Nation States prioritize the pursuit of security in such a way that threats to national security from external sources are cordoned from threats that arise from within. However, terror without ‘tag values’ - i.e. without an actor to perform, without an explicit intention of any party involved, due to the scourges of inefficient regulatory mechanisms and which has very little incubation time to register as serious threats – are important security threats which require concerted action among the people and the state for successful resolution. Empowered civil-society, decentralized capacity building and proactive citizenry can facilitate not only recognizing of the threats early, but also achieving quicker restitution of order.

In early January 2009, bird flu resurfaced with the death of a Chinese woman who was infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the eastern Shandong province in China. Only two weeks before this, the Chinese media had announced the death of a 19-year old woman from the disease. Reportedly, the woman died after she came into contact with poultry in the market. This is the second reported death caused by bird flu in China since the beginning of the year. This deadly pandemic, also known as avian influenza is the worst of its kind in medical history.