Food Storage Friday- Pandemic! (of course)

If you've spent any time watching or listening to the news you are either:
a. totally freaked out, locked in your home, wearing a mask, with a bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket, or
b. totally tired of hearing about it and completely immune to any concern of swine, avian or any other flu with pandemic propensity.
The facts are, there is a flu, originating from pigs, (which happens to make great news stories because they can talk about it with giant, hideous pig heads next to their own) At this point, it does not seem to behave differently than any other flu, (which kills thousands of people around the globe every year) The ways to keep from getting it are the same as any other bug going around, and the way to recover is the same as any other illness. Ok, now that that is out of the way, I think it is important to see things like this (and SARS, and Bird Flu etc) as warnings- don't freak out and go to extremes, but don't ignore warnings just because so many "scares" have turned out to be nothing. It is still possible, and many people who study these things say it is in fact PROBABLE that that at some point, a serious, highly contagious, illness could quickly spread around the world- in the same way the swine flu has- or worse. And if you are prepared for such an occasion, you will not be panicked when it happens. FEMA’s plan for a confirmed case of the Avian Flu is to quarantine the entire neighborhood around where the outbreak occurs. No one would be allowed in or out of the area at all. No ill person would be evacuated; those in the area would just have to “hunker” down in their homes and wait out the quarantine, which could last for weeks, until the last case has run its course. Those in the quarantine zone would not be able to go to the store for anything. So, to be prepared, make sure you have a few weeks of food and supplies, (you know you should have 3-12 months) some gatorade or pedialite (to help with sickies getting dehydrated) and basic pain and fever relievers. For worst case scenarios, you may want to invest in some gloves, plastic sheeting, masks etc... but I think those things are probably not necessary. Here are some links with more information than you ever wanted to know:
www.iwillprepare.com/
www.survivetheflu.com/
www.pandemicflu.gov/
www.cdc.gov/other.htm#states
www.meridianmagazine.com/emergency
www.cdc.gov/swineflu