The Avian Flu... Is President Bush right?

[Topgunjn1]

I believe President Bush is doing what he feels is the best interest of the country. If this disease reaches the U.S. or any major country it will be devastating! If there is not some plan of action to quickly stop the disease and uphold order then this disease if it makes it over here would make what happened in New Orleans look like childs play.

The World Health Orgainzation estimates that if the disease is allowed to go unchecked it could kill over a 150 million people world wide.

This is something that we should not just sit back and idly watch go by, or we could find ourselves in a place that nobody wants to be.

The World Health Organization has reported 116 cases of avian flu in humans, all of them in Asia. More than half of them have been fatal, it said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A call by President George W. Bush for Congress to give him the power to use the military in law enforcement roles in the event of a bird flu pandemic has been criticized as akin to introducing martial law.

 

[bulldogg]

I happen to be living in a city reknowned the world over as the petri dish that generates new diseases on a yearly basis. Its absolutely no mystery to me why it happens.

This disease is not going to be necessarily spread by people but by a combination of people and birds. It will be carried by migratory birds and is not limited to any particular species of bird. Some suspect that something as simple as a drop of bird poo on a shipping container going from one port to another is enough. This isn't far fetched either, I remember from my caving days that one of the worst cases and easiest ways to get rabies is from breathing in the dust of caves where bat guano has dried from infected carriers.

Bush is doing the right thing. This is population control via mother Earth and the disease wont stop at the borders.

 

[Charge 7]

Most important of all, it's about time the US was able to be completely selfsufficient in manufacturing flu vaccine.

 

[DTop]

This is and should be a major health concern. In this day and age of global travel it's not over reacting to prepare for the worst case scenario. As far as I know, there is no vaccine for the Avian flu (at least according to the news this morning). It's a huge concern where I live because it's a large tourist desination but any large city should have a real concern.

Sept. 15, 2005 — It could kill a billion people worldwide, make ghost towns out of parts of major cities, and there is not enough medicine to fight it. It is called the avian flu.

This week, the U.S. government agreed to stockpile $100 million worth of a still-experimental vaccine, while at the United Nations Summit in New York, both the head of the U.N. World Health Organization and President Bush warned of the virus' deadly potential....

Already, officials in London are quietly looking for extra morgue space to house the victims of the H5N1 virus, a never-before-seen strain of flu. Scientists say this virus could pose a far greater threat than smallpox, AIDS or anthrax....

The Council on Foreign Relations devoted its most recent issue of the prestigious journal, Foreign Affairs, to what it called the coming global epidemic, a pandemic.

"Each year different flus come, but your immune system says, 'Ah, I've seen that guy before. No problem. Crank out some antibodies, and I might not feel great for a couple of days, but I'll recover,'" Garrett says. "Now what's scaring us is that this constellation of H number 5 and N number 1, to our knowledge, has never in history been in our species. So absolutely nobody watching this has any natural immunity to this form of flu."

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

 

[Whispering Death]

My theory on such matters is "an ounce of prevention..."

I think as much as our gov't rapes from our paychecks the least they can do is look for potential problems and do a little preperation for them... even if only 1 in 100 actually comes true like 'hurricaine Katrina' did.

 

[bulldogg]

10 Oct 2005
Corruption undermines efforts to contain bird flu

Agriculture ministry officials on 10 October said that stocks of avian (bird) flu vaccine would be tested following a corruption scandal that resulted in the production of sub-standard batches of the vaccine. The vaccine was being use to inoculate poultry and other birds against bird flu.

Business travellers to Indonesia are at low risk of catching bird flu, which has killed more than 60 people across Asia since 2003. Business travel can continue, but visitors are advised to take sensible precautions to minimise the risk of contracting the virus, including avoiding areas such as bird markets or poultry farms where they could come into contact with sick birds. Visitors should wash their hands with soap often and ensure that all poultry dishes are cooked thoroughly. Control Risks reiterates its advice that business travellers and companies should have contingency plans in place in the event of a major outbreak of the disease. There have been no reported cases of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Corruption case

The agriculture ministry will test vaccines currently in circulation to check whether they meet minimum standards. Auditors suspect that four pharmaceutical companies paid to produce the bird flu vaccine intentionally lowered the vaccine's quality in order to inflate their profits; this was done with the complicity of local officials. Reports from the islands of Java and Bali showed that the vaccine’s protection level was only 11.8%-28.0%. The four companies were PT Vaksindo, PT Medion, and the state-owned Pusvetma and Balivet. It is also alleged that officials pocketed compensation that was intended for farmers who had culled poultry to contain the disease's outbreak.

