Well, I am gone for three weeks so this will have to do for a while.
I'd advise any readers. (Hmmmmmm. Do I actually have any readers?) to stock up on some latex gloves. If the Federal Government has decided to stockpile millions of them, then they won't be available for you and me.
Soon, I won't be the only one talking about all this. ABC will start the ball rolling and the other networks will have to follow. About time I think.
Well, I'm off to play some random games that don't have deadly outcomes. I wish all of life was as easy as a game of poker where the most that can be lost is money.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Does this sound familiar?
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-04-18T224607Z_01_N184659_RTRIDST_0_BIRDFLU-HOSPITALS.XML
One the main reasons to take some personal responsibility for the potential of pandemic is that there will not be help if it hits. The Feds have already indicated that they can't help. And here is what hospitals cannot do. Note that venilators are probably the single most useful way of helping those who catch a H5N1 flu bug stay alive. But they just are not going to be there.
Just like Katrina. Nobody can do nothing. The Feds say it is not their job. The locals say they don't have funds or manpower. If it is Arab terrorists, we can mortage into two or three coming generations of taxpayers for wars that cost billions and last years and years, but a little attacking bug that will be gone in two years, that is just not a real enemy I guess.
Such a shame. Were we to win a war against H5N1 we would have no difficulty managing the subsequent peace as we do when we invade other countries. That effort would be a win/win.
Whatever happens with this current scare, everyone agrees that a pandemic is coming sooner or later. I suggest we vote in some people who will invest in hospital preparedness and get our National Guard home so they can guard the nation.
One the main reasons to take some personal responsibility for the potential of pandemic is that there will not be help if it hits. The Feds have already indicated that they can't help. And here is what hospitals cannot do. Note that venilators are probably the single most useful way of helping those who catch a H5N1 flu bug stay alive. But they just are not going to be there.
Just like Katrina. Nobody can do nothing. The Feds say it is not their job. The locals say they don't have funds or manpower. If it is Arab terrorists, we can mortage into two or three coming generations of taxpayers for wars that cost billions and last years and years, but a little attacking bug that will be gone in two years, that is just not a real enemy I guess.
"Peacock said much of the response to a pandemic will involve very basic medical care -- including triage, or sorting out which patients cannot be helped except through heroic measures. Those patients are going to get some morphine and get sat in a corner. That is the definition of a disaster -- need exceeds resources," Peacock said.
Such a shame. Were we to win a war against H5N1 we would have no difficulty managing the subsequent peace as we do when we invade other countries. That effort would be a win/win.
Whatever happens with this current scare, everyone agrees that a pandemic is coming sooner or later. I suggest we vote in some people who will invest in hospital preparedness and get our National Guard home so they can guard the nation.
Pandemic Movie Coming Soon
http://smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com/article_1156414.php/ABC_to_take_on_avian_flu_during_sweeps
SURPRISE! BIRD FLU TO ARRIVE ON ABC
Entertainment columnists were taken aback Tuesday when ABC announced that it would be broadcasting a made-for-TV disaster movie about avian flu on May 9. The network had succeeded in keeping the production of Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, starring Stacy Keach, Joely Richardson, Ann Cusack and Justine Machado, completely under wraps. The announcement "came as a complete surprise in a business nearly devoid of surprises," wrote Michael Starr in the New York Post. In its announcement, ABC said that the movie "follows an outbreak of an Avian Flu from its origins in a Hong Kong market through its mutation into a virus transmittable from human to human around the world." Co-producer Diana Kerew told the Post that the network had kept the project secret because "The world changes very quickly, and we wanted to make sure at the point we were ready to unveil [the movie] that we were accurate and up-to-date." John M. Barry, author of the bestseller, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, about the 1918 Spanish flu, served as a consultant on the project. Meanwhile, NBC announce that it plans to take an in-depth look at the avian flu with a series of reports on the Today show and Dateline NBC.
Good, maybe if we can put out a fictional account, someone will take some serious notice.
SURPRISE! BIRD FLU TO ARRIVE ON ABC
Entertainment columnists were taken aback Tuesday when ABC announced that it would be broadcasting a made-for-TV disaster movie about avian flu on May 9. The network had succeeded in keeping the production of Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, starring Stacy Keach, Joely Richardson, Ann Cusack and Justine Machado, completely under wraps. The announcement "came as a complete surprise in a business nearly devoid of surprises," wrote Michael Starr in the New York Post. In its announcement, ABC said that the movie "follows an outbreak of an Avian Flu from its origins in a Hong Kong market through its mutation into a virus transmittable from human to human around the world." Co-producer Diana Kerew told the Post that the network had kept the project secret because "The world changes very quickly, and we wanted to make sure at the point we were ready to unveil [the movie] that we were accurate and up-to-date." John M. Barry, author of the bestseller, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, about the 1918 Spanish flu, served as a consultant on the project. Meanwhile, NBC announce that it plans to take an in-depth look at the avian flu with a series of reports on the Today show and Dateline NBC.
Good, maybe if we can put out a fictional account, someone will take some serious notice.
Myth vesus Fact
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/14360881.htm
This is a pretty good restatement of bird flu currently and of pandemic potential. It sorts the facts from the overreaction (myth).
This is a pretty good restatement of bird flu currently and of pandemic potential. It sorts the facts from the overreaction (myth).
Monday, April 17, 2006
Bird Watchers and Feeders Risk nothing
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/COLUMNIST22/604160348/-1/SPORTS09
A number of sources have written to stop bird watchers and backyard feeders from worrying, especially this season before any virus has reached our shores.
