SOAP, SINK BEST WEAPONS IN BATTLE AGAINST BIRD FLU.

Byline: MARIEL GARZA

IT'S coming. Bird flu reached Europe earlier this month. It won't be long before it shows up in the United States, probably by way of Los Angeles and its busy port.

And the experts say it's just a matter of time before the highly lethal strain of avian influenza mutates to the point that it can pass from human to human and infects a good chunk of the world's population.

Yup, just a matter of time, they warn. Problem is, everyone's getting a little numb to all the warnings about these sure-thing catastrophes such as the Big One, the Y2K computer virus, worldwide nuclear war and killer bees. Another dire threat to humanity? Hold on while I check my emergency stash of granola bars and Chardonnay.

The thing is, this bird flu isn't another SARS or West Nile virus deal. Every year, regular strains of influenza alone kill about 36,000 people in the United States.

And every so often, a particularly virulent strain comes along and wipes out millions of people. The last time it happened was 1918, when an avian version of the flu hit the world at the same time everyone was at war. It was called the ``Spanish flu,'' and by the time it diminished in 1919, as many as 50 million people worldwide had died.

So far, the 121 people around the world who have contracted this current strain of bird flu have a higher than 50 percent mortality rate.

Government officials are telling people not to panic, while they frantically try to prepare for the unpreparable by killing off chickens and setting aside stores of the antiviral medication Tamiflu, which might not even work against this strain.

They're right. There's no reason to worry about the march of bird flu, because short of the development and mass distribution of a bird flu vaccine, there's little we can do to stop a pandemic if it wants to spread.

According to the World Health Organization, an international pandemic is unstoppable because so many people spread it through coughing or sneezing before they realize they are sick.

Quarantines won't stop it, although I do feel better knowing that the officials at Los Angeles International Airport are preparing for the arrival of avian flu among cargo and passengers. But it's unclear how vigilance at the airport will make much of a wall against a virus in a metropolitan area that is home to several million people who slipped into the U.S. without a visa, let alone a health check.

There's no way the state's ever fewer medical centers (more than 70 hospitals have closed in the state in the past 10 years) can possibly handle a massive outbreak. A typical weekend night already taxes the state's emergency rooms.

That's why instead of worrying about it, we should be examining our personal hygiene practices, particularly you men out there.

It's no joke. A recent study for the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association (who knew?) observed bathroom habits of more than 6,000 Americans and found fairly disgusting levels of personal hygiene.

For example, one of out four men in the study didn't wash their hands after a bathroom break. By contrast, 90 percent of women did. I don't need a study to suggest that if that many people don't bother to wash up in the bathroom, as many or more aren't washing up after sneezing, coughing or generally tending to bodily needs.

It sounds simple, but basic cleanliness is the best way to fight any kind of infectious disease.

This fear of the bird flu pandemic could fade as fast as the hantavirus or ebola, or it might very well come true. Either way, there's no reason we can't get a grip on it with clean hands.

Mariel Garza

mariel.garza(at)dailynews.com