Atypical pneumonia, avian influenza, and Ebola virus appear quite regularly in the news. Every few years, scary reports of global epidemics come out and set the panic. Doctors pitch in with gloomy forecasts and first victims cause total fear. We get vaccinated and stock up on masks. We prepare for the worst. At that moment, rumours miraculously die out. So while the population majority now have unnecessary masks and emptier wallets, a few companies get richer. So how real are these panic rumours? Is it true that the avian flu broke out after the bacteriological weapons’ testing? And are viruses as dangerous as they are painted?