Nabarro: enamus peaks valmistuma peitupugemiseks
United States Helping Lead War on Bird Flu, says U.N. Envoy
24 March 2006
International officials are issuing warnings about preparedness because the avian influenza epidemic among animals could evolve into a human influenza pandemic. With an eye toward that potential crisis, Nabarro also discussed the need for governments to develop contingency plans for maintaining continuity of government as well as the rule of law. "In the event of a pandemic, public services are going to be stretched to their limits and certain regions in the world will be vulnerable to a breakdown in law and order," he said. (See related article.) According to Nabarro, avian influenza has spread to 20 countries during the last six weeks alone and has recently moved into the Gaza Strip as well as settlements in the West Bank. "We are very vulnerable," he warned. "Most of us, I think, feel that it's best to be preparing to hunker down."
Dr. David Nabarro - U.N. senior coordinator for avian and human influenza.
Hunker Down Posted by SR on November 15, 2004 at 18:47:54: HUNKER DOWN: The phrase 'hunker down' seems originally to have been Scottish, maybe the eighteenth century? Does anyone know exactly what its origin is? Old Norse 'huka' means to squat. Modern Dutch 'huiken' and German 'hocken,' meaning to squat or crouch. The word is popular in American English, in phrases like 'hunker down' or 'on your hunkers.' The Oxford English Dictionary description of how to hunker: "squat, with the haunches, knees, and ankles acutely bent, so as to bring the hams near the heels, and throw the whole weight upon the fore part of the feet." 'The advantage of this position is that you're not only crouched close to the ground, so presenting a small target for whatever the universe chooses to throw at you, but you're also ready to move at a moment's notice. Hunker down has also taken on the sense of to hide, hide out, or take shelter, whatever position you choose to do it in. This was a south-western US dialect form that was popularised by President Johnson in the mid 1960s. Despite its Scots ancestry, hunker is rare in standard British English.' (WW)