A number of sources have written to stop bird watchers and backyard feeders from worrying, especially this season before any virus has reached our shores.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
US prepares for pandemic
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/15/AR2006041500901.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060416/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bird_flu
The US is now preparing to face the potential threat of pandemic as best it can on the Federal level. Plans are still evolving, but here is the latest in details available.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060416/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bird_flu
The US is now preparing to face the potential threat of pandemic as best it can on the Federal level. Plans are still evolving, but here is the latest in details available.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Hawaii Preparing
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060414/ap_on_he_me/hawaii_flu_pandemic<
Having experienced other ravages of diseases this tourist destination is making preparation for possible pandemic.
"Hawaii's airport plan calls for a nurse to take a swab from a potentially infected passenger on any plane, at the gate, or inside the airport. If tests show the traveler has the H5N1 variety, authorities are prepared to quarantine the entire jet. Officials are also ready to cordon off a gate or other section of the airport to isolate people exposed to the passenger."
Having experienced other ravages of diseases this tourist destination is making preparation for possible pandemic.
"Hawaii's airport plan calls for a nurse to take a swab from a potentially infected passenger on any plane, at the gate, or inside the airport. If tests show the traveler has the H5N1 variety, authorities are prepared to quarantine the entire jet. Officials are also ready to cordon off a gate or other section of the airport to isolate people exposed to the passenger."
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Indonesia worried about Complacency
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1486627.cms
Such an odd polarization in respones. Some news writers worry about over reaction; this post worries about underreaction. This is the case when such a world altering possibility rests in the genetic roll of evolutionary dice.
Such an odd polarization in respones. Some news writers worry about over reaction; this post worries about underreaction. This is the case when such a world altering possibility rests in the genetic roll of evolutionary dice.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Vaccine techniques may change
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1614276.htm
Response to the threat of bird flu and an understanding of how poorly we are equipped to respond to pandemic may change the way we manufacture vaccine.
Response to the threat of bird flu and an understanding of how poorly we are equipped to respond to pandemic may change the way we manufacture vaccine.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Closing schools in Brits planning
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1823009
Since this flu if it evolves would target young people, closing schools is part of the defense plan.
Since this flu if it evolves would target young people, closing schools is part of the defense plan.
Ethical questions
http://bird-flu-symptom.info/news/bioethicist-to-offer-insights-on-avian-flu/
Some of the ethical questions to be asked in pandemic.
Some of the ethical questions to be asked in pandemic.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Marc Seigel again Argues Against Danger
Marc Seigel is one of the very few voices against the alarm that bird flu news has generated. Some think it is just a way to promote his book, but it does give us hope that the warnings might be over blown.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-siegel6apr06,0,3341586.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-siegel6apr06,0,3341586.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Saturday, April 08, 2006
How the Brits are handling garden birds and feeding
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4887878.stm
The issue of what to do with bird feeders is one we will probably have to face by fall of this year. Here is an interesting discussion.
The issue of what to do with bird feeders is one we will probably have to face by fall of this year. Here is an interesting discussion.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Good over view with great illustrations
This article gives a good overview of the flu with illustrations so you can better understand what happens as well as what we hope never happens.
Thanks Ann
http://health.howstuffworks.com/bird-flu.htm
Thanks Ann
http://health.howstuffworks.com/bird-flu.htm
Virus mutation seen as unlikely
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=532872006
An argument that mutation is unlikely based on the past behavior of his virus.
Still, it is a good thing to start preparing.
"There will be a pandemic eventually, and there is no reason to suppose it won't be a severe one. It will be a new virus attacking a population which won't have any immunity. It will sweep through the world very quickly," Prof Pennington said.
"We still don't have the capacity to make vaccines quickly enough and it is a difficult thing to do. We still have a lot of research to do to make better vaccines. Most virologists are still unhappy about the level of funding going into flu virus research, but they are happier now than they were a few years ago.
"The fact that H5N1 has been there as a threat - because it has infected and killed people, which puts it into a special category - has helped stimulate the world into action."
An argument that mutation is unlikely based on the past behavior of his virus.
Still, it is a good thing to start preparing.
"There will be a pandemic eventually, and there is no reason to suppose it won't be a severe one. It will be a new virus attacking a population which won't have any immunity. It will sweep through the world very quickly," Prof Pennington said.
"We still don't have the capacity to make vaccines quickly enough and it is a difficult thing to do. We still have a lot of research to do to make better vaccines. Most virologists are still unhappy about the level of funding going into flu virus research, but they are happier now than they were a few years ago.
"The fact that H5N1 has been there as a threat - because it has infected and killed people, which puts it into a special category - has helped stimulate the world into action."
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
More warnings on cats
If pandemic hits, cats should be kept inside.
"The Osterhaus team acknowledge that no-one knows if an infected cat can pass on H5N1 to humans.
Just as unknown is whether the animal, by harbouring the virus, can help it to mutate into a pandemic form -- a pathogen that is not only lethal for humans but contagious, too.
But, they say, this risk cannot be ruled out, and precautions should thus be incorporated into the guidelines of the WHO, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)."
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1808386
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=133863
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April157.xml§ion=theworld&col=
"The Osterhaus team acknowledge that no-one knows if an infected cat can pass on H5N1 to humans.
Just as unknown is whether the animal, by harbouring the virus, can help it to mutate into a pandemic form -- a pathogen that is not only lethal for humans but contagious, too.
But, they say, this risk cannot be ruled out, and precautions should thus be incorporated into the guidelines of the WHO, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)."
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1808386
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=133863
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April157.xml§ion=theworld&col=
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