So what do you guys think about "bird flew"?

[Cody]

The other day somewhere in Florida close to where I live they had a test on some fair grounds to see if FL could hold up to a epidemic. The results?, not good, the 150,000 respirators ran out in the begining of the test. This is gonna be a bitch if it kills millions of people like the last centure epidemic

[TexasZombie]

Last pandemic in 1918 killed about half a million Americans - it was the only year in US history with a net negative population increase. In the case of bird flu, I personally think most of it is hype. The reason? It's an H5 virus. H5's infect deep/lower lung tissue. It's VERY hard to contract such a virus without long-term exposure (kind of like TB bacteria). Nah, it'll be something else that causes a pandemic (see end-of-the-world thread). My big concern, however, IS the hype. After watching the response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I don't have much faith in people to be calm or rational. I watched people in San Antonio fight each other over gas and groceries right before Hurricane Rita like they thought the storm was coming up the San Gabriel River at Category 5. Not a cloud in the sky, and not one drop of rain from the storm made it this far inland. My concern is that once the current strain of bird flu* reaches North America, people are going to get stupid and start shooting each other over depleted supplies of cold medicine. *'Cause there are already other strains of bird flu, H5's in fact, that have been in North America for years. TZ

[idsaluteyoubub]

Last pandemic in 1918 killed about half a million Americans - it was the only year in US history with a net negative population increase. In the case of bird flu, I personally think most of it is hype. The reason? It's an H5 virus. H5's infect deep/lower lung tissue. It's VERY hard to contract such a virus without long-term exposure (kind of like TB bacteria). Nah, it'll be something else that causes a pandemic (see end-of-the-world thread). My big concern, however, IS the hype. After watching the response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I don't have much faith in people to be calm or rational. I watched people in San Antonio fight each other over gas and groceries right before Hurricane Rita like they thought the storm was coming up the San Gabriel River at Category 5. Not a cloud in the sky, and not one drop of rain from the storm made it this far inland. My concern is that once the current strain of bird flu* reaches North America, people are going to get stupid and start shooting each other over depleted supplies of cold medicine. *'Cause there are already other strains of bird flu, H5's in fact, that have been in North America for years. TZ But from what I hear, the problem with this particular strain is it has the makings of what may become a rapidly mutating virus, unlike the other strains. But I still think it is being blown out of the water...although about 130+ people have died out of the 215 or so registered cases...but again, these were in third world countries...

[Danny]

honestly i do think the american public will go into panick, i think there was a case on a farm in england t'uther day and they just torched a whole group of about 300 birds because of it ,so the british goverments takeing this pretty seriously.

[idsaluteyoubub]

honestly i do think the american public will go into panick, i think there was a case on a farm in england t'uther day and they just torched a whole group of about 300 birds because of it ,so the british goverments takeing this pretty seriously. Really? Do you have a link for that? I thought the farthest its come was Turkey...I didnt know it hit the UK...I may be out of the loop...

[TexasZombie]

But from what I hear, the problem with this particular strain is it has the makings of what may become a rapidly mutating virus, unlike the other strains... My understanding is the concern that this is a wide-spread avian flu that could be dangerous to humans if it could mutate into a human-to-human contagious form. Even if it did, it'd first be something like viral pneumonia and not be casually contagious. The concern that's being blown out of proportion is the ~50% casualty rate among known cases in the third world. Fact is, there may be thousands of unknown cases. In the same period of time in the US alone, something like 60,000 people have been killed in automobile accidents. The problem is one of perception - the media makes it sound like a killer virus, but it's nearly impossible to catch. In the meanwhile, we're dying by millions every day from other causes, the vast vast majority of which receive no attention by the media because they're not so scary. Some are downright funny, truth be told. I didn't realize until recently that small dogs have killed many times more people than the bird flu in the same period of time. TZ P.S. Yes, it's been reported in England.

[MaximusIncredulous]

There doesn't even have to be an actual outbreak. If the media goes with pandemic stories given to them by the gov. with high enough body counts, that's all that's needed really to get something going.

[Danny]

the birds with the virus inengland is now being hurreidly reported as h7 not h5, possibly due to beef being sold for the first time in almost a decade overseas now?

[erisi236]

I'd be scared...if I was a bird

[idsaluteyoubub]

There doesn't even have to be an actual outbreak. If the media goes with pandemic stories given to them by the gov. with high enough body counts, that's all that's needed really to get something going. Groan...not another conspiracy theory...

[MaximusIncredulous]

Groan...not another conspiracy theory... Yeah, sigh. They're as common as the flu.

[Terran]

The other day somewhere in Florida close to where I live they had a test on some fair grounds to see if FL could hold up to a epidemic. The results?, not good, the 150,000 respirators ran out in the begining of the test. This is gonna be a bitch if it kills millions of people like the last centure epidemic So what do you guys think about "bird flew"? It makes me think I just stepped out of a salon....

[MinionZombie]

Yeh that was the thing over in Norfolk wasn't it? Kinda glad I ain't still at Uni over there, lol.

[p2501]

Really? Do you have a link for that? I thought the farthest its come was Turkey...I didnt know it hit the UK...I may be out of the loop... I'll see if i can pull a link this afternoon from BBC or WHO. But yeah it's been found in France, Spain, and the UK. They've been small isolated instances thus far though, nothing like China or Singapore. _________ My primary concern isn't with H5N1, which is the current variant they're following. but where the virus goes when it moves from that strain. right now it appears to only be transmittable by prolonged and direct tissue or fluid contact. most of the human infected have been people that have directly handled infected cirds without even basic levels of BSI protection. which to be truthful those people were at a greater risk for getting Salmonella, than they were bird flu. One of the things to remember, that the news is "forgetten to mention" is the flu poses it's highest level of overall leathality in two groups. 1) those with naturally lower imuno resistances (the very young and the elderly) and those with non-natural Imuno disorders. the average person would be able to fight this virus off, assuming nothing absurd happens to the virus during mutation.