A pandemic is loosely defined as a very widespread disease or illness – perhaps across a nation, perhaps around the world. For as long as I’ve been alive, and probably much longer, people have been predicting that a “superbug” will eventually destroy our world (or at least set it back a few centuries). Given the list of potential candidates that still make the news today, including H1N1 Swine Flu, SARS, Marbug virus, typhoid, Lassa fever, AIDS, Ebola, H5N1 Avian Flu, and many others, it’s certainly easy to understand their pessimistic predictions.