Cooper's Broth

The Avian Flu is in the news again. How would you feel if you were the research scientist who said: "Don't worry about researching a new vaccine. Who the heck cares about a few Thailand chickens?"

Wonder why they named it Avian Flu? Seems to me it should be called Chicken Flu, but then folks would confuse it with chicken soup and Campbell's stock would take a nose dive.

I notice it's being carried by swans now. Adds a new dimension to the fabled Swan Song.

"Is this Madonna's last performance? Her swan song?"

"No. It's Chicken Flu."

"There's a vaccine for that."

"Not this year. The pharmaceutical companies are holding off until it reaches epidemic proportions. And you can see their point of view. Where's the profit margin in marketing a cure for a disease as rare as hen's teeth?"

"Oh well, there's always the old-fashioned remedy: chicken soup. Used to cure darn near everything."

"Yep. Heard Campbell was having problems with that very thing. Trying to make chicken soup without the poultry. Gave their advertising department quite a headache."

"So what did they come up with?"

"A petition to rename it. Something fancy like Avian Influenza."

"Guess that's better than Flu The Croup, eh?"

"Yep."
Cooper's Broth © 2006 Chaeli Lee Sullivan