Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Over the last decade, as similar concerns have arisen about avian flu spreading from Asia to the rest of the world, the fears have not been justified. The last pandemic was known as the Hong Kong flu epidemic of 1968 and 1969. The deaths from the Hong Kong flu were estimated to be between 750,000 and one million people, including nearly...
...Since that pandemic more than 40 years ago, there have been no major events involving the global spread of lethal flu infections. There have been cases of dangerous avian flu outbreaks in Asia for a decade which has caused the deaths of a small number of people. Since these flu infections have not spread globally warnings and concerns about pandemics have not been much seen in the media...
...every once in awhile, the virus shifts its genetic structure so much that our immune systems offer no protection whatsoever. (This usually happens when a flu virus found in animals - like the avian flu still circulating in Asia - swaps genes with other viruses in a process called reassortment, and jumps to human beings.) A flu pandemic occurs when a new flu virus emerges for which humans have little or no immunity and then spreads easily from person to person around the world. In the 20th century we had two mild flu pandemics, in 1968 and 1957, and the severe "Spanish...
...Songhua incident is a reminder that in Asia, a region of the world where water is often scarce and often polluted, managing that indispensable resource is vital. Asia is already the world's driest inhabited continent per capita, and as its population, urbanization and dirty industrialization grow - and global warming dries out the region - clean water will only become more precious. As a just-released report by the Asia Society argues, water will become the key to regional security in the 21st century - and Asia isn't ready. "This is a fundamental resource that we need to survive," says Suzanne...
...Sure, we're seeing some green shoots particularly in China, where industrial production rose 8.3% year-on-year in March, retail sales surged 15.9% in the first quarter, and investment in fixed assets jumped 28.6% in March after rising 26.5% in February. But it's difficult to see how Asia can return to real growth with export demand dead in the U.S. and Europe - and no one expects a resurrection there anytime soon...