Anybody worried about Avian Flu Pandemic?

[masmdu]

What should a person do?

[Bluebear]

1. Get a series of Tamiflu tablets to have just in case n/t

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. and just where and how would one do this? n/t

[Bluebear]

13. Either your doctor or an online pharmacist n/t

[chalky]

2. Yes. And thanks to ABC, the whole country is finally freaking out over it

n/t

[Wizard777]

3. Do you think it could be any worse than Bush?

[Maple]

4. NO !

[Birthmark]

5. No. No I'm not.

[pitohui]

6. no

hub often works w. the poultry industry

if i thought it was an issue i'd say something

avian flu is very well contained by usda & has been for yrs

we have so much to worry abt but this isn't it

[bring_em_home_bush]

19. I think the problem will be when it becomes transmissible by humans

and perhaps airborne--this will happen in Asia, then spread here via human channels of contact.

[pitohui]

30. why borrow trouble

i'll be honest

fear of poultry or the poultry industry is way down on my list of troubles at the moment

i've seen how fast usda moves to contain poultry disease & they're machine-like in their efficiency

i just don't see this as a major worry

look how quickly and effectively sars was contained

[bring_em_home_bush]

38. Unfortunately, when the World Health Organization is worried

about a pandemic, I tend to worry, too.

Bird flu pandemic inevitable, says WHO
By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 8th September 2005 14:14 GMT

The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday warned that a pandemic of the bird flu strain lethal to humans is inevitable, and would likely kill between one and seven million people worldwide, Reuters reports.

Dr. Jai P. Narain, Director of WHO's communicable diseases department, took time out from a Southeast Asia health summit in Sri Lanka to tell the press: "We may be at almost the last stage before the pandemic virus may emerge. Whether the avian influenza pandemic will occur, that is not the question any more, as to when the pandemic will occur."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/08/bird_flu_pandemic/



I'm not sure you understand me--we don't have to worry about the poultry industry here. It will not be a poultry problem, it will be a people problem, that starts in another part of the world and spreads here the same way the great plagues and pandemics always have spread - through trade, through contacts between people. If it becomes airborne, it will reach nearly every corner of the world within days.

[Maru Kitteh]

7. I'm going to have to be really pissed if I die because of the F'n meat

industry even though I don't eat any animal products.

If a single member of my family dies because of it, I'll have to go extreme.

[jwirr]

14. It is all birds not just domestic ones. I love birds but I

have stopped feeding them in my back yard. I take the food a ways down the road.

[BiggJawn]

8. On top of everything ELSE that's going down the toilet?

Yeah, and considering our government's demonstrated ability to react to a LOCALIZED emergency.......

We're SOOOOOOO fucking DEAD.

[seabeyond]

9. nope, did the worrying with west niles and sars, then researched

and found out what they were about along with chicken pox, gotta get vaccination and hep c...........

enough of the fear fear fear we parents are inundated with in regards to our children.

[Lethe]

10. ditto. i actually got West Nile virus a couple months ago

it turned into West Nile Fever. took me three days to get over it. not as bad as the flu, even.

No worries.

[Patiod]

21. That's very reassuring

My friend has had dead animals (like owls and birds) on her property which she's been told have been West Nile victims. The state has a mosquito collection station set up in their yard by the creek, and the extension agent told her they had found mosquitos with West Nile.

I've been really paranoid, because I've gotten all bit to hell over there, and I've been convinced all summer I was due to get West Nile. I'm not usually paranoid about illnesses - in fact, I walk barefoot through the grass on our lawn without thinking even after deer were grazing the night before - and there's probably way more chance of Lyme then of getting West Nile (since SE PA is a Lyme hotbed)

Anyway, (no sarcasm at all), thank you - it's a huge relief to hear that it's no big deal even if I do get it.

[bring_em_home_bush]

27. West Nile can certainly be fatal

Some people have no symptoms, some people have flu-like symptoms, and a certain percentage have very serious symptoms and can die.

[Patiod]

28. Oh yay.

[Lethe]

33. yeah i mean, i was in bad shape for 2 days

i had 104 fever one day, and couldnt stop shivering. But I pulled through, which I suppose most healthly adults would too.

I play disc golf almost every day in a park, and it turns out my city is really active with West Nile. (no one ever talks about it though) This park has a creek running through it, and consequently there are mosquitos there. I've seen several dead birds there too.

I still think its pretty tough to get it though. They say it can't be spread by humans or dead animals, mostly just through mosquito bites. Check on the web for west nile activity in your area, and if there is any activity, wear insect repellant if you go near any standing water for long periods of time.

[bring_em_home_bush]

37. I don't think it's clear why some people develop a bad case

and others don't. Anybody can google it and learn about possible symptoms. I'm thinking that a lot of people have already been exposed and had experiences like you, but the problem is you don't apparently know what kind of case you will have until you actually get it.

Yeah, they recently found it in several mosquitos near my home, and I only found that out by visiting the city webpage for other information.

[kitkat65]

39. Do you have immunity now barring any mutations of the virus?

One less thing to worry about, I guess. I'm glad you're alive and well.

I guess the only preparation one can make for something like this is to take good care of yourself to begin with. Eat well, exercise, take mutli-vitamins, and wash your hands frequently.

And don't go to work if you're sick. I hate when people come into the office sick but I understand that some people need to just suck it up for the paycheck.

