Friday, January 11, 2013

zoonotic

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2579

Interesting speculation on the next pandemic.

Monday, April 30, 2012

While I went to this site because of the Dutch decsion on H5N1 research,  There is also an indication that bed bugs can be on the plane.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Monday, September 12, 2011

The new movie Contagion

will probably do what no science report could ever do, engage the attention of the population.  So far box office stats say it is on the road to being a winner.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The pandemic is Over

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-who-flu-20100811,0,6814281.story

Ironically we had a power outage of 3 hours this morning and the generator made it comfortable and less anxious.  It was the possibility of Pandemic that inspired us to get the generator.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Finally, some official talk about real pandemic

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/weekinreview/25fink.html?_r=1

This flu may get some wheels in motion that save lives when the real disease finally arrives.

However, the fact that when the discussion became upsetting it was just dropped is not very comforting.

Friday, March 14, 2008

so far so good

Natural News reports that one of the primary factors
that keeps bird flu from infecting humans is that
the virus has evolved to reproduce most effectively in the bodies of birds,
which have an average body temperature of 106°F (41°C).
Humans, in contrast, have an average body temperature of 98.6° (37°C),
with temperatures in the nose and throat even lower (91.4°, or 33°C).
This vast temperature difference makes it very difficult for the bird flu
virus to survive and grow in the human body.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Someone asked about the recent stats on the likelihood of this virus becoming a bird flu. Here is a good article. I'm in the process of eating down my stockpiled canned goods. I'll replenish once they are pretty much gone.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12014

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

hopeful new breakthrough

If pandemic holds off long enough, we may be better prepared to fight.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070529/ap_on_he_me/bird_flu

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Here is a note from a bird flu newsletter that touches in an interesting way on my other interest.

It's been awhile since you've heard from us ...things have
been relatively quiet. But not so quiet that we should
become complacent. While H5N1 still hasn't hit North
America, at least in its most virolent form, it is still
ravaging some countries, most notably Indonesia and now
Egypt where 2 new cases yesterday bring the total number of
human cases in the most populous Arab country to 29. The
virus is known to have infected nearly 300 people in 12
countries since 2003, killing more than half of them.
========================================

A trip to Las Vegas in February emphasized to us the
critical necessity to avoid human contact during a
pandemic. After spending a week amongst throngs of tourists
from all over the world, rubbing shoulders, breathing the
same air, handling the same casino chips, pulling the same
slot machine handles, exchanging currency, spending hours
inside aircraft, etc., we both returned home sick as dogs.
One could scarcely imagine a more condusive atmosphere for
the spread of viruses. We took plenty of ViraBlock with us,
and used it often, but of course they won't allow you to
take it into the cabin of the airplane. We should have been
wearing our respirators I guess, but this is a practice that
isn't common in the West like it is in the Orient. You can
bet that we won't be so reticent if H5N1 starts to spread.