Bird Flu Thread

[LSU2001]

I thought I would post a few recent articles for the forum to check out. I for one am preparing for any disaster including Bird Flu. The main thing Katrina showed me is that any supply disruption causes severe downstream shortages. We are still have very minor problems with freight and some supplies that were based or routed through NOLA so supply disruptions can get hairy. I have been stocking up and prepping since Kat so this is really nothing new for me.
Please let me know your thoughts.

1. ABC news article on Prep. http://tinyurl.com/p4kl2

2. ABC online news on effects of pandemic http://tinyurl.com/koqgz

3. HHS planning document http://tinyurl.com/nevtn

4. Centers for Disease control Pandemic Prep and info site http://www.pandemicflu.gov

The above articles are all main stream and lately the main stream media are really cranking the stories out. Good Morning America has devoted time each day this week to discuss bird flu with a 5 part discussion/special feature.

What I really want is your opinions and discussion on this topic.
TIm

[Scorpion]

I for one am not that scared of it. I am in good shape and pretty resilient to disease. So Im not afraid of getting killed by it, however it still would be horrible for me since it would ruin life as we know it.

[TexasStooge]

I for one am not that scared of it. I am in good shape and pretty resilient to disease. So Im not afraid of getting killed by it, however it still would be horrible for me since it would ruin life as we know it.

Excellent point.

The City of Plano is already on alert for this kind of disease.

[BUD]

I do not think this Flu will be as bad as everybody thinks it will be.

[conestogo_flood]

Aaah! Bird Flu! Thats it! I ain't eatin' anymore chicken, mornin' doves, swans, sparrows, parates, budgies, geese, ducks, kingfishers, turkey, roosters, starlings, pigeons, blue jays, cardinals, owls, etc.

If it happens, it happens. Why dwell.

[conestogo_flood]

Heck, I forgot all about Bird Flu until today.

[Skywatch_NC]

Yep, everyone's gonna die some way, some how.

Eric

[conestogo_flood]

Don't take the Doppler Radar, Bird Flu!

[TexasStooge]

County health dept. gets $90,000 grant

DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - The Meadows Foundation of Dallas awarded a $90,000 grant to the Dallas County Health and Human Services to fund expansion of its pandemic influenza response plan.

"The directors of the Meadows Foundation believe it is critical that our community has a well-developed and realistic plan to deal with a possible health crisis like the Avian flu," said Linda Evans, president of the Meadows Foundation.

County health officials said the grant will improve their ability to plan for a possible health crisis such as Avian flu and expand their capacity to quickly identify, through virus testing, those who have the pandemic flu strain.

The Meadows Foundation is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948. Since its inception, the foundation has dispersed more than $430 million in grants and funding.

[coriolis]

Yep, everyone's gonna die some way, some how.

Eric

Yep, We all have to die of something.

[x-y-no]

The Flu Wiki is a terrific and well researched and maintained site for information about bird flu.

[LSU2001]

I really don't understand the cavalier attitudes both on this site and in the general population about preparing in advance for any type of disaster. The attitudes that have been put forward on this thread really remind me of alot of the posts on the wwltv.com forum prior to Katrina. A lot of the people on that board were making statements like "gotta die sometime" Can't evac or prep the govt will provide etc. Not flaming anyone but I sense the same type of attitudes about BF, Terrorism, etc. I promise you one thing I learned from Katrina that I will never be caught without an emergency kit and stockpile of food and water. I am not so concerned about the actual disease (because if you get it you get it) what concerns me is the potential for supply disruptions.Rant over,

Tim

[LSU2001]

The Flu Wiki is a terrific and well researched and maintained site for information about bird flu.

I agree x-y-no about fluwiki and I also frequent curevents.com Flu Clinic.
Tim

[TexasStooge]

Dallas Zoo on bird flu alert

By CHRIST HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - The bird collection at the Dallas Zoo is popular with human visitors - 700 of them, 145 different types.

The zoo's also a draw for migratory birds looking for a place to rest.

But that has zoo officials on alert because someday some of that friendly foul could carry the Avian Flu.

The Dallas Zoo is one of many around the country creating contingency plans for an outbreak. The goals: protect bird collections, the staff that care for them, and visitors to the zoo.

The zoo is using recommendations of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which include setting up bird quarantine areas and isolating and decontaminating infected space.

