Whatever happened to The Bird Flu and SARS?

by jayhawk1 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  Uzzah

  It's a shame there was so much attention placed on H5N1 avain strain. That was just one possibility. It is a fact that we are due to face another Health crisis/outbreak/pandemic. Will it happen this year or next but it will happen again. It may not even be an influenza virus, SARS was not an influenza but could have easily turned into a pandemic situation.

  So the media hyped avain flu which could now diminish the need to actually prepare for a potential pandemic in the eyes of some. While on the speaker circuit on the topic of emergency preparedness I try to be balanced. For example, if your company works with hazardous chemicals, the largest potential risk and business impact is from the improper handling of those chemicals. That is the 'greatest and most likely' risk, and therefore should receive the bulk of the funding and time allotted to preparing, preventing and mitigation activities. Pandemic planning should however appear on your top 10 risks to address personally and corporately.

  my 2 cents.

  Uzzah
• 

  jimbo

  There is a huge problem in the fish population in the Great Lakes area. There is a major quarantine in effect. A virus that had affected only one type of fish has spread to many others now.
  
  A veternarian friend of mine that works with fish left from the northwest to that region last night to evaluate the problem.
  
  The cross species jump is what gets scary.
  
  jimbo
• 

  diamondblue1974

  I have been beaten to it but I was about to comment on the fact that these subjects are no longer selling newspapers are drawing an audience on TV. I would also say that the government doesnt have any other major scandal to cover up either so it will have to wait until such time to be reintroduced as newsworthy.

  DB74
• 

  ballistic

  No worries people, when Bush heard about bird flu, he ordered a pre-emptive strike on the Canary Islands and we all prevailed! I think he still has a few troops in Turkey moping up.
• 

  Uzzah

  Ballistic:

  That joke was fowl.
• 

  Sunspot

  There is a huge problem in the fish population in the Great Lakes area. There is a major quarantine in effect. A virus that had affected only one type of fish has spread to many others now.

  True. There was a segment on our local news that said there have been over 700 carcasses of dead loons and gulls counted on the shores right near where I live. They are saying that the fish these birds have eaten are heavily contaminated with something I cannot pronounce or recall.......but are warning fishermen here to not even touch any fish they catch that are malformed or mutated in any way.

  It is really scarey when you think of what this actually means and the many repercussions that could come from this.

  Annie
• 

  JH

  I survived the bird flu

  http://www.cafepress.com/shop/supertank/browse/store/cre8tivefocus.37795168
• 

  Finally-Free

  My bird has been sneezing a bit, and picking his nose, and I will be taking him to a vet this week. He has a good appetite, his droppings look good and he doesn't appear to have a fever, so I doubt it's a bird flu. But he needs a nail and beak trim anyway.

  W
• 

  fokyc

  re. SARS

  The UBC lab had a vaccine within six months of the first outbreak. The problem was SARS had run its course by then and virtually vanished. However, Finlay says the scientific world learned a lot from SARS.

  “Will SARS come back? I say no,” he said. “We know a lot more about it. SARS has had its little time in the limelight. Other things will come along.”

  fokyc
• 

  Uzzah

  They are predicting the same amount of time would be required to develop a vaccine for whatever form the next pandemic takes.

  Unfortunately, we would likely be in the second wave of infections by that point, and it would take a fair bit of time to manufature sufficient quantities for global distribution.

  Bottom line if we do truly have another influenza pandemic, virtually everyone will be exposed to it. If your immune system is strong enough you will fight it off, if not you will get sick. The predictions for mortality rate based on H5N1 modelling is 1% of all infected.

  What that means to you? Take 35% of your local population, these people will be infected and sick. 1% of that number will likely die. Toronto has 3 million people. So 35% means Toronto will have 1,050,000 people needing treatment. We would then forecast 10,500 deaths. Put into perspective however, Toronto annually has 1,200 deaths from 'seasonal influenza' each year.

  Sorry for any 'doom and gloom' and stats craziness but pandemic planning has taken up the lion's share of my work the past 18 months so I live eat and breathe this stuff.

  Uz