As Romania confirmed that the deadly H5N1 bird flu had been found in its country, UK's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, announced that an outbreak of bird flu in England was a question of "when, not if." That led to considerable speculation about how many people could die from a pandemic. Sir Liam's estimate was 50,000, four times the number that die each season from the flu. He added that the UK had started planning early and was in a better position than most, including the US, for fighting a pandemic. "We can't make this pandemic go away, because it is a natural phenomenon--it will come," he added. "But what we can do is to limit its impact."
- read this report from The Scotsman for more