# 1502
Twenty-four months ago, when I began this blog, I had no idea that it would ever amount to much. It was a personal diary, meant to serve as a private sandbox where I could thrash out my thoughts on a potential pandemic, and hopefully alert some friends and family about what might be on the way.
Something happened along the way, and people began discovering this site. Google alerts began picking up my blogs, and well, since then the hits keep on coming. My thanks to everyone who visits, and everyone who copies my blogs across the net or links to my site.
In a somewhat Pavlovian response, the more visitors I get, the more I tend to post; which explains the 4-fold increase in entries in my second year of blogging.
The best part of this experience, aside from the fact that a pandemic hasn't happened (yet), are the people I've met through my blog. I'm grateful, and humbled, by every visitor to this site. Many have left comments, or have taken the time to write me an email. Those are appreciated more than you can imagine.
Over the past year I've been interviewed by Maryn McKenna for CIDRAP, invited to blog for the HHS pandemic leadership blog, and have been asked to help on the Get Pandemic Ready project.
All of these things have come about due to this blog.
But best of all are the friends I've made. Some I correspond with via email, others I chat with using Instant Messenger software, and some I've actually gotten to meet in person.
My world is much fuller when I can add in writers I admire like SophiaZoe, and Scott McPherson, DemFromCt, and the grandmaster of Flu Blogging, Crawford Kilian. The Reveres have not only been supportive, they've taught me through their blog, Effect Measure, most of what I know about the science of virology. Any mistakes I make, however, are my own.
The list of cyber friends I've made is long, and rewarding. Blitzen, Snicklefritz, Ghostrider, Florida1, Bluesky, Old Redwolf, Seazar and Dan, Corky52, Indigo, AnneZ, Phil from the UK, Mayrn, AnnieRn, Hoggie, TomDMV, Gary The Fire Dude . . . no way I can name them all. But all are welcome additions to my life.
Thank you, one and all.
And then there is the whole gang that I worked with on the Get Pandemic Ready project.
- Greg Dworkin, MD Editor, Flu Wiki
- Elizabeth Erwin
- Melvin Johnson, Lewiston-Nez Perce County Emergency Management
- Justin Kamen, Student - Columbia University, Founding Member of Students Prep America
- Catherine "Jackie" Mitchell - standingfirm - Prepared Citizens LLC
- S. Reynolds - atropine
- Dr Dave
- And some others who worked behind the scenes, but whose input was no less important . . .
Just about everyone I've mention is doing something to help their community, and the world, be better prepared to combat a pandemic or other crisis. And none of them are trying to make a nickel off of it. They are all volunteers, driven by the desire to give something back, to help their neighbors and their communities.
And that's pretty special in my book.
I'm proud to be associated with them.
Much of what I do on a daily basis relies on the hard work done by newshounds on The Wiki, Flutrackers, PFP, CE , and PFI. They spend hours every day scouring foreign language newspapers online, looking for key words or phrases that signal that a story is about bird flu.
They then take these articles and run them through one, sometimes two or three, computer translators, so as to get the most readable story in English. Using expertise gained over months and even years of practice, they analyze these reports, and post them, and their analysis online.
This is unpaid work, and done with remarkable dedication and skill. There are dozens of active newshounds, and it would be impossible to name them all, but some of the busiest and best known include: Theresa42, Niman, Treyfish, Commonground, Dutchy, Florida1, Pugmom, Canada Sue, Mosaic, Cottontop, Influentia2, Mojo, Michelle in OK, Mary In Hawaii, Pixie, dbg, flubergasted, Laidback Al, Kobie, Alaska Denise, Siam, InKy, History Lover . . .
It's always dangerous when you start naming names, it is inevitable that you will omit important contributors. My apologies to those I missed.
These remarkable newshounds share their findings among all of the flu forums, there isn't any proprietary claim on this information. You'll see this information posted, almost simultaneously, on all of the major forums. They do this work for the common good.
My thanks and admiration go to each and every one of them.
I'm in hopes that a year from now, when I sum up my third year of blogging, I'll be able to report that once again we avoided seeing a pandemic, either from the H5N1 bird flu, or any other pathogen.
I also hope that I can report that our world is better prepared than it is today to face one.
After all, given the year I've had, I have every right to believe in miracles.
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