Bird Flu - The Next Imminent Threat??

[DMad]

In a day and time where global focus is on the terror being wrought by religious extremists, I find myself more worried by the possibility of a flu pandemic devastating the world as never before since the flu pandemic of 1918-19.

During that pandemic, approximately 28% of Americans were infected with the flu virus and estimates put the death toll of Americans at approximately 675,000 people. Of course I believe that instance of flu pandemic was spread quite rapidly among Americans from soldiers returning from World War I.

And how can civilization win THIS war? The only way I see this being able to happen is to quarantine and suffocate the virus by not providing new hosts. Thoroughly scrub and exterminate any sign of influenza at its source before it is allowed to spread further. But is this possible when the concentration of bird flu cases appear in poor third-world countries where living conditions are so deteriorated that citizens walk openly and freely among the very foul that carry and spread this disease? Countries where there is no infrastructure in place to react to a pandemic of this nature let alone proactively squelch it. So what to do? I'm getting started on my own clean zone in the basement of my house.

I hope I have some of my supplies left from Y2K!

[Zen Curmudgeon]

So what to do? I'm getting started on my own clean zone in the basement of my house.

I hope I have some of my supplies left from Y2K!Still have your duct tape and plastic wrap? Don't forget, that particular remedy was originally proposed by the current chief of FEMA, the guy sent in to replace former Coloradoan Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown.

Take Care -

ZC

[large]

Awww, fer chrissake . . This is a 24/7 News Panic . . . ALL influenza comes from the East Asian area and from birds, usually poultry . . there has been 66 cases of N1H5 recorded this year . . lot of 'em, Huh? Until you figure that thats 66 out of about 10 Gazillion People in the world . . and that it was picked up by these people by actually coming in contact with an Infected Birds (usually a chicken) . . Ducks were the offender, I guess, on the last batch of Asian Flu . .

All of the REAL Doctors have said that it must "Evolve" to become communicable from one human to another, and Yes, they're watching it closely . . but there isn't any need to become alarmed, say these same Doctors . .

Take a Pill, heh, heh . . . . .

[Zen Curmudgeon]

All of the REAL Doctors have said that it must "Evolve" to become communicable from one human to another. . . . .Careful with the "E" word, large - otherwise the Intelligent Designer might smite you with a batch of bad Peking duck...:)

Take Care -

ZC

[DMad]

I should've waited for your advice, large. I am now posting from my concrete-reinforced, temperature controlled, underground bunker. I'm actually hundreds of feet below the earth surface and in virtually complete isolation. But damn it if I don't have the sniffles....

Point well taken, and I was of the same mindset early on. I mean, what the hell can I do, right? If it happens, it happens. But then as the coverage continued on and on, and the "experts" were paraded one by one with their version of the "duck-induced" apocalypse, I began to feel my foundation shake a bit. Hell, the way it's made out in the larger media, this think will mutate at the drop of a dime and i'll be dead about a buck and twenty-three cents later!

[large]

Basically, as I've said before, the 24/7 News Media constantly has to have something that they can speak of loudly with the words "Thousands Dead!" and the hint that a disease that might become a "P A N D E M I C !" and kill "MILLIONS!" is a Talking Head's dream. . . . . Just think, if it took a month to kill off a million people, they'd be busy ranting and raving for at least a month and a half! Gosh, how much worse can it get? yada, yada . . . . complete with photos of piles of dead bodies, over and over and over . . . .

It's funny, there is a law against shouting "FIRE!" in a Theatre, if there isn't any fire . . Somehow this "Avian Flu" thing is just about as bad . . or at least seems to me it is . . there's a lot of people in this world who never check to see if there's more to a TV news story than the shouting, and they're worried . . . No need to be. Educate yourself when something like this comes up . . if you wait for the news media to do it for you, while you may not suffer any ill effects from the disease, you may die of fright!

[DMad]

Okay, large, so now it has reached the "edges of Europe". It's coming and you better be prepared, you don't want to be the next person to reach a 120 degree fever and demonstrate spontaneous combustion!