That means many of these could be placed inside for an extended period of time.

Zoos would also eliminate one-on-one contact between visitors and birds.

That would directly impact the new Birds Landing exhibit set to open Memorial Day where kids will go inside the mesh, to touch the birds and feed them. If Avian flu showed up anywhere near Dallas, people would not be allowed in the exhibit.

Not a scenario anyone wants, but one the zoo has to prepare for.

[coriolis]

I really don't understand the cavalier attitudes both on this site and in the general population about preparing in advance for any type of disaster. The attitudes that have been put forward on this thread really remind me of alot of the posts on the wwltv.com forum prior to Katrina. A lot of the people on that board were making statements like "gotta die sometime" Can't evac or prep the govt will provide etc. Not flaming anyone but I sense the same type of attitudes about BF, Terrorism, etc. I promise you one thing I learned from Katrina that I will never be caught without an emergency kit and stockpile of food and water. I am not so concerned about the actual disease (because if you get it you get it) what concerns me is the potential for supply disruptions.Rant over,

Tim

You make a good point, Tim, and an emergency kit is always a good thing. At our location we had to evacuate for Ivan. It would have been good to have copies of all our documents in one place so that we could have grabbed our stuff and left. We were lucky because the water didn't get into our house.

Still, bad things happen and people die everyday. My own personal choice is that I am not going to get excited about each and every potential disaster. I'd spend my life worrying and planning, maintaining and rotating supplies, missing opportunities to enjoy life or do good things for others. I'm not going to do that.

The odds still favor that I'll die of a stroke when I'm in my 70's or 80's (family history), as long as a car doesn't hit me when I'm riding my bike first.

Mad Cow disease, Bird Flu, flooding, tornado, car jacking, car accident, domestic situation, drowning in the bathtub. The list is endless. I am not going to give myself an ulcer to suffer with until something inevitably does me in.

[SouthFloridawx]

I really don't understand the cavalier attitudes both on this site and in the general population about preparing in advance for any type of disaster. The attitudes that have been put forward on this thread really remind me of alot of the posts on the wwltv.com forum prior to Katrina. A lot of the people on that board were making statements like "gotta die sometime" Can't evac or prep the govt will provide etc. Not flaming anyone but I sense the same type of attitudes about BF, Terrorism, etc. I promise you one thing I learned from Katrina that I will never be caught without an emergency kit and stockpile of food and water. I am not so concerned about the actual disease (because if you get it you get it) what concerns me is the potential for supply disruptions.Rant over,

Tim

You make a good point, Tim, and an emergency kit is always a good thing. At our location we had to evacuate for Ivan. It would have been good to have copies of all our documents in one place so that we could have grabbed our stuff and left. We were lucky because the water didn't get into our house.

Still, bad things happen and people die everyday. My own personal choice is that I am not going to get excited about each and every potential disaster. I'd spend my life worrying and planning, maintaining and rotating supplies, missing opportunities to enjoy life or do good things for others. I'm not going to do that.

The odds still favor that I'll die of a stroke when I'm in my 70's or 80's (family history), as long as a car doesn't hit me when I'm riding my bike first.

Mad Cow disease, Bird Flu, flooding, tornado, car jacking, car accident, domestic situation, drowning in the bathtub. The list is endless. I am not going to give myself an ulcer to suffer with until something inevitably does me in.

i agree... besides just do what the sec. general told us to do... Buy canned tuna and powdered milk...

[TexasStooge]

I found this related article in the Odd News section, and I know some of you would say, "Oh, c'mon! That's not the truth!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wrath of God behind Israel bird flu?

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An outbreak of deadly bird flu in Israel is God's punishment for calls in election ads to legalize gay marriages, according to Rabbi David Basri, a prominent sage preaching Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism.

"The Bible says that God punishes depravity first through plagues against animals and then in people," Basri said in a religious edict quoted by his son.

Basri said he hoped the deaths of hundreds of thousands of turkeys and chickens would help atone for what he called the sins of left-wing Israeli political parties, the son, Rabbi Yitzhak Basri, told Reuters, a week before a national election.

The bird flu outbreak stemmed from far-left political parties "strengthening and encouraging homosexuality," Rabbi Basri's son quoted him as saying.

One of the parties aired an election commercial depicting two brides kissing. Some campaign advertisements also called for homosexual marriages to be legalized in Israel.

