Plagues have always been amongst the greatest and most feared enemies of mankind - and one of the hardest to fight. The outbreak of a viral disease that emerges quickly and spreads like fire through an entire country, bringing widespread death and suffering, has evoked fear and dread since time immemorial. Even in our modern world of high-technology and complex medicine, plagues like AIDS and SARS - now more commonly referred to as epidemics and pandemics - have struck with deadly effect and proven extremely difficult to combat.

Now, according to the many of the world’s leading experts in virology and epidemics, mankind is faced by a far deadlier menace: a possible mutation of H5N1 “bird flu” which, if it emerges in a virulent form, may kill millions of people and have a devastating effect on the whole world.

The big questions are: if such a disease emerges, can it be contained before it reaches plague proportions; and can modern medicine evolve a vaccine and/or a cure before the disease starts marching across the globe leaving a trail of death and devastation?

Given the complexity of the virus, the numerous permutations of the disease that may emerge, and the time available for research and lab work before we reach the “window of opportunity” for a bird flu pandemic - which is the first three months of 2006 - vaccines and cures are a long-shot chance, not something on which the world leaders are willing to stake the lives of their citizens and perhaps even the fate of their countries. The best option is seen as containment, a global early warning and response system that enables immediate recognition of a serious problem and the means to isolate afflicted areas quickly and effectively.

But in both scenarios - the search for a vaccine and the early warning system - Information Technology is playing a massive role.

Modern microbiology has developed massively since Edward Jenner first came up with a vaccine for smallpox - which he discovered by chance when he noticed milkmaids seemed to be immune to this disease (the name “vaccine” is derived from vaccinia, the infectious agent of cowpox, “vaca” meaning “cow” in Spanish). In very recent years the unravelling and mapping of the human genome, together with the massive virology research done into AIDS and SARS, have given scientists and doctors unprecedented insights and a great battery of tools to work with. Most of them rely on the phenomenal processing speed of modern supercomputers, and the capability of the Internet to communicate vast amounts of information in real time.

Interestingly, the Internet was developed as a communications system that could cope with a devastating national catastrophe - specifically, a nuclear strike - and also formed an essential part of the US early warning system Today, the story is the stuff of legend: a network was created that could allow computers from all over the country to talk to each other. Packets of data would be sent in such a way that if they all did not arrive, the missing ones would be sent again by a different route. It was an extraordinary idea and it has changed the world we live in, even if many have forgotten what it was built for.

Will this technology now be able to protect us from the devastation of a plague?

Dr Ming Pang, a Hong Kong-based freelance consultant on technology transfer, believes that some recent advances in information technology do offer considerable help. The sooner we can detect any disease, the quicker we can isolate a patient and protect others.

“The principle is always the same and the time to diagnosis has shortened in recent years. The earlier you pick up a disease, the better it is for the patient and anyone else concerned,” he said. One way technology is helping here is that it is moving away from the old standard bacterial tests to newer, genomic tests. “If they can find a microbiological component there are methods to check the identity of the virus. If you pick up the mutation you can find out the strain and - in theory - you could find the antidote,” he said.

Even more radical uses have been proposed for extreme situations. For example, it is theoretically possible to constantly monitor healthcare workers. Their temperature, pulse and other vital signs could be registered on a chip that communicates to a centre where the data is continually examined. If a worker suddenly falls ill, a further test can be ordered and if a nasty viruses indeed are detected, that person can be immediately isolated. Still in the realms of science fiction? No, it was a serious proposal to the Hospital Authority but few will speak about it.

As for the development of vaccines, Dr Pang was less optimistic. It is clear that we may need to act fast if a new pandemic appears, but nobody wants to see drugs or anything else related to health rushed to market without proper testing. “One of the big problems (of the whole medical industry) is that it is highly regulated. It can take years for a new drug to hit the market. We are in dodgy territory. For Bird flu we are in even dodgier territory. We are pretty ignorant in that,” he said.

These early warning systems and medical treatments, sophisticated as they are, are also targeting a problem as it actually emerges. As both SARS and AIDS have taught the world, prevention is better than cure and some of the preventative measures are very basic - but even here, modern technology can play a role. In some cases, there are actions that individuals can take themselves rather than waiting and hoping that the government and the global medical establishment solve any problems that emerge. Just as washing and sterilizing your hands, and wearing a face mask, became major elements in the battle against SARS, some experts are adamant that cleaner air in your living environment will help prevent the spread of bird flu.

A Hong Kong company, Oxyvital, has been in the clean air business for a few years and its top executives think few people truly understand what it is all about. The Executive Director of Oxyvital, Brian Neirynck, said most people don’t understand the issues, let alone realize that modern technology can help. “Indoor air is up to two-to-five times more polluted than air outdoors, and many of us spend up to 90 per cent of our time indoors,” he said. “If we cannot keep that air clean we will get ill, it is that simple.

The company is now developing sophisticated systems that not only filter out dust particles - as most of these things try to do - but break down their structure. In so doing, they also break up tiny bacteria and other airborne minutae, including viruses. (To date, the spread of bird flu to human beings has been by airborne transmission.)

In other areas, researchers are hoping to take medical analysis and treatment to new levels of speed and sophistication by using the communication power of the mobile phone. The goal is to develop analysers contained within your phone that will read vital signs as you use it to talk. If any significant health problem or serious illness - and certainly something as malicious as a major virus - is detected, the phone itself will automatically send a message to the appropriate people. This, off course, depends on the user’s willingness to use and activate such technology, and one of the emerging issues in the use of IT in disease control - especially epidemics - is that of personal privacy.

But right now, as the dark shadow of a bird flu pandemic slowly spreads across the region most people, from political leaders to simple farm workers, are hoping that modern technology, with information technology in the forefront, will find a way to outwit and outfight one of our oldest and deadliest rivals: the killer plague.