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greenthumb
Citizen
Username: Green_thumb
Post Number: 21
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 19, 2006 - 5:28 pm: | 
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Just received this from emergency email networK;
"Governments Respond to Preliminary Finding of Avian Influenza in Prince Edward Island
Canadian authorities implement disease control measures. First North American response.
As a precautionary measure the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in collaboration with the Government of Prince Edward Island, has implemented disease control measures in and around a premises in western Prince Edward Island where a young goose in a backyard flock tested positive for an avian influenza virus. It is important to note that this finding does not indicate a new threat to human health.
The virus was determined to be an H5 subtype in testing conducted by the Atlantic Veterinary College laboratory in Charlottetown. The sample has been sent to the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD) in Winnipeg for further testing to confirm its strain and pathogenicity. The NCFAD is Canada?s national reference laboratory for avian influenza. Testing is being conducted on a priority basis, results will be communicated as soon as they are available.
This information obtained from Canadian Food Inspection Agency"
Must admit I am a little paranoid about this flu becoming a pandemic -- especially having seen a recent History Channel production about the Black Plague and how whole towns were just written off once a single case was diagnosed because quarantine was the only way to stop the spread of the disease. Since my oldest is grown and at college, I worry about the entire school being wiped out --- he of course thinks this is ridiculous. So am I the only paranoid one? |
Tuxedo
Citizen
Username: Tuxedo
Post Number: 47
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 12:08 pm: |
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Speaking of birds..."the early bird gets the worm" is taking on a how new meaning. The birds in our yard start their chirping at 9 p.m and don't stop until 3 or 4 in the morning. For a bit, they sound pretty, but after about 30 minutes it's like a scene from Hitchcock. They're cuckoo! Maybe their internal clocks need adjusting. Very odd. |
Eats Shoots & Leaves
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 3442
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 12:24 pm: |
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I am glad that the governments of the world are responding to potential bird flu transmission to humans. They should be on guard.
However, at the same time, it is amazing to see how much resources are going into this fight when so few human cases have occurred, while so little is going to fight cholera and other infectious diseases that are rampant in poor countries and literally killing thousands a year. I bet if only a fraction of the amount spent on bird flue was also spent on clean and safe water for poor people in Africa, we would see mortality rates drop quickly. Yes, yes, the water problem is more an issue of corrupt governments, but it is an enormous and growing problem that seems to get no attention, while bird flu has caught the popular imagination. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3393
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 12:47 pm: |
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But we all know the reason for this. No one in this country is getting Cholera. No one who "looks like us" is getting it. The flu threatens everyone, regardless of socio-economic class. Cholera is for poor people in another part of the world.
Maybe we need Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie to show us the way. |
mjh
Supporter
Username: Mjh
Post Number: 616
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 12:52 pm: |
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Am I ever glad to hear someone else mention the crazy birds and their manic 3 a.m. conversations. No one else in my family notices, but they make me a bit nuts sometimes!
Have to agree on ESLs other point too. NIH research funding for HIV has surely lost a lot of ground, as NIAID attends to the bird flu threat.
What also bugs me is that there is not more attention to garden-variety flu in the first place. About 36,000 people per year die in the U.S. from flu! Why isn't there a more effective public health initiative to inform people of the risks and get the vaccine to those who need it! Effectiveness of the vaccine varies from year to year, but overall, it saves a LOT of lives.
Seems to me a bird flu pandemic in the U.S. will be a complete disaster because of the poor public health infrastructure, the over-reliance on local responses to a huge emergency, and the 46 million people who have no insurance.
I hope I'm not proved correct. |
Petal
Citizen
Username: Petal
Post Number: 17
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 1:11 pm: |
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there will be a pandemic. pandemics are inevitable. look in the history books.
there's just no way of prediciting when it will happen. it's my understanding that there is not yet a strain that exists which passes from human to human. when that strain developes, that's when things get really scary.
the reason so many resourses are going into this fight is because there is the potential for hundreds of millions of people around the GLOBE to die. not just less privledged people in far away places!!!!
i absoutely agree with eats shoots & leaves that there are also so many other problems that could be addressed and remedied around the world.
i don't understand why so many people just don't seem to "get it." whatever happened to the value of the simple things in life? love, friendship, family, hard work, helping those that are less fortunate, etc. seems the size of your house, what kind of car you drive, what label is in your shirt, how big your engagement ring is, what insanely private and expensive preschool your kid goes too, dominates what people seem to find important. i find it all repulsive considering how so much of the world is hungry and sick and desolate.
life is a miracle. life is a gift. we share this world together. we should take care of each other.
