Racoon Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Bird Flu seems like a for real upcoming Pandemic..New cases are beginning to spread in Europe. ;) Africa is now starting to see it too.. How serious is this threat? A similar outbreak in 1918 left Millions and Millions dead! Not to mention, the Birds that die off. Couple that with West-Nile Virus, and there is potential for Catastrophe!!! ;) What are the ramifications of this?Is this Mother Nature just keeping everything in Balance? What happens to Insect populations when many of their predators are killed?What could the consequences be of a major Human-Jumping form of the virus?Would there be Quarantines? Overflooded Hospitals? Panic? Seems like everyone would like to forget this thing, including me...With all the Terrorism threats, Wars raging, Public Dissent,... who has the Strength to deal with something like this?? What do we know? Is there anything we can do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 The flu is a real threat!Even if avian flu does not create a pandemic, mutations of the flu, may cause mass mortalities, OK may is a little soft. Many medical conferences are seriously discussing this issue at all levels. The federal government has allocated tremendous resources to allow health care to purchase equipment to deal with terrorism and disasters. One of the best mass media articles I have read in the last 6 months or so was in Time. A quick search on the Internet will result in credible sources for this likelihood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 I'm more worried about the "stupid-flu." Apparently, we all kill each other out of hatred and ignorance, and fear of the unknown. It's spreading even more quickly than the bird flu, and the vaccine, education and study, seems like it is being rejected by those who suffer from it. ;) I hate that there's some truth to this... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted February 17, 2006 Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 Avian flu floats around bird populations all the time. There are 15 variants of the avian flu. This strain, N5H1, is particularily lethal to birds and especially lethal to domestic birds. Probably due to their domesticated conditions. This strain has already mutated multiple times and huge populations of birds are resistant. Mallard ducks seem to be especially immune to the variations. As I understand the 1918 flu, it originally was called a swine flu. It was recently that it was determined to be an avian flu in origin. There are some indications that the flu jumped to swine and then infected people in a milder form. The people who were exposed to this milder form developed immunity to the deadly strain of 1918. With what has occured in the regions that have been exposed to the bird flu in this great of an area, with as many swine, what I find comforting is that it has not jumped to swine. That is what will begin to alarm me with avian flu and a potential pandemic. Heres a link to the bird/swine/people connections:http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9902/15/historic.flu/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racoon Posted February 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 Bird flu hitting India hard now! Reports of thousand of locals getting sick.Top Poultry farms having a Quarantine radius of 3 - 5 miles. If you can believe the news.I don't know whats more scary.Bird Flu pandemic or Dirty Bombs? Why? What? and When? :hyper: :hyper:If anything, its killing a sh^t load of chickens and birds.thats costing somebody Boku bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted February 19, 2006 Report Share Posted February 19, 2006 where did the flu start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack1 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I got the flu, and my annual cold...but seriously I'm so used to all these things it doesn't affect me seriously. That made no sense to me because I've only had the flu once in my life, and I probably never even got flu shots unless they were required. Both a cold and the flu are viral infections that cause similar symptomssuch as coughing and sore throat.Oseltamivir phosphate sale under brand name tamiflu is very effective in treatment of bird flu. Visit here http://www.drugdelivery.ca/s3353-s-tamiflu.aspx tamiflu is very popular drugs for Bird flu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 Interesting website that posts animal infections from around the world. http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_78.HTM#Sec15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Interesting sitehttp://www.abc.net.au/science/expert/realexpert/birdflu/03.htmA: Yes, it has been extensively tested in humans but only for seasonal influenza. We hope it has a high rate of efficacy for the H5N1 bird flu virus. In mice it requires a higher dose and longer treatment for bird flu than for seasonal flu. It also needs to be taken within six to 12 hours of catching the virus. People overseas with the virus have had it at too late a stage. It's important that it is available to get quickly and easily from the chemist without prescription, and at the moment it's not. - Professor Graeme Laver, previously