BTW: Whatever happened to the Bird Flu Pandemic?

[DoYouEverWonder]

I thought we were all supposed to die this winter and that the US would be under Marshall Law by now?

I thought Bush was going to spend $7 billion+ to fight this new terror?

Seems like Operation Bird Flu was a flop?

[MADem]

1. BushCo musta switched a shitload of his portfolio to Perdue NT

[Deja Q]

2. It was mentioned at work the other day...

And people on either political side (D and R) were openly snickering at the talk. I can't blame them; they know what's up.

[tanyev]

3. Great googly moogly! What did happen to the Bird Flu Pandemic?

I guess it couldn't stand up to all the brave Americans stashing tuna and powdered milk under their beds.

[liontamer]

4. millions of birds were slaughtered to prevent pandemic

it worked

[katinmn]

52. Junior allocated $5 million to tracking migratory birds!

Betcha one of his cronies started a new migratory tracking bird tech company for the occassion..

[UTUSN]

5. or OBL? or Tom RIDGE? or........ n/'t

[leftofthedial]

6. no longer needed courtesy of king george's low poll numbers

and Israel's willingness to help him out now

it could make a comeback in time for 2008 though . . .

[TomInTib]

7. It was never a legitimate issue.

I got so beat up because of my posts on this.

Scary, scary, boogah boogah!!

They knew that a very few were versed on animal/human transmission and exploited that ignorance.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. That's why I'm bringing it up now

Some of us knew it was bs then and it's still bs now. Just wanted to remind people that obviously nothing happened.

[katinmn]

14. Bingo! Guess we were proven right.

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/1569

[TomInTib]

17. That is a great summary. Thanks

'Summary' is probably not the right word, but I am woefully uneducated.

But I do know about animals, humans, and infection.

I got so much grief here on this subject.

[WinkyDink]

22. I always held that view! My mother once asked me what I thought about bird

flu. I replied, "Birds are gonna die, that's what."

[TomInTib]

29. But if you suck blood from that infected bird, or spend a couple of

weeks in a tent in in the dead of winter in SomeFuckingWhere playing dolls with your five year old sister and a couple of dead chickens' heads.....

YOU COULD GET BIRD FLU!!!!!

[Mojorabbit]

26. Obviously you have not been following it then

Indonesia just surpased Vietnams number of human cases. The WHO got caught lying about the number of mutations in the human to human big cluster in Indonesia and pissed off a lot of scientists.Here is an article on it
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0706/1402_who_looking.html but a better one was in Nature but is behind a subscription wall. There were thirty something mutations I believe in just the one big cluster. Being as a lot of cases have no infected poultry they are looking at possible other means of transmission and cats seem to be at the head of the list.

They are still hiding the genetic sequences behind a password protected website only open to around 15 countries because some countries want to be the first to manafacture a vaccine and get the money and some scientists want to publish and the public be dammed. Here is the petition to release the sequences if you want to sign it. http://www.petitiononline.com/h5n12006/petition.html
Italy is putting their sequences in the public genbank because they think it is immoral to not have them out there so scientists all over the world can work on a vaccine.

China just had another outbreak in birds and a gazillion of them have died. Spain just had their first case in birds.They waited a week to notify anyone and the public is pissed.
Thailand has 10 people under observation and birds are kaking there as well as in Russia.

The WHO expects an uptake in cases during the fall flu season to come. My sister who works in medicine for the govt is working her ass off to try to help plan for it among other disasters that may occur.
Big corporations are putting in plans as well as the banking system. It has been in the financial pages.

There was just a huge conference in Paris of doctors and scientists to discuss it. NC is getting a vaccine plant but it won't be online for years. It will take up to ten years once a vaccine is developed after a pandemic starts before there is enough for the world's population and by then the pandemic would be over.

I could go on and on but these are some of the things that have been going on.

[TomInTib]

37. Bullshit on the Indo cases...

There were live birds in evidence in every case.

Those people were living in an interacive environment with infected birds.

Human-to-human is still pure speculation.

[katinmn]

43. Yes. Cases have occured in poorly kept poultry farms under

wretched working conditions that you would not find in the U.S.

