NPR News

Sixteen cases of a new flu around Shanghai have touched off a major effort to determine what kind of threat this new bug might be.

The victims range in age from 4 to 87 years old. Six have died. It is a tragedy for them and their families, but is it a global crisis?

To understand why so few cases are generating so much concern, the first thing to know is that no flu virus like this one — called H7N9 — has ever been known to infect humans before.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now, panel, who is the next revered figure to take a blow to his or her reputation? Brian Babylon?

BRIAN BABYLON: All right, Abe Lincoln owned slaves, a lot of them.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Well that would be bad. That would be bad. Roxanne Roberts?

ROXANNE ROBERTS: None of her lovers would tell her but Catherine the Great wasn't.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And Peter Grosz?

PETER GROSZ: We will discover that NPR personality Robert Siegel has in actuality only been considering some things.

(LAUGHTER)

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CARL KASELL: From NPR and WBEZ-Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!, the NPR News quiz. I'm Carl Kasell. We're playing this week with Brian Babylon, Roxanne Roberts and Peter Grosz. And here again is your host, at the Coronado Performing Arts Center in Rockford, Illinois, Peter Sagal.

(APPLAUSE)

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Carl. Right now, it is time for the WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME! Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-Wait-Wait to play our game on the air. Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

I can't believe it but it is time for our final game Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players now has 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as they can; each correct answer now worth two points. Carl, can you give us the scores?

CARL KASELL: We have a two-way tie for first place, Peter. Roxanne Roberts and Peter Grosz, they both have three points, and Brian Babylon has two.