I understand what you've said, and I've attempted to do my own research, first by investigating the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. I've gotta be honest with you, that s*** sounded pretty scary to me. And couple all this with the world supposedly being overdue for another flu pandemic? I need a Valium...

[large]

that's what we seem to have . . and one would think that the Poultry Industry, worldwide, would attack this . . pay large sums of money to find a cure,. It's gotta be costing big bucks to kill all those chickens . . .

Again, there's still only 66 people out of the world's population that have died from this . .

Kind of like working with any hazardous material, I guess the humans who handle Poultry are going to have to start wearing protective gear . . .

[Zen Curmudgeon]

I don't know what to do to keep from getting the Avian Flu, but my first step is staying away from any bird running a fever.
--Will Durst

Take Care -

ZC

[helena]

hi zen,

Yes, we should be careful from the birds who are down with fever and who might be infected with the virus. It has been spreading around the world and there is every chance of humans, who are in contact with the avians , having a great risk of catching the flu.. To stay protected we need to be aware of the anti viral drugs such as tamiflu and relenza to protect us from bird flu..

Have already stocked mine from http://www.drugdelivery.ca/s3353-s-TAMIFLU.aspx but I really dont know where to get relenza from ?
Any ideas, anyone ?

[Zen Curmudgeon]

Top Ten Dumb Guy Tips For Avoiding The Bird Flu

10. Before eating chicken, soak it in Lysol

9. Don't lick unfamiliar pigeons

8. Frighten birds by constantly meowing

7. Stay away from basketball great Larry Bird

6. Anti-bacterial smoothies

5. Move to a place where there are no birds...like the moon

4. Avoid birds that look like they're up to something

3. Go back to the old Y2K bunker, start drinking

2. Fill birdfeeder with Sucrets

1. If you have a chicken, check for swelling in the McNuggets

---Late Show with David Letterman

Take Care -

ZC

[DMad]

A little tidbit of an update about what large likes to refer to as the 24/7 news panic. Stay away from all birds that appear to have a fever and may be acting lethargic:


HANOI - Scientists in Vietnam, where bird flu has killed 42 people, said the deadly H5N1 influenza virus had mutated into a more dangerous form that could breed more effectively in mammals, state media reported on Sunday.

The online newspaper Vnexpress quoted Cao Bao Van, director of the Molecule Biology Department of the Pasteur Institute, Vietnam’s center of bird flu research, as saying the decoding of 24 samples of the virus taken from poultry and humans showed significant antigen variation.

An antigen is any foreign substance that stimulates the body’s immune system to produce antibodies.

Van said the study had showed an antigenic shift involving major antigenic changes of the influenza surface proteins, the HA and NA molecules. These changes can result in the appearance of pandemic viruses.

Van said the study had also found a mutation of the PB2 gene in a virus sample from a patient in Dong Thap, southern Vietnam, who died earlier this year. The mutation allows more effective breeding of the virus in mammals.

The function of the PB2 gene is not completely understood, but scientists believe it codes for an enzyme that helps force the host cell’s molecular machinery to make more viruses.

While the study came to no conclusion on the virus’s ability to move easily between people, it said the virus had developed resistance to anti-flu agents Amatadine and Rimantadine.

[Besq]

So far its only gone from bird to human. So we're still safe. When it starts going from human to human, then we may have a problem.

Consider, the people in Asia are different from us. They live differently. They commonly live with birds in the house wandering in and out as they please. Now I've had dogs and cats for years and years and I don't believe we pass colds back and forth. I am certain I have never gotten a cold from my dogs and I don't think my cat has ever even had a cold. When one of them gives me something, then I will worry about birds. Until then, it is creative news reporting.

Another thing in my favor is I don't buy chicken or any other birds at local outlets. If I were to get hungry for some chicken, unlikely, I would go to the meat market and buy a chicken that is plump and meaty, not these skinny tasteless things that we commonly find offered. They grow on a farm where they eat plenty of what chickens are supposed to eat normally and they sure don't live in a cage or a pen. But it is still unlikely, I'm just not fond of chicken.