[Mojorabbit]

45. not true

[katinmn]

47. True

[Mojorabbit]

44. The birds tested neg.

There are a lot of cases with no infected birds including a recent one in China. I have followed every single case. Human to human was proven in the latest indonesian big cluster. They proved it by the sequences. Look it up on the WHO website if you don't believe me.

[katinmn]

46. I've been following this very closely, too, Been to all the sites.

Read all the reports. The single WHO case is speculation.

But the fact that Rumsfeld made $5 million off his stock in Tamiflu is not speculation.

[Mojorabbit]

51. I will post this again

A painstaking international investigation into the largest human cluster of H5N1 avian flu cases to date revealed the virus mutated as it began to spread from person to person in a family in Indonesia, the World Health Organization reported in a meeting that concluded Friday in Jakarta.

That mutation - observed in viruses isolated from a boy and his father - may constitute the best evidence to date of human-to-human spread of this worrisome virus. And experts at the meeting agreed person-to-person spread almost certainly occurred in this family, which lived in the North Sumatran village of Karo.

"Our epidemiological investigation did not include any other plausible sources of infection except for limited human to human transmission to explain infection in all seven of these cases," said one of the senior investigators, Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

"And the virological evidence is supportive of our conclusions."
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/060623/x062330.html

This was big news and obviously you have not been following this closely if you did not know about this...but whatever

[katinmn]

56. Just keep posting the same article. I believe it was a hyped up scam

to create more giveaways to pharmas and Rumsfeld. If you don't know about Rummy's connection you haven't been paying attention.

[Mojorabbit]

60. I don't give a damn about rummy

The whole world is preparing as well as the financial community, insurance community, and the large corporations. I understand biology, I am a retired nurse, my husband is a physician. We are up to date on the information. We have a plan. It affects us directly if it happens so we have to have a plan. It is up to you whether you do or not.

[katinmn]

62. Financial, insurance communities and lg. corporations. I rest my case.

Haven't you realized that the US is a company now, not a country?

BTW, I am a science and health writer and I talk to top researchers and physicians around the world every week. They think it is a scam, too, and they are pissed when patients come in demanding a bird flu shot.

[Mojorabbit]

65. You know what

I don't believe you. I am a nurse. My husband is a physician. I know a whole lot of physicians and they think the opposite. This is my last posts on the subject to you because it is a waste of my time. Darwinism.

[katinmn]

67. Buh-bye!

:hi:

[lonestarnot]

68. hmmmmf.

[lonestarnot]

70. Real nurses don't have time to investigate. They're too tired

to spend time looking at dead birds or anything related. Adios! Conchita.

[katinmn]

61. PS. It Is A Scam.

Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article350787.ece

Roche makes a killing
As panic spreads over avian flu, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant is accused of putting profits before people.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1598469,00.html

Bird flu could reach Alaska in weeks (this was wriiten in MARCH. Guess they were making stuff up, huh?)
'Avian-flu index' is up 105% since last August
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B1F67C352-55CE-4718-90A6-04C9767A191D%7D&siteid=mktw

[lonestarnot]

72. Yes it is.

[Mojorabbit]

48. Here is an old article about it

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/health/060623/x062330.html
A painstaking international investigation into the largest human cluster of H5N1 avian flu cases to date revealed the virus mutated as it began to spread from person to person in a family in Indonesia, the World Health Organization reported in a meeting that concluded Friday in Jakarta.

That mutation - observed in viruses isolated from a boy and his father - may constitute the best evidence to date of human-to-human spread of this worrisome virus. And experts at the meeting agreed person-to-person spread almost certainly occurred in this family, which lived in the North Sumatran village of Karo.

"Our epidemiological investigation did not include any other plausible sources of infection except for limited human to human transmission to explain infection in all seven of these cases," said one of the senior investigators, Dr. Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

"And the virological evidence is supportive of our conclusions."

[katinmn]

50. Mmmm Hmmm. "may constitute the best evidence to date"

Other researchers have disputed the conclusion.

[Mojorabbit]

53. Name me one

It was in the virus sequences. There are two doctors out of all the rest in the world who dispute anything about this flu possibly becoming pandemic in the news.

[TomInTib]

49. Ok, I will take my chances.

Kind like getting pregnant in a hot tub sans penetration.

I worry a lot more about stepping off of curbs.

Or deer ticks.

