Bird Flu

#31
Selena said:
Michelle just wondering if you have heard anything. I know that the WHO is looking into a possible person to person cluster in Indonesia?
Any talk of raising the status level?

Selena
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Yikes, I apologize, completly slipped my mind. I'll ask my boss today.... Update: This is what I found out. The status level is not being raised.

This is what I was told: Anyone who has caught the flu have handled birds in some direct way. The person to person cluster is believed to be related to bird handling...

However, they have sent investigators to Indonesia and looking into whether this is the first human to human or they actually have all handled some/any type of bird (getting the real story).

Currently, there is a Pandemic worldwide scale that ranges from 1 to 6. Currently it is at level 3.

The reason why no vaccine is available because the bird strain is continually changing, and if it comes to US (no indication yet), the virus strain will be completly different than what is in Indonesia.
 
#32
I'm not really worried, I'm always worried once I hear about this thing, but I don't really see how it's any different from SARS a couple of years back or the Ebola. Of course, if it were to become a pandemenic which would be the first in many many decades as far as I know it would have been a bummer, but I don't think healthy people are at risk, and I know that my government will do the best to protect its people, so I'm not really worried at all. There are so many other things here in life to worry about right now, so I can't go around thinking about something that might or most probably won't happen.
 
#33
sweetlove said:
I'm not really worried, I'm always worried once I hear about this thing, but I don't really see how it's any different from SARS a couple of years back or the Ebola. Of course, if it were to become a pandemenic which would be the first in many many decades as far as I know it would have been a bummer, but I don't think healthy people are at risk, and I know that my government will do the best to protect its people, so I'm not really worried at all. There are so many other things here in life to worry about right now, so I can't go around thinking about something that might or most probably won't happen.
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You should spend sometime on the US Governments website and CDC and WHO websites. I am glad your not worried but Sars is alot different then Avian Influenza.

Selena
 
#34
I work for the Public Health Department in Santa Clara County, California and we are currently doing a lot of planning in case it may happen. If you're interested, here are some links to the fact sheets we put out to the community.

http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FPublic%20Health%20Department%20%28DEP%29%2Fattachments%2FPandemic%20Influenza%20FS.pdf

http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/phd/menuitem.311b6004a2316af82b9900dd5a30a429?path=%2Fv7%2FPublic%20Health%20Department%20%28DEP%29%2Fsite_level_content&contentId=5648e8ecb7378010VgnVCMP2200049dc4a92____

One important thing we all should do is prepare our homes in case of an emergency, meaning every household should stock up on water, canned foods, medicine for at least a week.
 
#35
I'm not really worried about it. On the news yesterday, it was said that there might be a few cases, but it most probably won't become a pandemic. There were some 6 or so people (from the same family) who died from bird flu, but since they had supposedly been in interaction with others for weeks, it doesn't seem likely that it will be a pandemic, since if it were serious, it would have spread to a LOT more people. The thing right now is not to have it mutate to where it can be transferred from human to human.
 
#37
jillybean307 said:
Honestly, I'm not worried about it. My bf is in med school, we know a pharmaceuticals rep, and my cousin is on the board of directors at a hospital in Chicago. We have a bunch of friends that are doctors or in the pharma business, and none of them are too concerned either. They pretty much think it's going to be like the SARS scare from a couple years ago when everyone was like, "OMG SARS! We're all gonna die!" and nothing really happened in the US.

Granted, I'm not about to go make out with any birds, but I'm not about to build a bird flu proof bunker either.
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I agree. It (SARS) came and sort of went in the US. If people are careful I think it can be handled. The worst part with SARS was that it came in on airplanes
 
#39
Michele said:
Not from my last update above..... I'll see on Monday what happened with that investigation of the family....
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Hi Selena,

Scale is still the same and my boss does not know the status of the investigation of that family.... sorry I had nothing better to report - just didnt want you to think I forgot about ya
 
#40
I live in an area that is overdue for a major earthquake and I grew up in an area that had earthquakes too. I've lived through two very large quakes. We were taught to be prepared to be without services/infastructure for at least 72 hours. So in the interest of any kind of emergency (including a pandemic), try to make sure you have enough supplies to last at LEAST that long in any crisis. I might also add that it does not hurt to have a sidearm of some kind in your home as well. It is not uncommon for others to want to take your food/supplies if things get crazy and help is slow to arrive. (New Orleans after Katrina comes to mind)
 
#42
I am kind of disgusted with the media, and how they play up the panic factor in the name of ratings. I sort of agree with Monablu and Sweetlove. In the nineties it was Ebola and flesh eating bacteria, then along came Y2K, terrorism, and SARS. They play it up like it's armageddon, and then nothing happens. It's okay to recommend people keep water, medicine, and canned goods in their home (you should have that stuff in your house anyway for other types of disasters), but they don't have to scare the living crap out of people over something that may or may not even happen. We are turning into a paranoid world, sometimes with good reason and sometimes not.
Maybe it's just me. If some type of disaster happens and I die, I guess it was my time to go. I try to live everyday like it's my last, so I have no regrets.
 
#43
Nope, not really concerned at all. I'm really surprised at the difference between the German and the US media in this situation. In Germany, you hardly hear ANYTHING about the bird flu. But in the US, it seemed like it was on EVERY SINGLE DAY. Seriously, they're hyping it up that you need to built a shelter in your house and eat only vegetables.

When someone in my area gets it, I'll become concerned. But as for right now, I'm not concerned at all.
 
#44
sarahcantiik said:
Bird flu is quite scary in my country. I used to see new cases after cases on TV everyday, but lately it has died down a lil bit.

My grandma's birds and chickens are now gone. They were vaccinated, but we just dont want to take the chances of living near them.

There was a case here where a security guy, whose boss was giving away his pet birds to be destroy, and he kept one of them. The next week he died of bird flu. There was also a case where a family of 5 lost the dad and their 2 daughters from bird flu. Strangely, the mother and oldest son survived. It was really sad that one, coz they all died within days from each other.

This disease is really scary as it accelerates really fast from bad to really bad. It's like one doesn't have a chance at all, the virus eats you up real fast. I hope they're going to come with a vaccine real soon.
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what country are you in ?
 
#45
I live in Asia, and I am not concerned anymore. I pretty much figure that there is really no preparation, no known treatment (tamiflu may work, but may not), and nothing that worrying is going to accomplish. I feel like if you take the proper cleanliness precaution....wash your hands, don't send kids to school if they are sick, or if you hear a bug is going around....that's all you can do. I try not to waste valuable emotional energy stressing over something that I can't control!!!!
 
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