# Asian Flu. Oh Fuck. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 15, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481 "2005-04-15T15:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/1 "2005-04-15T15:07:58Z")
Goddam stupid muthafucks sent out Asian flu in test kits by mistake. Then, **announced** it. **Before** all of the kits had arrived. Now, some kits have gone missing enroute. In Lebanon. > **[Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/)** > > News, analysis from the Middle East & worldwide, multimedia & interactives, opinions, documentaries, podcasts, long reads and broadcast schedule. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/2 "2005-04-15T15:17:37Z")
Yeah, I’m driving along, half listening to the radio, and they say something about strain such-and-such-a-number being from 1957. Suddenly the radio has my FULL attention, my jaw drops, and I say, “They let the fucking Asian Flu loose?” At home, Wife said, “They could’ve sent around the Teddy Bear Virus or the Cute Little Puppy Virus but no, they had to send around the Asian Flu.” At least it wasn’t the Spanish Flu. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/3 "2005-04-15T16:12:00Z")
Guess the young’uns don’t know about the Asian Flu, Bosda, or they’d be as scared as we are. Or maybe not, since it wasn’t really THAT bad compared with some other pandemics, killing a mere 72,000 Americans and a piddling million people elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/4 "2005-04-15T16:34:38Z")
Yeah, that wasn’t a really smart move. Time to go live life to the fullest. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/5 "2005-04-15T16:56:12Z")
I hope heads will roll for this mistake, it is such an obviously bad idea it makes me scared of what happens when the bad idea isn’t obvious even to a layman. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/6 "2005-04-15T17:06:50Z")
You’ll forgive me if this is making me a bit twitchy. We had SARS two years ago and we’re still a bit on edge. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/7 "2005-04-15T17:08:55Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You’ll forgive me if this is making me a bit twitchy. We had SARS two years ago and we’re still a bit on edge. SARs? SARs is nothing! Given the # of people in the world today who have depleted immuno systems, this could be _horrifying_! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/8 "2005-04-15T17:14:06Z")
Hopefully the budding bio-terrorists will have a clear grasp of the bio backlash. Let’s infect America! Thinks the budding BT. So he infects America. But wait! There’s more! Moron BT hasn’t stopped to consider that the last time around, this little bug was a global pandemic. And the jet age means it can spread even faster. A sneeze in manhatten infects the Sichuan and Hunan provinces. A booger on a door handle in Macys infects Djibouti. Western hospitals see an influx of patients, and thousands in comprimised health die. But vaccines and advanced medical facilities blunt the effect. Countries with less capabilities to cope with the pandemic suffer millions of casualties. Third and second world countries with poor infrastructure and meager medical facilities take the brunt of the pandemic. Countries like Lebanon, Sudan, Afghanistan and Yemen. Countries that, as it turns out, have a few Islamic folks. Our budding BT has managed to bloody the west’s nose while lopping off the east’s fingers. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/9 "2005-04-15T17:21:55Z")
I don’t really think any fool who wants to unleash that shit in some type of attack is concerned about things. They probably think they’re sending all their countrymen to the virgins while sending us to hell. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/10 "2005-04-15T17:59:25Z")
It really would not have been a very big deal at all. These test kits, used to verify the QC of certain lab equipment used to test viruses, were all sent to trained labs and lab workers. These people know the risks of working with the materiel they are sent, know how to handle them and know how to handle a possible accidental infection. However, when the media grabbed this fucking bull by the horns and turned it into a bioterror nightmare, many people who didn’t know of the existence of the virus in the test kits now knew of it. It has been headline news now for 3 days and it didn’t even really warrant 5 minutes on the backside of the nightly local news. I agree that it might not have been a good idea to use the particular flu strain that they did. I simply don’t think it ever would have been a problem and the test kits could have been used or destroyed by competent bio-hazard employees. But now we’ve had every health organization primping their feathers in front of cameras at press releases and now some of the kits have gone missing. Score: Media 0, Amateur bioterror nuts: 1 Sam ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/11 "2005-04-15T18:01:04Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > I don’t really think any fool who wants to unleash that shit in some type of attack is concerned about things. They probably think they’re sending all their countrymen to the virgins while sending us to hell. Worldy, you know you’re better than this type of response… ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/12 "2005-04-15T18:16:35Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > Worldy, you know you’re better than this type of response… Oh whooops, my bad, I _totally_ didn’t intend it that way, my fullest apologies. My intent was to say I don’t think anyone nuts enough to unleash that stuff will be considering the full spectrum of consequences. Nuts, by the way, come in all different colors, shapes, religions, and tastes. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/13 "2005-04-15T18:20:46Z")
I agree with what you meant, to be certain. Sam ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/14 "2005-04-15T18:29:45Z")
Bah, _won’t_ be considering the full spectrum of consequences. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/15 "2005-04-15T18:41:42Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > However, when the media grabbed this fucking bull by the horns and turned it into a bioterror nightmare… > > Score: Media 0, Amateur bioterror nuts: 1 I was only three when it first went around and much of my kneejerk reaction was inculcated by observing the reactions of my parents to every sniffle us kids had for years afterward. The rest of my reaction was based on my readings on infectious diseases. I heard no media frenzy, possibly because I stay away from the more frenzied media. I heard “Influenza A H2N2” and “1957” and that was all it took. That some vials were missing didn’t register right away and I didn’t even think of bioterror, but I know lab techs who were not as careful as they could be, especially if they are expecting to be working with the Teddy Bear Virus. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/16 "2005-04-15T18:46:12Z")
I know what you mean, DZ. I fully understand what an outbreak of this strain could do, which is why I acknowledge that it wasn’t the best idea in the world to use it. However, it’s been overblown and now there are some real consequences to the actions of the media and the groups who are holding press conferences left and right to show how conscientious they are. Sam ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-flu-oh-fuck/299481/17 "2005-04-15T18:52:19Z")
I understand and agree totally about the media-induced panicking, Sam. I just wanted to explain why I can panic perfectly well on my own. 😃 But I’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for The Big Flu for a long time so I’m extra fidgety.