Or an 80 year old guy behind the wheel.

Or the cigarette in my hand and the ever-present glass of wine.

Bird Flu? Pshaw...

[Mojorabbit]

54. No need to worry. Good to be prepared and aware.

I have a plan because my hubby is a physician and we had to formulate one for the practice as are all the physicians we know.

[DoYouEverWonder]

58. Is following this part of your job

or are you just paranoid?

I could think of much better things to do then follow every possible case. I still have enough faith in the system that there are plenty of scientists following this stuff for me and if and when it becomes a real problem, there probably won't be much I can do about it anyway.

BTW: When it's your time to go, it's time to go. We are all going to die of something, someday.

[bullimiami]

9. they found another angle so thats off for now.

just like the colored terror alerts.

[ima_sinnic]

10. it's been put on hold for the day when they have a shortage of

things to scare us with. Looks like Hezbollah is doing nicely as the new "al Qaeda" that COULD.EVEN.BE.IN.THE.U.S!!!11!!11!--no sense in wasting a perfectly good crisis when another one is already going on. Bird flu will be dragged out at just the right time, you wait and see.

[havocmom]

11. Anybody hear a word about West Nile Virus lately?

We have some cases where I live and there is regular spraying for mosquitoes. There's a vaccine for the horses but dogs, cats and people are S.O.L. Funny we don't hear about West Nile. Guess the spin-miesters want us worrying about issues where they can make more money.

We do have some pretty nasty viruses in our 'hood. Seems like flu season is never ending. Oh, and how come all the new asthma? The powers that be don't mention all the new asthma.

But Iran... booga booga!

[kineneb]

24. still around, several human cases in CA

More info here for California:

http://www.westnile.ca.gov/

It is still a serious concern here, although it looks like the virus may be becoming less virulent (compare to last year's stats, bottom of web page). I still would not want to get it.

[havocmom]

25. Lots of it in my area and we hardly have any people

but the Feds and Corporate media don't seem to like it as the Boogey Man.

[kineneb]

77. 'cause the real danger is to horses

they are particularly susceptible to the disease, and die painful, ugly deaths if they become sick. Horse folks are really paranoid about West Nile, and the smart ones have gotten their horses vaccinated. Most of the people who get WNV will recover, if diagnosed and treated.

[havocmom]

79. uh, yeah, I know that. Quarter Horses raised around here

And the Thoroughbreds from many stables in KY used to be summered here before the virus got this far west.

But it is not a fun bug for humans to get either. Many here are still having problems a year or even two after being infected.

We have a really tiny population and quite a few people have been very ill with this virus

[tammywammy]

76. Every couple of days I hear something about West Nile

Either they found mosquitoes with it, or someone has gotten it. It comes along with the usual news, don't have a lot of standing water, use bug spray and that such-and-such city will be spraying that night for mosquitoes.


And then they go to the newest (!!!) diet tips. :)

[katinmn]

12. I've been wondering about that myself. It's as if the threat disappeared.

That shows you the media and public were being played again.

But the money was allocated for R&D and tracking migratory birds so I'm sure it was money well spent for a non-existant threat. (Never mind that people are dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor.)

[cboy4]

13. That is going to be part of an orange terra alert we're

going to get in September, a couple months before the election, in order to try to scare voters.

The repukes realize it's the only way they can win.....scare and cheat.

Don't be surprised to hear about mad cow threatening the beef supply either.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. Would you like to post

a response or do you just prefer insults?

[eShirl]

73. if pointing out willful ignorance is an insult then so be it

However, trying to educate people who laugh off bird flu at this point would be like trying to educate people who don't believe in global warming. There's no threat and let's ridicule people who are trying to do what little might be done about it. Good job.

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[treestar]

16. I'm series!!!!!!!!!!!11111111 YOU MORANS!!!

Don't you know the bird flue will kill us all unless we have marshall law?

:sarcasm:

[NNN0LHI]

18. I put plastic on my windows with duct tape and have been eating the...

...sardines I have stored under my bed and I feel just fine. No sign of bird flu here. Another Bush success story I guess?

Don

[FloridaPat]

20. Have to invade Iran now before the elections. Then, if things go

bad during the elections, there's nothing like a little pandemic to quiet the people and use those new detention centers to put people who know what's going on out of sight.

