[Athens]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/avianflu/index.html

This is a article about brid flu I was reading and something dawned on me while I was reading the article. Of the 81 people infected, 54 died, thats over 50%. Thats a scary thought! And many of these people where healthy and fit. Not to scare any one but imagine 50% of all the people you know dead. Scary thought if your not one of that 50%. What would you do in the case of a major outbreak. Myself I would stay away from public transit, limit my contact with people as much as I can and be constantly washing my hands through out the day. What are your thoughts on this.

[Cubeoid]

Quack Quack Quack!

[screamingFit]

Uhmm...didn't all those people die because they worked in a chicken slaughterhouse??

[Doofy]

At least one of them died because he drank raw duck's blood. Delicacy in that area, apparently.

[mojo2]

Bush: Military may have to help if bird flu breaks out

08:02 2005-10-05
President Bush said Tuesday that the possibility of an avian flu pandemic is among the reasons he wants Congress to give him the power to use the nation's military in law enforcement roles in the United States.

Such an deadly event would raise difficult questions, such as how a quarantine might be enforced, he said.

People who catch the worst strain of avian flu can die of viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress, according to mayoclinic.com.

The disease has killed tens of millions of birds in Asia.

Last week, the U.N.'s health agency, the World Health Organization, sought to ease fears that the disease could kill as many as 150 million people worldwide.

The consequences of an outbreak in the United States need to be addressed before catastrophe strikes, Bush said.

Should avian flu mutate and gain the ability to spread easily from human to human, world leaders and scientists would need rapid access to accurate information to be able to stem its spread, he said.

Bush said he has spoken with Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about work toward a vaccine, but that means of prevention remains a distant hope.

Absent an effective vaccine, public health officials likely would try to stem the disease's spread by isolating people who had been exposed to it. Such a move could require the military, he said.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 bans the military from participating in police-type activity on U.S. soil.

Bush began discussing the possibility of changing the law last month, in the aftermath of the government's sluggish response to civil unrest following Hurricane Katrina.

The World Health Organization has reported 116 cases of avian flu in humans, all of them in Asia. More than half of them have been fatal, it said.

On Thursday, the Senate added $4 billion to a Pentagon spending bill to head off the threat of an outbreak of avian flu among humans. The bulk of the money -- $3 billion -- would be used to stockpile Tamiflu, an antiviral drug that has proved effective against the H5N1 virus -- the strain blamed for six deaths in Indonesia last week.

U.S. health agencies have about 2 million doses of Tamiflu, enough to treat about 1 percent of the population. The money added by the Senate would build that stockpile to cover about 50 percent of the population, CNN reported.

http://newsfromrussia.com/usa/2005/10/05/64464.html

[Athens]

at least one person thinks its serious

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Athens

at least one person thinks its serious

I may be mistaken, Athens, but I believe there are quite a few posters here who think the danger is real and serious. However, there is little or nothing we can do to prevent it from happening.

It might make a number of people uneasy talking about it.

Some people are just too busy/disinterested/otherwise distracted to even recognize the danger warnings that have been sounded.

Later, you will recognize these latter group of folks by their saying, "Nobody warned me! Why didn't the government or SOMEBODY tell me?!" Or, they will suddenly become instant experts on the subject.

But, I don't want to sound like a hater or anything like that. So, yes. At least one person thinks it's serious.

[Doofy]

Yep, I think it's serious.

However, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it other than what has already been done.

[iDriveX]

Call me skeptical but this seems just like ebola, SARS, Killer Bees, West African Nile Virus, and the many other fad pandemics that have failed to catch on. I know there were big time viral killers, like the Flu Pandemic in the 1920's that cancelled the Stanley Cup that year (great flu pandemic/hockey trivia tie-in eh?) but seriously, give the old Bird Flu a year and there will be a wonderful movie on TBS called "Pandemic!" and that'll be the end of it.

At this point, the only people being affected by Bird Flu are people that live and work exclusively with these animals via chicken shipping routes and chicken farmers. The virus mutating is only a hypothesis and perhaps only a matter of time. We should also be worried about AIDS becoming airborne too. Cause it could mutate to a non-sexual transmitted version! Plenty of what-ifs to be scared of. Pick and chose the ones you want!

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by iDriveX

We should also be worried about AIDS becoming airborne too. Cause it could mutate to a non-sexual transmitted version! Plenty of what-ifs to be scared of. Pick and chose the ones you want!

I hear there's an airborne virus knocking around CA which makes adult males unable to eat whole pizzas without getting stomach knots.

[iDriveX]

THAT is a pandemic in my pants waiting to happen!

[rickey939]

Cody Dawg created a thread on this topic awhile back...

http://forums.macnn.com/89/macnn-lounge/271728/bird-flu-how-concerned-you-50-a/

[screamingFit]

If I were to remove myself emotionally and look at things from a global point of view, what's so wrong with 50% of the world's population disappearing? With 50% of the population gone, the planet might finally be sustainable once again.

But then, ick. Think of the contamination due to bodies being incinerated and/or buried.

I am afraid of this being a lot of scare mongering (duct tape! plastic sheeting! you're gonna die!) used to control a populace and pass laws that further erode our consitution a la 9/11.

The drug companies stand to get extremely rich(er) off this one.

[isao bered]

Originally Posted by mojo2

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 bans the military from participating in police-type activity on U.S. soil.

Bush began discussing the possibility of changing the law last month, in the aftermath of the government's sluggish response to civil unrest following Hurricane Katrina.

?! ... uhm, i'll take "dictators and precedents" for 1000, alex...

be well.

laeth

[iDriveX]

Originally Posted by isao bered

?! ... uhm, i'll take "dictators and precedents" for 1000, alex...

be well.

laeth

See also: "Plot of Star Wars for 500"