Avian influenza (bird flu) has the potential to cause a healthcare crisis of unprecedented
global dimensions. Many predict a global pandemic far worse than the
1918 Spanish Flu, which killed 40 million to 50 million people. A larger, denser
global population, coupled with modern transportation systems of both goods and
people, could result in a pandemic killing far more people worldwide. The consequences
of such a pandemic would stretch beyond just public health. International
relations, commerce, politics, travel, medicine, and economic and social infrastructures
would be affected due to widespread infection and worldwide mitigation
efforts.
Harry S. Truman <em>signed the executive order 9981, which established equality of treatment in the U.S. armed forces regardless or race or religion.</em>