Recent deaths

A seventh Indonesia national was on 5 October confirmed of having died from bird flu. Slamet Wibowo, 23, was referred to Sulianti Saroso private hospital on Cibinong (25 miles (40km) south of Jakarta) on 28 September but died the following day. Initial blood tests show that he had been suffering from bird flu but blood samples have been sent to Hong Kong for official confirmation. Indonesia’s first laboratory-confirmed death from bird flu came on 12 July when the virus killed a 38-year-old man from the town of Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta. His two daughters died days later. Bird flu has also killed 43 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia since 2003.

This is from a private global security consulting firm, I could post the link but unless you're a member of their service you will not be able to access it.

Is it me with my head in the sand or is this suddenly getting ALOT more press in the last few days?

 

[Ted]

Not necessarily a "head-in-the-sand-" but could this be another hype, stirred up by some journalist, to whom a story is more about "feeling" than about content.
Holy Hell, if you guys are suseptible, we in Europe should be dead by now. At least that is how it sounds: billions of dead, martial law, panick all over....... But then again, it could be me who is uninformed and blind to the bigger picture.

 

[DTop]

It seems that Europe is taking this flu thing seriously too.

Europe braces for avian flu
By Noelle Knox, USA TODAY
BRUSSELS — Several European countries have moved their pandemic preparation plans into high gear after reports this summer that the deadly avian flu from Southeast Asia unexpectedly struck birds in six regions in Russia and villages in Kazakhstan.

Romania expanded bird-flu prevention measures Sunday. Here, health workers in Sabangia collect a dead goose.
By Marius Nemes, AP

Health officials here are worried that migrating birds will carry the disease to the unprepared Balkan countries in Eastern Europe. The migratory paths continue south, extending the threat to the Middle East and Africa.

The virus already might have spread southwest to Romania and Turkey, where thousands of birds were culled or quarantined during the weekend as scientists raced to determine whether it was the same deadly strain that started in Southeast Asia.

Countries such as France, Norway and the United Kingdom have ordered enough anti-virals to protect at least 20% of their populations. They are stockpiling masks for emergency workers and increasing surveillance of migratory birds and border checks for poultry products.

Though most countries have pandemic plans in place, some countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy have been slow to buy anti-viral drugs. And officials acknowledge that coordination remains weak.

"The pandemic plan lays out the state and federal responsibilities, but it is still somewhat confusingly organized," says German Health Ministry spokeswoman Reinhild Meinel.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-10-09-europe-avian-flu_x.htm

Human flu pandemic likelihood 'very high'11/10/2005 - 08:00:17

The likelihood of a human flu pandemic is very high, US Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said as he begin a tour of south-east Asia to co-ordinate plans to combat bird flu.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has swept through poultry populations in many parts of Asia since 2003 and jumped to humans, killing 60 people, mostly through direct contact with sick fowl.

While there have been no known cases of person-to-person transmission, World Health Organisation officials and other experts have been warning that the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people. In a worst-case scenario, they say millions of people could die.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=158722214&p=y587zz9zx

I think it's a case of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

 

[Topgunjn1]

I don't know about everybody else, but I wonder if our governments will be prepared for the worst or are they hoping they won't have to deal with it.

 

[migidarra]

Does anyone have a clue as to the total number of deaths caused by this flu?

I am very skeptical as to the serious'ness of this problem....could be that I am just a redneck....with no knowledge of the way things work, or could be that I am 19 and too young to understand....but either way...

 

[Topgunjn1]

Migidarra so far the flu has infected 116 people so far, out of those over 50% have died already. Good thing about the flu is its not passed on to human to human. If we allow it to go unchecked it will be like a goose in hot water when it starts to boil our goose will be cooked.

Hopefully our planets governments will be responsible enough to take precautions to avoid a potentially catastrophic problem

 

[5.56X45mm]

Hopefully our planets governments will be responsible enough to take precautions to avoid a potentially catastrophic problem

We're screwed!

I think I'm going to duct tape my windows shut and not go to work.

 

[Ted]

Fun thing is, I rarely read or hear about it on the news over here. A while back there was an issue on vaccins and that was the last we heard about it. So once again, we might underestimate the problem over here, but what a relief not to live in fear all the time... And quite frankly, I haven't lost a second of sleep over it......
But it does make a nice front page if you talk about a 50% mortality rate and a body count in the billions. It sells a paper or two.

 

[Topgunjn1]

We're screwed!

You know the more I think about it ya we're screwed! Better have fun while I can where's some mud, beer, and steak