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brusin2
Citizen
Username: Brusin2
Post Number: 46
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 6:35 pm: |
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one reason that the Avian Flu is getting so much attention -- Donald Rumsfeld's connection with Gilead Science -- the makers of Tamiflu. |
buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 5065
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 6:57 pm: |
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Petal
Citizen
Username: Petal
Post Number: 19
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 7:07 pm: |
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tamiflu won't do squat. |
Peter G. Magic
Citizen
Username: Pmagic
Post Number: 134
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 9:17 pm: |
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I have to agree with Petal. Pandemics and natural disasters are inevitable. This is nature's way of dealing with overpopulation. If a pandemic doesn't occur before global warming melts the polar ice caps we will be living on densely populated continents because of all the flooding and large populations will starve. Only the fittest will survive the bird flu or any other pandemic thrown our way. This strengthens the human gene pool. The thinning of the human population by one means or another is inevitable. |
combustion
Citizen
Username: Spontaneous
Post Number: 125
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 11:29 pm: |
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HIV (1981?)
Hantavirus (1993)
Ebola (originally found in 1976, the comeback kid)
West Nile virus (hit the US 1999)
SARS (2002)
Avian Flu (the new kid on the block)
Yet somehow we're still here.
By the way, love the tinfoil hat. |
papayagirl
Citizen
Username: Papayagirl
Post Number: 574
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 10:01 am: |
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Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota, was a guest on Oprah a few months back. They've already rerun the show at least once, but if they do it again, i'd recommend checking it out. He's wonderful at explaining the realities of the situation, yet providing advice on what we can do to prepare. And he agrees with Petal that there will be a pandemic - if not now, then at some future point. It's scary if you really let yourself fixate on it, so you just can't. But he didn't agree that Tamiflu would do squat. It remains to be seen how much it would help, but his opinion was that it's best to leave the supply to first-line responders and medical professionals, rather than stockpile it for yourself.
Of course, i considered stockpiling it anyway, but at $6-8/capsule, i decided to opt for a cheeseburger and play the odds. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3402
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 12:28 pm: |
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Combustion - you forgot a few:
Spanish Flu (1918-19) (50-100 million dead)
Bubonic Plague (1347-1351) (25 million dead)
HIV requires intimate contact
Ebola burns itself out quickly
West Nile is not transmitted person to person
While they may have been scares (HIV is still a problem), a strain of flu kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. A more virulent or tougher to treat flu could obviously do much more damage.
I'm not hysterical about this. I don't really pay it too much attention, but I have no illusions about its potential. |
Spare_o
Supporter
Username: Spare_o
Post Number: 429
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 12:45 pm: |
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I am now responsible for developing our corporate business continuity plan for pandemic flus. I've done a lot of reading on the subject in the last couple of days. Most experts indicate that 30 - 50% of a company's work force will be sidelined and a significant number unable to work due to family members being ill or fear of being out in public. The balance of the work force that make it to their job will be left to keep the business running. If I am to believe some of what I read, that number could be as low as 10% (1/3 sick, 1/3 caring for sick people. 1/3 too fearful to go to work). Some pandemics also have a 2nd wave, 3 - 9 months later, that can be as virulent as the first.
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Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 685
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 1:32 pm: |
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Well here we go:
Further tests show no avian flu in Canadian flock
Jun 21, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – Further tests have revealed no sign of H5N1 or any other avian influenza virus in samples from a Prince Edward Island poultry flock where an H5 virus was detected last week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced late yesterday.
For more info:
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jun2106canada.h tml
Read this article for very insightful information about avian flu:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20909699.htm |
ina
Citizen
Username: Ina
Post Number: 383
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 3:43 pm: |
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My friend Kat is a diplomat's wife and has a take on the African (Senegalese) view of avian flu at katinafrica.blogspot.com |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 693
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 4:34 pm: |
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Dear Ina:
Can't read blogs at work (they filter these addresses out sigh) but will read it once I get home.
One of the main reasons why this pandemic is so successful in the poor nations is that these nations are not as willing to cull millions of birds for prevention purpose. Culling birds is much more life threatning to a starving nation then the avian flu. However it gives the virus time to mutate and that will be the ulitmate problem.
