Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The millions of tourists coming to London for the Olympics will place Britain at extreme risk of a deadly flu pandemic, according to research being released today.
Britain is ranked second in the world, after Singapore, in terms of the risk of an avian or swine flu outbreak spreading, according to a study of more than 200 countries by the risk analyst Maplecroft.
The researchers warn that the scale of the threat is vast. Citing previous warnings from the World Health Organisation, they write: "There is little pre-existing natural immunity to H5N1 infection in the human population. Should the virus improve its transmissibility, the entire human population could be vulnerable to infection."
Britain is at "medium risk" of a pandemic emerging, where avian or swine flu jumps the species barrier and can be spread from person to person.
But factors such as crowded cities, a growing population and the sheer volume of travel in and out of the UK provide ideal conditions for a virus to spread if it makes it to our shores.
Health officials are already on high alert in the run-up to the Olympics, with the Health Protection Agency having increased its surveillance work to detect any signs of a virus. It has set up a monitoring system for hospital admissions and patients presenting to GPs, to alert staff to the first signs of mass contagion.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments