NOW IT'S RABBIT FLU!

I STILL HAVEN'T RECOVERED FROM BIRD FLU AND NOW IT'S RABBIT FLU!

A YOUNG farmer has died from rabbit flu in what vets believe is the first time that the bacterium has been fatally transmitted from animal to human in this country.

John Freeman became infected with the bacterium Pasteurella multocida after picking up a rabbit he had shot on his farm. He fell ill with a fever the next day and doctors initially suspected flu or chickenpox.

This raises some other interesting points:

-rabbit flu is also called "snuffles." I would hate to die from something called "snuffles." You have to admit: It would look pretty embarrassing on a headstone (if in fact, someone would actually put that on a headstone - which is probably unlikely.

FYI: when I die, I plan to have my remains scattered over my neighborhood - and no, I don't intend to be cremated.

-what's up with bird flu? Where did it go? According to the media, we should have all been infected by it and dead by now. I'm a bit disappointed. Like I was with swine flu. Remember swine flu? That was a good one. Rabbit flu, I predict, will follow the same arc as Bird Flu.

Meaning, the story of this young farmer's death will be reported far and wide. Then follow-up articles will focus on the potential for the spread of this disease. Rabbit flu will be called the "fluffy fear," the "hantavirus from the hole," or perhaps the "carrot-eating Killer." You might read headlines like "Watership...Dead," with lines like "Farmers are hopping mad over the coming epidemic," and so on. I can't wait, frankly.

Then a year or two will pass, and we won't even notice that no one is talking about it anymore. Just like Bird Flu. Or America's Got Talent.