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combustion
Citizen
Username: Spontaneous
Post Number: 138
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 11:43 pm: |
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My point is that the (according to the media) we were all going to be wiped out by the above listed epidemics. Out of the ones I listed above, HIV has done the most damage to the US. The others failed to wipe out large masses as predicted.
By the way, I know someone else mentioned it above, but it's worth mentioning again. Everyone is worried about these exotic imported diseases. What about good old fashioned flu. From the CDC:
EVERY YEAR
* 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
* more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and;
* about 36,000 people die from flu. |
Petal
Citizen
Username: Petal
Post Number: 20
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 11:06 am: |
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"according to the media".....yikes.
since when do we get the truth from mainstream media. it seems all they do is generate hype, frenzy, paranoia, or on the other extreme say there is nothing to worry about and things aren't so bad or don't even exist(b/c they aren't even reporting it). obviously i'm being extremely general here but i think people get the idea.
the media is a real big business going after big money. i don't believe they have the public's interest/well being on the top of their list. at least not in this country. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 722
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 4:50 pm: |
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Well Petal..what's your alternative..the internet (just as bad) or no info.
I for one make a point of reading papers from Europe as well as the local papers.
Well I am not sure if the chicken farmers in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Turkey Poland etc. who had to destroy their life stock (=millions of birds) would agree that it's all hype and frenzy. |
Petal
Citizen
Username: Petal
Post Number: 21
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 6:11 pm: |
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my alternative is just as you say. european papers, foreign news programs and similar sites on the web....you have to dig around but you can find useful sources. having been raised in the states, then living overseas for many years and then marrying a european i can confidently say that many people abroad are STUNNED by the lack of knowledge of global circumstances (same goes for american history) by the american public. you can hardly blame the american public b/c we aren't being fed thorough information and often times we aren't fed anything at all. this is exactly why i choose to get my information elsewhere.
knowledge is power....ignorance is bliss....
i prefer knowledge even if that comes with facing the atrocities in this world. and it doesn't stop there. i don't sit quietly. i do what i can. i vote. i volunteer. i donate. i educate my child. every little bit helps. i don't drive a hummer, i turn the water off when i brush my teeth. i turn the light out when i leave the room. i eat leftovers. i'm not tooting my own horn as there are plenty of people who also do the same. there's just not enough people who do!!!
i was not referring to hype and frenzy about one specific topic....just making a rather broad generalization as i stated earlier.
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Oregon gal
Citizen
Username: Oregon_gal
Post Number: 10
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 29, 2006 - 8:13 pm: |
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As an offshoot to this thread if anyone is still thinking about it. How many of you have a home preparedness kit for any kind of emergency situation? I'm not talking flashlights & batteries, but the supplies you would need to survive in your home (or take in your car) in a pandemic, natural disaster, etc.?
I'm sincerely curious, not trying to make a point one way or another. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 877
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 29, 2006 - 8:52 pm: |
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I never had water or any kind of preparedness kit until I became a Hurricane Katrina volunteer. The first thing I did when I came home was set myself up.
Easy formular:
>1 Gallon per person per day with a minimum of 5 days preparedness
>Water purification pills - they are cheap and easy to carry along when you can't schlep the water
>A "real" first aid kit not those cheesy 5 dollar things for your car.
>Extra on the Aspirin, neosporin, burn cream, benadryl and band aids. Immodium or other antidiahrrea meds, Vitamin C (you might not see a fruit in days)
>Minimum of one flashlight per person (splurge and buy the once that do not need batteries) and one heavy duty flashlight.
>Duct tape
>Windup radio (trust me you'll need it)
>Waterproof container to keep meds, documents etc.
>Have a tent and sleepingbags at home
>One change of clothes for hot, one change for cold (crappy clothes)
>Rain gear
>Batteries different sizes and plenty (even if you don't think you need them they are great for trading)
>Lighters and matches
>Light heavyduty rope (like rockclimbing rope)
>Couple of sixpacks Ensure (not beer)
>Pouches (not cans) of Tuna (cans take to much space and get to heavy
>Granola bars or similar stuff
>Cherrios are great too. They fill you up and are light to carry. Don't bring the box use ziplock bags
>leatherman or pocket knive
I wore Tyvex suits that are like 5 dollars a pop which are overalls and waterproof when I was in New Orleans. They were well worth the money. Good sneakers or hiking boots.
I have all of that packed in one gigantic dufflebag and ready to go. Cash in small bills is great if you can afford to put a couple hundred away.
