Bird flu

[driver]

Is there much in the news about this over there?

Its all over the UK press.

Could be a bit of a worry, might not.

[Glenda]

There is news about it here. Due to the low population of NZ, there is not so much panic but they are reviewing emergency procedures if bird flu spreads to humans. You can even buy the Tamiflu tablets if you want ... I think it is 85 dollars a pack (or is it a course?). Heard it said that you would need to take a course every three weeks for quite a few months. Expensive.

Do wonder what would happen if infected birds crap on our roof as the water for our house is from rainwater which drains into a large tank. Come to think of it ... what happens to any bird crap, dead insects or plant debris now? Think I will go and do a search on water tanks. [smiley=icon_confused.gif]

[nattydread]

i don't know that is has actually passed from a bird to a human under "normal" conditions has it?


I believe some punters in south east asia contracted it, but they were sharing their houses and beds with infected birds..

I think there is quite a lot of scaremongering going on to be honest.

[selchie]

Although this strain of avian flu sounds bad, I also think there is a lot of scare mongering about it spreading.

Glenda - I hope there's some sort of filtration device before the water gets to you!

[driver]

not much you can do i suppose then. Wait and see, seems to be the answer to everything.

If I put much more money aside for this and that and an emergency of some kind either, new furniture, dentist work, school fees, diesel tax etc, i'll be broke!!!

[smiley=icon_razz.gif]

reading through the lines it looks like if the bird farmers disinfect every now and then and carry out good husbandry then it shouldn't spread too far.

Glenda: Good point about the water on the roof, theres a thought. So if there are filters do they need changing from time to time?

[netchicken]

sigh, yeah we have the news here. Not much you can do about it except mark it down as yet another managed crisis, like sars, like mad cow, like so many others. They can't shoot the wild birds and they must be the carriers, chickens don't actually fly around much so they can't be the carriers.

At least here it just fills in the news at 6pm on TV instead of items on trivial rubbish.

Actauly like Sars you might as well take a fatalistic attitude and ignore, it. A lot of it seems manufactured news and media hysteria.

[MotherBear]

From the NZ Herald

Strong NZ demand for bird flu masks and drugs
18.10.05 1.00pm

One of the country's largest on-line pharmacies says demand has soared in New Zealand for bird flu medication and face masks.

The bird flu has killed thousands of birds and dozens of people in Asia and authorities are worried it will spread around the world and potentially kill millions of people.

The disease has also been found in Romania, Turkey and Greece.

Authorities fear the H5N1 strain of the flu could mutate into a form that can be passed among people, leading to a flu pandemic.

In New Zealand demand had soared for medication, respirator masks and information aimed at helping New Zealanders cope with a possible pandemic. Pharmacy Direct said it had been inundated with emails and telephone calls recently. The company said it had sold out of the medication Tamiflu, and was unlikely to get more stocks before the end of November. Respirator masks were also in extremely short supply, said Pharmacy Direct managing director Greg Macpherson.

He said it was important not to be alarmist but it was also important to be prepared. The company had developed a bird flu resource kit including respirator masks, tissues and gloves, pharmacy medicines and multi-vitamins.

[MotherBear]

This is just being circulated in hubster's workplace.

Ladies and Gentlemen

I have no doubt that by now most of you are well informed by the media on the subject of Bird Flu technically known as Avian Influenza. Nevertheless, I would like to share with you this brief background of the illness, and offer a couple of public health and personal hygiene tips as general prophylactic (preventative) measures (see attachments).

Background

Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by a strain of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide. All influenza viruses, including those that regularly cause seasonal epidemics of influenza in humans, have a tendency to undergo frequent and permanent changes that make their control with vaccines a challenge.

Avian influenza viruses do not normally infect species other than birds and pigs. The first documented infection of humans with an avian influenza virus occurred in Hong Kong in 1997, when the H5N1 strain caused severe respiratory disease in 18 humans, of whom 6 died. To date, the WHO has recorded 109 confirmed human infections by the H5N1 virus, with 55 deaths.

The WHO have identified 3 pre-requisites for the start of a pandemic:

1. A novel virus subtype must emerge to which humans have little or no immunity.

2. The new virus must be able to replicate in humans and cause serious illness.

3. The new virus must be efficiently transmitted from one human to another in a sustained manner, causing community-wide outbreaks.

If more humans become infected (by contact with infected animals) over time, the likelihood also increases that humans, if concurrently infected with human and avian influenza strains, could serve as the "mixing vessel" for the emergence of a novel subtype with sufficient human genes to be easily transmitted from person to person. Such an event could trigger an influenza pandemic.

Previous influenza pandemics have been characterized by: a rapid spread to all parts of the world, usually within less than a year, and cause illness in more than a quarter of the total population. The mortality rate was excessive. The illness resulted in dramatic health management concerns as the number of suffering individuals, which included health workers, increased progressively outstripping response capacity.

Of all viruses in the vast avian influenza pool, H5N1 is of particular concern for human health for two reasons. First H5N1, which normally infect birds, has a documented ability to pass directly from birds to humans. Second, once in humans, H5N1 causes severe disease with very high mortality. These two features combine to make H5N1 of concern for a third and greater reason: its potential to ignite an especially severe influenza pandemic in the human population.

The objective of this note is not to create panic, but to reassure you that we are working closely with our Ministry of Health authorities who are formulating the National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan to be communicated in due course. Meanwhile, if you need any clarification or further details on this topic, please do not hesitate to contact any of our company doctors at MAF and interior locations.

Wishing you Ramadhan Kareem and best of health!

Nasser Al Maskery

Chief Medical Officer

[Glenda]

Good info there Mother Bear.

Maybe people are just latching onto what seems to be another 'end of civilisation as we know it' scenario. It may well be that a whole industry is being created in the prevention and cure of bird flu ... just like that created by global warming. Then again, it seems a lot of people 'in the know' are worried about it. [smiley=icon_confused.gif]

Can't find out much info about my water tank other than some do come with filters (optional extra) and that they should be serviced every 3-5 years. We seem healthy enough so whatever extra minerals/bacteria we could possibly be ingesting must be good for the gut! [smiley=icon_eek.gif] [smiley=icon_lol.gif]

[smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]

[MotherBear]

http://uk.download.yahoo.com/pr/fu/oa/birdflu2.jpg