The Harvard School of Public Health just released some national Avian Flu polling results, conducted as part of the HSPH’s Project on the Public and Biological Security. There’s some interesting data in there, including the expected general level of unease about the disease:

More than half of Americans (57%) report that they are concerned about the potential spread of bird flu in the United States. However, only 15% are very concerned at the moment. A higher proportion of African Americans report that they are concerned about this than whites (70% versus 54%). Similarly, the majority of Americans are not currently concerned that they or a family member will get avian flu within the next twelve months; only one in five (21%) people are worried about this possibility. Six in ten people are concerned about a pandemic outbreak of avian flu, that is, an outbreak in many countries (62%), but only 20% are very concerned.

But check out these stunning figures regarding quarantine:

Most Americans are supportive of quarantine measures. Ninety-six percent of respondents said that they would agree to be quarantined for two to three weeks if they had avian flu. Over four out of five people said that they would also agree to be quarantined even if they might have the disease (83%).

So, four out of five Americans would submit to quarantine even if only suspected of having the disease. Perhaps those numbers would drop if the government decided, as they once did, that the most ideal quarantine site was an isolated island prison—and that the quarantine was meant to be permanent.