Under the Weather, or Under the Sod?

Captain Trips is here! No it's not the return of zombie Jerry Garcia, but rather a reference to Stephen King's The Stand. Apparently a Dutch virologist working out of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands has genetically altered the avian flu H5N1 so that it is now easily transmissible between ferrets. "Ferrets" you say, "Big deal, ferrets aren't people and besides that, they smell like popcorn, why should I care?". Well perhaps because the ferret flu response is the closest to that of human beings and perhaps because H5N1's mortality rate is 50%, and because in some lab in Rotterdam some bozo has made it airborne and SIGNIFICANTLY more contagious! Why? For science!!

So who is this malevolent virologist? His name is Ron Fouchier and when he couldn't successfully alter the virus' genetic makeup using new fangled means, he resorted to the tried and true method of passing the avian flu around to a plethora of ferrets and found after 10 generations the virus had become airborne. Wait a minute though, back up the night train a minute! Ron Fouchier... the scientists name is Ron Fouchier? So I guess now that we have confirmed that this bastard is a reincarnation of Randall Flagg then the whole allusion to The Stand has come full circle! It's no wonder this guy wants to publish a paper describing how he gave a business of ferrets the sepulchral sniffles! He wants his research to fall into the wrong hands so that once the vast majority of humanity is wiped off the face of the earth, he can rule the wasteland and play a twisted game of chess with the survivors!