Basri is a prominent Kabbalist and author of commentaries on the Zohar, the main Kabbalah mystical text.

[nholley]

I think you have to keep a weary eye on things like this but not let it comsume you. There are so many things out there that could kill you, you could spend you life preparing for this or that and miss out on actually living your life.

Live life, enjoy life, embrace life.....don't worry about what can end life!

[Cookiely]

Atlanta - The H5N1 type of bird flu that affects humans has evolved into two strains, American researchers have reported.

This could complicate attempts to develop a vaccine.

One strain, or clade, infected people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in 2003 and the second, people in Indonesia the following year. Two clades may have the same ancestor but are distinct - as are different clades of HIV - the team at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

"In 2003 we had one genetically distinct population of H5N1 with the potential to cause a human pandemic. Now we have two," said Rebecca Garten, a member of the study team.

'We had one genetically distinct population of H5N1'
Speaking at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, she said the pool of H5N1 candidates with the potential to cause a human pandemic was becoming more genetically diverse as it spread geographically.

The H5N1 strain has spread in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. Since 2003, it has infected about 180 people, claiming the lives of about 100 of these.

The US Health and Human Services Department has approved the development of a second H5N1 vaccine based on the second clade.

Several companies are working on vaccines experimentally, although their formulations are not expected to protect well, if at all, against any pandemic strain.

A vaccine against a pandemic strain would have to be based on the virus being passed from one person to another.

Garten and her colleagues analysed more than 300 H5N1 virus samples taken from infected birds and people from 2003 until the middle of last year.

Most of the viruses, including those in all the human cases, were of the genotype Z. Now there are two clades of the Z genotype.

There were also small numbers of viruses in birds that were genotype V or W or the recently identified G.

Pakistan has become the latest country to confirm bird flu in poultry, while in Egypt a woman is believed to be infected, the third case in less than a week.

A man in Egypt has recovered after being given Tamiflu, but a woman who received the drug died on Friday. - Reuters



o This article was originally published on page 2 of Cape Times on March 22, 2006

[TexasStooge]

Bird flu's start in lungs limits human spread

It's rarely passed by coughing, sneezing, but virus could mutate

NEW YORK (AP) – Why doesn't bird flu spread easily between people? Scientists think they've found a reason.

The virus prefers to infect cells in the lung instead of areas like the nose and windpipe, so it's not easily coughed or sneezed out into the air, new research says.

But that behavior could change if the virus mutates. Experts say the new research doesn't indicate how likely the virus is to change genetically and unleash a worldwide outbreak of lethal flu. However, the work suggests one of the signs to watch for in new virus samples to help gauge the danger to humans.

The work, reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, comes from University of Wisconsin-Madison virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka with colleagues in Japan. Similar results, from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, were published online Thursday by the journal Science.

More than 180 people are known to have been infected with the bird flu virus H5N1. Virtually all are believed to have caught it from infected poultry. But scientists have long warned that the virus, which is prone to mutation, could transform itself into a version that spreads easily from person to person. That germ could touch off a pandemic.

Ordinary flu viruses spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes, blasting out tiny droplets carrying the germ. For that to happen, the virus has to be perched in the right places to be ejected by a cough or sneeze. The new work suggests H5N1, by contrast, infects humans too low in the respiratory tract for that to occur.

Both research teams used human tissue removed from various parts of the respiratory tract – the region from the nose to the lung – to study where virus infection occurs.

Scientists already knew that bird flu viruses use a specific kind of docking site to enter cells they infect, while human flu viruses use a different one. Dr. Kawaoka's group found the bird virus docking site appears mostly on lung cells, while being rare on cells found in higher areas like the nose and windpipe. Those higher areas were dominated instead by the human-type docking site.

Dr. Kawaoka said that for H5N1 to become a pandemic virus, it would have to mutate in a way that lets it attach to the same docking site human viruses use. Other mutations would be needed as well, he said in a prepared statement.

Robert M. Krug of the University of Texas at Austin called Dr. Kawaoka's work an important observation and said that if H5N1 begins to use the human virus docking site "we've got a lot to worry about." It's not clear whether that would be enough to produce a pandemic germ, he said.

James Paulson of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., stressed that other viral factors may be important in human-to-human transmission.