>>>>>>>From MSNBC.COM
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>BEIJING - Authorities killed rats and fleas on Tuesday as they disinfected a town sealed off after three people died of pneumonic plague in a remote farming town in northwestern China, according to the provincial health department. Police set up checkpoints around Ziketan in Qinghai province after the outbreak was first detected last Thursday. The lung infection is highly contagious can kill a person in as few as 24 hours if left untreated.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Holy Moly! Let's hope this one doesn't get loose.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Don't know if this will make you any less concerned:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/08/04/2009-08-04_what_is_pneumonic_plague_disease_outbreak_in_china_is_similar_to_bubonic_plague_.html
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>A third man has died of pneumonic plague in north-western China where a town of more than 10,000 people has been sealed off, officials say.The 64-year-old man was a neighbour of the first two people to die from the plague in Ziketan in Qinghai Province. Police have set up checkpoints around Ziketan, as medics are disinfecting the area and killing rats and insects. Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, can spread from person to person or from animals to people.
>>>>
>>>>China has had pneumonic plague outbreaks in the north before. At least 3 reported (counting this one) in the last 15 years, and we seem to have survived. I wouldn't go all paranoid on this one.
>>>
>>>Possible swine flu crossed with bird flu could happen here http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/08/05/denpasar-confirms-new-h1n1-patient-bird-flu-suspect.html
>>
>>I kept telling them, "Don't mix the avians with the swine. Just don't!" But will they listen??!!
>
>Flying pigs? It happens every day, just follow the media.

Damn! I forgot about them. Hard to keep them away from the bids when that happens. They just can't keep from showing off.