of the John Curtin School of Medical Research, whose knowledge of the structure and function of the influenza virus led to the design of antiviral drugs. A: Tamiflu is on the market as is the antiviral drug Relenza. It is available by prescription but is not yet available in pharmacies due to stockpiling by governments around the world. The current H5N1 strain prevalent without mutation is sensitive to both Tamiflu and Relenza. The question is will the mutated pandemic human flu be sensitive? We don't know that yet. In some cases overseas we have seen resistance of H5N1 to Tamiflu but not Relenza. - Professor Mark von Itzstein, Research Leader, Executive Director & Federation Fellow, Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University. You heard that Pres. Bush was fixing bird flu did't you?He has invaded the Canary IslandsRumor has it that Turkey is next!!:cocktail: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gribbon Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 The bird-ee flu is coming! What I'd be interested to know is, how is it that we can predict when and where it will go? Of course we know migration routes, but what are the other ways? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedars Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 Some Tamiflu drug resistance is being seen: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/12/21/Tamiflu-resistance051221.html http://depts.washington.edu/einet/?a=printArticle&print=2555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 The bird-ee flu is coming! What I'd be interested to know is, how is it that we can predict when and where it will go? Of course we know migration routes, but what are the other ways? There's no accurate way to predict the when and where. Besides migration, illegal smuggling of birds and poultry products, travel by infected people, or people traveling with virus-contaminated articles are possible means of introducing the new strain of HPAI H5N1 virus around the world. However, there are other avian influenza viruses besides the H5N1 that have infected humans demonstrating the potential of an influenza virus to evolve into a Pandemic strain. In 1999, H9N2 infections were identified in Hong Kong; in 2003, H7N7 infections occurred in the Netherlands and in 2004, H7N3infections occurred in Canada. There are two types of avian influenza (AI) that are identified as H5N1. A difference exists in the virus classification; one is low pathogenic (LPAI) and the other is highly pathogenic (HPAI). Pathogenicity refers to the ability of the virus to produce disease. HPAI H5N1, often referred to as the "Asian" H5N1, is the type causing worldwide concern. LPAI H5N1, often referred to as the "North American" H5N1, is of less concern.LPAI H5N1 commonly occurs in wild birds. In most cases, it causes minor sickness or no noticeable signs of disease. It is rarely fatal in birds. At this time, LPAI H5N1 strains are not a human health concern. It's important to remember that evidence of LPAI H5N1 has been found in wild birds since 1975 with no apparent mutations or human illness's resulting. Also, should the HPAI H5N1 virus be suddenly detected in the majority of countries around the world, it still would not signal the start of a human pandemic. The Pandemic Alert system has six phases. The world is presently in Phase 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 There is alot of money to be made for Bird -flu vaccinesNew bird flu drug will provide new line of defenceNew bird flu drug will provide new line of defenceTamiflu is currently the front-line treatment and has been stockpiled by many countries, but some H5N1 viruses have already shown resistance to it, and if such a strain became dominant, the drug would become useless. Scientists have been warning governments for some time that to rely on Tamiflu exclusively would be foolhardy. Peramivir is also simple to manufacture from synthetic raw materials that are readily available in bulk while Tamiflu production has been delayed by a shortage of star anise, the plant from which the active ingredient comes. Peramivir was developed by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in Alabama which says it already has the facilities to produce a billion doses a year if needed.At present Roche is only able to produce 400 million doses of Tamiflu a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted January 14, 2007 Report Share Posted January 14, 2007 Bird flu in Japan [NATIONAL NEWS]H5 bird flu strain confirmed at poultry farm in MiyazakiAvian influenza is confirmed as the cause of a large number of chicken deaths on a farm in Miyazaki Prefecture, and officials say the virus is in the H5 family. More tests will be conducted to see if it is the virulent H5N1 strain.[MORE] -> H5 bird flu strain confirmed at poultry farm in Miyazaki | The Japan Times Online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted January 19, 2007 Report Share Posted January 19, 2007 [NATIONAL NEWS]Bird flu virus in Miyazaki outbreak highly virulent: ministryBird flu virus in Miyazaki outbreak highly virulent: ministry | The Japan Times Online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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