And unfortunately, there are always the Typhoid Mary types who just don't give a shit. A couple of years ago I was grocery shopping and as I was walking past a woman in the aisle, she turned her head and coughed right in my face. It literally flew my hair back. I so wanted to deck her. Needless to say, I got sick about a week and a half later. Thankfully, I had a flu shot that year so it wasn't too bad.

[drfresh]

11. Yes .. what to do

get a tamiflu prescription ready and stock up on cranberry juice, chicken soup, vitamins and other immune boosters. can't hurt and could help.

[shanti]

15. hell yeah!

but it seems to be lost in the news shuffle :(

[Cleita]

16. I've been worried about it for awhile.

I think you should report any bird deaths to the health department.

[Cats Against Frist]

17. I'm a little worried, I guess

but, then, I'm kind of an alarmist, anyway.

One thing that I have noticed, however, is an odd lack in the number of wild birts, outside, late this summer. I moved into a house with a trazillion locust trees, and thought that it would be a bird smorgasbord, but I rarely see any. There is a bat who patrols the area, at night, pretty fiercely, but I don't know if that would make a difference to the daytime birds.

How far do birds migrate? Anyone else notice fewer birds?

[joanne]

18. According to ABC

not even a fraction of enough Tamiflu to go around.

It isnt simply a case of going to your doctor and get a prescription.... AS USUAL THE GOVERNMENT HAS SCREWED UP AND THERE ISNT NEARLY ENOUGH AVAILABLE.

If the ABC report is to be believed...... this winter could be very bleak indeed. :scared:

[no_hypocrisy]

20. Let me put it to know this way:

I'm a realist. Either I'll catch it or I won't. If I do catch it, then either I'll die or I won't. And in case I die, I'm updating my Will right now. I'm serious.

Facts. There isn't enough Tamiflu for everyone. I can't guarantee that I'm going to get lucky. The bird flu is contagious like any other virus. From the door handle of a public restroom, a can of peas on the supermarket shelf, the baby coughing in front of you in line, etc. Unless you plan on staying home with your plastic wrap and duct tape, you're a player and you are at risk.

I'm not going to panic, I'm not giving in or up, but I will be prepared for "whatever".

On the other hand, if I were REALLY hypervigilant (maybe anal), I'd make a beeline to my local funeral home and get a package before the prices go up.

[Patiod]

22. Not avian flu specifically, but a flu pandemic, yes

First, I should note that I used to work for a company that monitors and predicts the spread of regular influenza throughout the US each year. We talked about mutation predictions for the coming year the way other worker talk about how the competition in the NFC East is going to be.

So this was a regular topic in the lunchroom, and we talked to CDC and flu specialists all the time about what would happen if the flu mutates into a 1918-like virus.

The thing is, who will it hit? The 1918 pandemic hit the young and healthy, mostly those age 20-40. The next one might take out infants and old people. If we duck the "avian" flu, we could get hit with something else 3 years from now. And I really wonder how Tamiflu would work on something like we saw in 1918, where healthy young soldiers were turning black and dying of acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, very quickly.

So I think about it on an intellectual level, but it's too vague to worry on a gut level.

Interesting reading http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/articles/2005/great_influenza.html">here. Unfortuantely the cited book spends 75% of its pages on the history of US medicine and medical education and only about 25% on flu.

[oasis]

23. Health Secretary was making excuses why he didn't order enough doses

of Tamiflu. ABC's "Nightline" last night he revealed that the U.S. only has 2 1/2 million doses.

We are not prepared for this flu despite plenty of warning.

[triguy46]

24. Nope. n/t

[bobd]

25. It Will Be a HUGE Deal When it Hits

The US is SO unprepared for this. I fully expect to die from this pandemic. My guess is that it will arrive sometime in mid to late 2006. It will take everyone by surprise and absolutely devastate the country. TamiFlu isn't gonna help. It's a new influenza strain.

Don't belive me? Check this link: Register.com article on the Bird Flu

'bout all you can do is take a big deep breath and gut out your death. It won't be pretty.

And yes - I'm serious as a heart attack. This is the real deal.

Bob D.

[gkhouston]

34. Yes -- it might not be this winter, but sooner or later it's going

make the jump to a human-to-human transmissible strain, and then we're screwed. I worry about my daughter being orphaned. I don't even worry about her dying anymore, just about her being left alone after the rest of her family is dead.

[pitohui]

36. usda is fully prepared

they are extremely aggressive at controlling poultry disease

if this was the biggest thing i had to worry abt all day long, i'd be tickled ten shades of pink

i know there is always some reason we're supposed to hate & fear birds but this is a phobia not a rational fear to my mind

when all the birds on all the migratory flyways have been depopulated then the phobics will go back to screaming abt swine flu, just like they did in the olden days

[smartvoter]

40. It's the passing from person to person that is the problem. nt

[Earth_First]

26. No pandemic_1918 response yet? I'm shocked! n/t

[joanne]

29. Here is the link to the ABC story

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Investigation/story?id=1130392&page=1

[gkhouston]

35. Hmm... I'm not seeing a user profile for pandemic_1918....

perhaps someone changed their name or disrupted poorly?

[RebelOne]

31. I will worry when there is a reported case here in the US.

And so far, there have not been any cases here -- yet.

[trackfan]

32. No. n/t