century, a third or more of the globe's population would be expected to fall ill. A pandemic, even one caused by a mild strain, would be expected to kill millions, experts warn.
The spectre of a pandemic with the extraordinarily virulent H5N1 strain is making for sleepless nights in the community of influenza researchers.