The Patriot Act says the gov't can take your home and everything if you refuse to get the shots.

[necso]

21. Here's an interesting link:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/country/cases_table_2006_07_14/en/index.html

There's lots more information available at the WHO and elsewhere.

Not to be snarky (or whatever), but just because something isn't in the media, this doesn't mean that it's gone away.

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. I'm not denying that this isn't a serious problem

for the poultry industry, that is not the point.

The propaganda and bad science that claimed it was going to make the jump from bird to human, to human to human transmission is the problem, because obviously it wasn't the imminent threat that BushCo was trying to scare everyone into believing.

Human cases is different then human to human transmission. Unless you were planning a vacation to a Vietnamese chicken farm you probably have little to worry about.

[necso]

27. Another interesting link:

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05160601/H5N1_Transmission_Indonesia.html

[Mojorabbit]

30. It has passed from human to human

for goodness sake. The last time was in all the papers.

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. One cluster in one family

is not a worldwide pandemic that was supposed to wipe out half the US population this past winter.

[katinmn]

36. I read that. It was speculation. Not proven

Also 132 deaths in 3 yrs is not a pandemic.

[Mojorabbit]

41. It was proven. H-H-H. First time they could prove it by the

sequences though they admit it most likely happened in several other cases. This one was large and they proved it.
No we don't have a pandemic yet. If we did we would not be having this conversation.

[lonestarnot]

55. Now we might. I don't plan on going outside if it gets here.

And this is my favorite place in the house.

[lonestarnot]

57. No it's not.

:hi: Kat!

[katinmn]

64. Hey, Lonnie!

:toast:

[lonestarnot]

66. Hey Kat!

:toast:

[lonestarnot]

28. Just another war. War on birds. hmmmmmf.

I thought about it tonight also. Very strange people are wondering about it at the same time.

[chat_noir]

32. they're still deciding who to put in the containment camps...

illegals or liberals/the anti-war people

[DanCa]

33. Howabout North Korea? (nt)

[porphyrian]

34. It's hanging out with the killer bees waiting for a bad made-for-TV movie.

Or something like that.

[Disturbed]

35. "Very strange people are wondering about it at the same time."

Yeah, I was thinking about that yesterday. Wave links?

[katinmn]

38. Well, we've had it hammered into our brains for a year

It's very noticeable now that the yammering is over.

[lonestarnot]

42. No they are saving it for something.

[lonestarnot]

39. Hey you... Disturbed...you missed. LOL

[porphyrian]

40. I hope not, for everyone else's sake.

Well, maybe I'm only a receiver.
;)

[tandem5]

63. Oh it's coming... after we're "left behind" it will be part of the...

trials and tribulations we must face in order to achieve salvation! Or else... hell!!! Here's my smiley face version of hell - you better make sure you're sitting down for this:

:nuke::nuke::nuke: :grr: :spank: :evilgrin: :banghead: :banghead: :nuke::nuke::nuke:

[lonestarnot]

69. You run and I'll watch. LOL

[Ilsa]

71. We've got months to go before we have to fret and worry about that.

For now, we have to worry about whether Hezbollah can reach the US with a missle or other act of terrorism. :sarcasm:

[SaveElmer]

74. It's on hiatus during the summer months...

Indonesia is the most worrisome area. The government there has done a poor job of responding. However, there are numerous success stories including India, Turkey, VietNam, Thailand, Egypt, etc...

And although the virus has been in Africa for several months, only in Egypt have any human cases been confirmed.

A poster above noted a series of mutations that took place. This is true, however none of them proved to make the virus any more efficient in passing human to human. And that line of mutataion is now dead as there were no infections outside the nuclear family.

Bird migration seems to be a secondary source of spread. Trade and smuggling in infected poultry is likely the primary cause.

[katinmn]

75. Thanks. You struck the right balance.

[hedgehog]

78. It's still out there. We've just ducked the bullet so far.

The latest information I read traced the 1918 influenza epidemic to a cluster of farm kids in the Midwest. Every plague has to start somewhere. What bothers me is that Bush seems to have perfected the perfect combination of ignoring the right things to do while proceeding full steam ahead to do the wrong things. The fact that people don't trust any information coming from the government anymore may be the worst thing he's done.