I always thougth that people are crazy that have all that until I saw how it can be and it scared the beejesus out of me. When you have kids you have to do this. This country should have learned it's lesson after New Orleans...All hell might break loose and you could be on your own for a week with no outside assistance...Don't let it happen to you and your family.
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Oregon gal
Citizen
Username: Oregon_gal
Post Number: 11
Registered: 6-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, June 29, 2006 - 9:56 pm: |
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Thanks for the kick in the can  We are in the process of moving to Maplewood and putting together home and "to go" kits is actually right up there on my priority list (and now I have a great list that I don't have to wade through government web sites to get!).
I think as a community, we should continue to educate on this topic as the more of us that are prepared, the better off we will all be (god forbid something did happen).
My in-laws are Katrina victims, although they were better off than most, it was (is) nasty stuff. Kudos to you for volunteering! |
notehead
Supporter
Username: Notehead
Post Number: 3527
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 10:13 am: |
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I recently heard that in order to deal with the bird flu threat, Bush has signed an order to bomb the Canary Islands. Turkey will be next.  |
greenthumb
Citizen
Username: Green_thumb
Post Number: 39
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 3:04 pm: |
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Thanks Tom -- I'll remember to add a joke book to my emergency stash.} |
pangurbrown
Supporter
Username: Pangurbrown
Post Number: 53
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 3:28 pm: |
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You can buy a prepared home emergency kit in a backpack at costco.com. They also sell a smaller version as a fanny pack that is easy to keep in the office and the car. The water that comes witht he backpack is advertised as being enough for 4 people for 3 days, but I am storing it with a handy additional supply. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3455
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 3:37 pm: |
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That must be some backpack... If we're supposed to have a gallon of water per person per day, and a gallon of water weighs 10 pounds, that's 120 pounds of water! |
pangurbrown
Supporter
Username: Pangurbrown
Post Number: 54
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 3:58 pm: |
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That's why I am storing it with a handy additional supply - it's "advertised" as being for 4 people for 3 days, but I can lift the thing, so it can't be the gallon a day amount. Oh, and I think water weighs 8 pounds a gallon. Either way, it is one heavy backpack, but it does not hold 12 gallons of water. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 899
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 30, 2006 - 4:44 pm: |
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Dear Notehead..I am not talking about the birdflu but any kind of disaster.
Those survival kits are stocked with purely drinking water and that at the minimum level. That is not all you will need. This stash is not just for when you have to evacuate but also if you are cut off but can stay in your home. You will need some water for cleaning out wounds, washing yourself, cook etc. Believe it or not a gallon is not much per day. If you have to leave then take as much water as you can carry but don't overload yourself completely. That's the time when the water purification pumps or pills come in handy. If you can drive then load your car with water and food... your car can be your shelter.
MOST IMPORTANTELY:
I am sure you have seen the "Evacuation Route" signs on S.O. Avenue and other large roads. Pick a town that you will go to in case of a disaster then sit down with a map and highlight a back road path there. Should a disaster affect New York then New Jersey can count on an influx of about 5 million people. We do not have the food supply, water supply, road space, medical facilities to humor this influx. I can pretty much garantee you that you will be sitting on Northfield Ave, South Orange Ave and the likes till the cows come home. Be smart have a map of the Northeast and pick some back roads to get out of this state.
I know this sounds all very dramatic but let me tell you it's way more dramatic when you are stuck with no water, no food and no meds. I didn't believe it until I saw it... |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Momof4peepers
Post Number: 113
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, July 3, 2006 - 10:10 pm: |
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What ARE those "Blue Evacuation Route" signs on S.O. ave for? New Yorkers? And where do they lead?
(please don't bash me - I just moved here and am truly curious.) |
lisat
Citizen
Username: Lisat
Post Number: 188
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 - 10:43 pm: |
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Wouldn't people run out of gas trying to leave? When they evacuated Savannah because of a hurricane that didn't hit them, people ran out of gas on the highway after sitting in traffic for long hours. |
Soparents
Supporter
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 1838
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 - 10:48 pm: |
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Elizabeth,
I always thought that they were telling you which way to get out/go...
Thinking about it though, and also speaking to someone who knows a lot more than I do, it seems that EVERYONE is going to head the same way on the same roads and those roads are soon going to get blocked.
Bajou makes sense (as she does in a lot of things...) get a map, make a route on minor roads etc to somewhere in PA and then tell all those close to you where you will head to. |
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