[Electric_Mofo]

I'm sorry that I'm about to scare everyone to death but the UN public health experts say that the Bird Flu pandemic which has already killed 65 people in Asia could kill up to 150 million people if nothing is done now. The last major outbreak killed 40 million people in 1918 and there were minor out outbreaks in the 50s and 60s but this could be the worst one yet.

more info here http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/lifesty...welcome_screen

 

[AlanY]

Your link doesn't work. Here's another couple:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16769376-2,00.html
and
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7000319924

The good news is that no cases of human to human transmission have been reported yet. It still sounds dangerous, since the possibility of mutating to become transmissible is there and it could possibly kill one out of every two infected people, supposedly.

Edit: I guess there were two cases of human to human transmission!

 

[fewtch]

If I get it, will I, like, start chirping & flapping my arms?

(sorry, I know it's a serious subject, just couldn't resist).

 

[Electric_Mofo]

I heard that the FLU now has the ability to mutate into a human to human Flu

 

[gloco]

Grand.

What's with all these diseases popping up in the last couple of years that can totally wipe us out? I recall watching a program about the poor air quality in Asia (typically in large cities like Hong Kong). Anyone remembers SARS?

http://www.unep.org/geo2000/aps-asiapacific/
http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre...r_20031014.htm

The more people that squish into these urban areas, the more prone they are to diseases that can wipe out huge populations.

Even worse is that if the bird flu starts spreading rapidly it can be assured some cases will pop up everywhere in the world like SARS did.

 

[episiarch]

It's bird flu because birds are where it hangs out; but it's not a completely different disease from the human influenzas.

We're used to thinking of flu as a nuisance disease, but that's mainly because we haven't seen a truly bad pandemic in a while (perhaps as far back as 1918, depending on your definition of 'truly bad'). When a variation emerges that we're not yet immune to and that has extreme symptoms, it kills huge numbers of people, and it moves through the population very fast.

Flu mutates relatively quickly, and it only takes a few variations to turn a nonhuman flu into a human one, or a low-lethality flu into a highly lethal one. Pretty frightening stuff.

Besides being scary, it's a genuinely interesting topic for the scientifically-minded. If you like to read up on these things I highly recommend The Monster at Our Door by Mike Davis (don't be put off by the publisher's choice of cover art).

 

[dougbrad81]

I reside in indonesia currently, and it's shocking how the goverment are handling this. they are refusing to cull the birds, and have covered up some cases in the past. most of the cases of bird flu are in jakarta itself, a very congested city. also there are alot of people that come from neigbouring cities to work here during the weekdays. so if it mutates to human to human flu, the threat of spreading it are quite high. what I don't understand is despite all the warnings from UN public health experts about the threat of a global pandemic, there has been little to none international pressure on Indonesia to take this threat more seriously.

 

[apnk]

Any one read the book The Hot Zone? Well in that book a guy said that as humans chop the rain forest down, we are digging out viruses we never encountered.

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electric_Mofo I heard that the FLU now has the ability to mutate into a human to human Flu

Do you have a link? Pretty alarmist statement without any backup.

Edit-Someone else said the same....where is this information from? I must be missing it in the articles.

 

[RedLeader]

fear-mongering, with all the publicity SARS got, the only people that died from it were very young, or very old. Any disease is serious, but saying that it will wipe out 150 million people.... Dont fall into the CNN trap guys

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apnk Any one read the book The Hot Zone? Well in that book a guy said that as humans chop the rain forest down, we are digging out viruses we never encountered.

I read that a few years and it did scare the crap out of me a bit. I should revisit it again.

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzula Do you have a link? Pretty alarmist statement without any backup. Edit-Someone else said the same....where is this information from? I must be missing it in the articles.

Its what the news is saying in England and Its what the UN public official stated. It has'nt mutated yet but its almost certain that it will. The said that there will be a pandemic this winter were the Flu is at its strongest and thats when the bird flu will have its oppurtunity to mutate. I do think that the 150 million claim is pushing it in this day and age, but I expect no more than 500 people to die from this.

 

[Edwood]

Yeah, SARS and Bird Flu. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!


Stock up on Purell Hand Sanitizers.

I think I will have to wear rubber gloves and a mask before going outside.

*heads to store to buy plastic sheeting and duct tape*

-Ed

 

[PSmith08]

Once again, we are confronted with a deadly disease all but ready to become a pandemic. However, with all the foreknowledge, I am prompted to ask "Why a strong prophylactic regimen is not already underway in places where the flu could potentially be?" I hope that urban areas in the United States take heed and start preparing for the worst.

Doom and gloom isn't fun, but I think that we'd be better off in the long run if we took aggressive preventative measures.

 

[gshan]

One sad thing is that a lot of these major health issues are not revealed to the mainstream outside(for many reasons, some of which cannot be discussed here), and when they are there's media hype and people freak out - and yea, the situations are usually extremely serious also at the time.

The SARS thing was ridiculous. People in San Francisco were wearing masks while walking and shopping in downtown lol. When I coughed on the bus, some old ladies stared at me (and yes, I covered my mouth being a person with common sense).

Well, hopefully the affected nations cooperate fully and ask for as much international assistance as possible.

/please excuse previous wording.