Pandemic could cause deep, uneven recession, group predicts  Mar
22, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – An influenza pandemic as severe as the
great flu of 1918 could cost the United States $683 billion and
plunge the American economy into the second-deepest recession
since World War II, a nonprofit health advocacy group warned
today.  If rates of illness and death matched those of 1918—when
one third of the population fell ill and 2.5% of those who were
sickened died—US production of goods and services could shrink
5.5% in a year, according to an analysis released by the Trust
for America's Health (TFAH).  But the pain would not be spread
evenly across the country. States whose economies depend on
tourism and entertainment would be hit hardest, with losses as
large as 8% of their economic production, the group said. But
areas that depend on other sectors—from agriculture and finance
to real estate and government—might hold their losses to half
that much.  "Businesses, governments, schools and other sectors
could all face