Bird Flu Creeping Westward

[miltie]

Well Folks, reality is setting in quickly regarding the bird flu and potential epidemic/pandemic. And I don't like it one bit!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051013/ts_ ... NlYwMxNjkz

[Hmph]

OMG. wow, so I guess the president being concerned is no joke. last time he was concerned, the entire city of New Orleans got wiped out.

[Vinnie]

What can ya do except be aware. Don't think we are ready 4 this either.

[miltie]

October to February... didn't take long for confirmed bird flu virus to pop up in Africa.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/birdflu_dc;_ ... MlJVRPUCUl

I wonder how long it will take to cross the Atlantic? Tho I must say, it appears that officials are taking preventative measures because this could be alot worse than it is. Unless there is more that the general public isn't being told...

[miltie]

And here;'s a good interactive map and timeline:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/he ... s/birdflu/

[Hmph]

are you ready, or Mike Brown-FEMA ready

[Silly Wabbit]

This will be serious problem. Don't think anyone is prepared. Even tho it is headed right this way.

[Hmph]

now cats have tested positive which makes sense given the large number of feral cats in Australia which would also hunt birds.

getting closer and closer to a reality here

[Hmph]

bird flu predicted to be here w/in 5 months.

Chertoff: Bird flu possible in U.S. within months
But, he says, 'We're going to be able to deal with it'

From Mike Ahlers
CNN
Thursday, March 9, 2006; Posted: 4:29 p.m. EST (21:29 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Migratory birds could carry the avian flu virus to U.S. shores in the next few months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned Thursday.

Chertoff attempted to reassure the public by saying the federal government has experience in dealing with such outbreaks.

"I can't predict, but I certainly have to say that we should be prepared for the possibility that at some point in the next few months, a wild fowl will come over the migratory pathway and will be infected with H5N1," he said.

H5N1 is a strain of the avian influenza virus that has killed at least 95 people since 2003.

"If we get a wild bird or even a domestic chicken that gets infected with avian flu, we're going to be able to deal with it because we have got a lot of experience with that," he said.

The presence of avian flu in Asia and Europe had led some countries to destroy large flocks of domestic birds. And health experts fear that the flu strain could mutate, making it more easily transferable to humans. Such a mutation could result in a pandemic.

The last three pandemics, in 1918, 1957 and 1968, killed about 40 million, 2 million and 1 million people, respectively.

But Chertoff said the Department of Agriculture has successfully contained other outbreaks, and the federal government is working on a plan to prevent or mitigate future ones.

U.S. farming practices might help prevent an outbreak if an infected wild fowl enters the country, he said.

"We keep a lot of our poultry business indoors, so we don't have the kind of situation that a lot of countries have where there's a lot of mixing of wild fowl and domestic fowl, but there would be a reasonable possibility of a domestic fowl outbreak," he said.

The public, Chertoff said, should "react with alertness and with care, but not with panic."

"We've dealt with these kinds of issues before, similar issues. We actually are working on a very specific plan to deal with this. We would obviously be monitoring for human health characteristics, but it would not be time to push the panic button."

If an outbreak occurs, the government plans an ambitious campaign to educate the public, he said.

"It would be time to start to get acquainted with some of the challenges," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditio ... index.html

[Silly Wabbit]

It's getting very real.