Get rich quick

Who wants to go and live by the scenic river Ebola in Congo-Kinshasa?  How about Marburg in Germany?  Or Hendra in Queensland?  Omsk perhaps?

Of course you don't - all of these places are the unfortunate victims of something that I call Eponymous Virus Dystourismia (EVD).  Whenever a horrible fatal virus outbreak occurs somewhere, the virus tends to get named after that place and it really puts people off going there.  It doesn't always happen this way.  Spain, for example, is famous for much more than just Spanish Influenza.  Ebola, on the other hand...

It occurred to me yesterday, while reading about Hendra virus, that it would be a great idea to buy an investment property in Hendra.  I reckon prices must be plummeting around now.  The cure for EVD is the same as the cure for the underlying disease itself.  Eventually some clever person will develop a vaccine for Hendra virus and it won't get much more media coverage after that.  Prices will rebound once people start seeing Hendra for the delightful, family-centric, garden utopia that it is.  If you take my advice and get in now, you'll make a killing!

But there's a hitch in my plan.  The government has denied ongoing funding to a research centre that is investigating Hendra virus and it will close next year.  Get out there and hassle your local MP - ask them why Australia's only defence against this potentially disastrous disease has been axed.  If they reinstate the funding, you'll be saving lives AND saving my retirement nest-egg!  It's a win-win!