I anybody in the UK taking any precautions over bird flu?
462821
We only have it in Scotland. But its going to spread, and they government being as it is, is sitting on their butts, doing nothing. Considering that Avian Flu has been around for close on 3 years now, is it any wonder that it has spread so far?
238804
It is my understanding that several US government agencies will be involved in handling the bird flu virus, contingent on how widespread it ultimately becomes. I don't believe FEMA is one of them. The most obvious choice is the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. In any event, under the present administration, I wouldn't trust FEMA to handle the common cold.
619059
As of yesterday,Oprah did a special interview with a man from the CDC. \n\nHe readily admitted that we can only be prepared. There is only so much of Tamaflu to go around right now. He stated that it would first be given to healthcare workers so they would not be bringing it home to their families and also because we need heathcare workers in a crisis such as this could present.\n\nHe stated also that even if it isn't the bird flu...that something like the 1918 pandemic will happen sooner or later. It was interesting that he said that bodies were exhumed in Alaska from people who died from the flu of 1918. From the bodies remains they were able to (can't think of the word)  basically create the 1918 virus in a test tube. From this they were able to determine how it spread,and came to the conclusion that it passed from birds directly to people without any type of warning.\n\nPersonally I don't think we are prepared enough should a pandemic occur. But that is what having faith is for. You can't live each day of your life in fear. Life goes on. All we can do is be well informed and do our best to prevent the spread of the illness should something like this ever happen.
328291
Maybe the vending machine was concerned about the bird flu.\n\nSeriously, though: There should be an 800 number on it that you can call.
141270
Whatever ...\nBoth will now die due to the avian flu ..
451441
Tough Question - My glib answer is that it won't happen because I am taking precautions for an outbreak. Evey time I take precautions for a disaster nothing happens;) \n\nWhy I am worried is because one case of human to human transmission has happened in Thailand. Also the flu has a week incubation period and during that time it can be spread.   \n\nSpanish flu killed between 50 & 100 million in 1918 and started off as an avian virus. Experts say that the Spanish flu virus had 12 mutations which made it adapt from just infecting birds to infecting pigs and humans.  The mass fowl cullings around the world seem to be preventing any adapted viruses from starting a human pandemic. However the virus has reached countries that don't have the infrastructure, because of bad government, war and poverty, to identify and contain H5N1 in birds. This means that if the adaption happens it could get a foothold in the human population and then start spreading. \n\nThe next point is what do you mean by "really become  contagious?" \n\nMost of the models of the spread of a pandemic are based on past infections. Most predictions are scientifically valid but they depend on a number of factors that can not be controlled. If avian flu mutates to human to human it may become less lethal and it may not be as contagious as it is now. The only way that the statistics will be proved depends on what the H5N1 virus does next.\n\nThe range of the numbers show just how difficult it is to get a clear idea of what may happen. Here are some numbers I crunched based on assumptions and a worldwide population of 6 billion. Note fatalities are based on no medical treatment. \n\n1.) Bird flu stays in birds and can only be transmitted through eating uncooked chicken, exposure to dead birds and drinking or eating things that have been infected.\n% of world population that gets sick 0.000040%\nNo. Sick 2,400\n% fatalities 63.64%\nNo. fatalities 1,527\n\n2.) Bird flu mutates and is really weakened in the mutation \n% of world population that gets sick 25%\nNo. Sick 1,500,000,000\n% fatalities 0.50% (half a percent)\nNo. fatalities 7,500,000\n\n3.) Bird flu mutates and is as virulent as the spanish flu of 1918 (WHO figures) \n% of world population that gets sick 50%\nNo. Sick 3,000,000,000\n% fatalities 5%\nNo. fatalities 150,000,000\n\nThese models become scarier and scarier the worse the plagues and disasters used as a base. All they really say is that if there is a pandemic people, without medical help, will die. They don't say that it will happen. (If you want to really scare yourself or someone else do the maths on bubonic plague 80% infected and 80% fatalities).  \n\nSo overall I'll say there is a chance of this avian fly being the next pandemic. The chance is not so terrifyingly likely that I am going to sell up and move to a defendable mountaintop and start shooting at strangers. However the chance is big enough that I have spent about $100 dollars on Tamiflu and food - just in case. \n\nThe only people who have told me with a 100% certainty that the pandemic is going to happen and everyone will die are people who are trying to sell me stuff to survive the coming pandemic. I think they are pretty biased.
369646
The flu virus family is a big one. Some are characteristically bird flus, others are swine flus, others are human flus, ...\n\nThere's a considerable similarity amongst them (a family, right!)  and under some circumstances, a bird flu can swap bits with a pig flu or a human flu, producing a new variant. It's likely that this happens most often in SE Asia where duck ponds, people (including children) and pigs all live in very close quarters. This is probably the way the major flu pandemics (remember the Hong Kong flu?) in humans get started. \n\nUsually, bird flus don't bother people or pigs, and vice versa. But sometimes, there's enough of a crossover that a bird flu acquires the ability to infect people and spread easily. It happened in 1918, and that flu epidemic spread rapidly and killed something on the order of 40 or 50 million around the world in about 18 months. We know it was a bird type flu because the virus has been reconstructed in a research lab. These guys went looking for folks who'd died from that flu in the Arctic North and been buried in the permafrost. It took more than a decade, but it's recently become clear this flu, the 'Spanish flu', was a bird type flu. \n\nin the case of the current avian flu, it's not yet (if it ever will) acquired the ability to spread easily from human to human. It seems that you must be in close contact with infected birds to have much of a chance of catching it. But if you do, it's very dangerous. The mortality reat in the first few hundred reported cases was something like 50% and that's very very high. More recent cases in Europe seem to have a lower mortality rate, but that may primarily be an artifact of better care (eg, learning from prior cases). \n\nThere is little understanding of what changes would be required for this bird flu variant to become human infectious. There has been some speculation that it may be a few as two different gene changes. And perhaps the change(s) will never happen; no one has much of a real idea about the chances. And it's possible that, if it becomes infectious in humans, it will lose the lethality it currently has in humans. Or not, which is the scary case. \n\nTreatment for flu viruses is traditionally best via vaccine. However, since flu viruses change regularly and the vaccines are typically variant specific, it hasn't been possible to get it precisely right. Which variant will be the major issue in the coming flu season is hard to predict, but having guessed, it takes quite a while to produce the vaccine. It's a bit of a guess and isn't always gotten right. The avian flu is no different. \n\nA vaccine against the current variant would be pointless for humans, as it doesn't infect us very well. And if the virus changes to become infectious in humans, we don't really know how to develop a vaccine against a virus variant we haven't yet seen. And after we see it, it will take some months to produce the vaccine for it. \n\nWhat are the chances of drug treatment against a human infective variant of this avian flu? Not good, just as there aren't very good drugs against any virus infection. We have one or two drugs, of which Tamiflu is thought to be the best of a not very good lot. Governments have begun stockpiling it, against possible need. \n\n======\n\npossibilities\n\n1) The virus never acquires the ability to infect humans easily and to be highly contagious. If so, the current plague among birds will eventually burn itself out and there won't be much further issue. \n\n2) The virus will never acquire the ability to be highly contagious, but will learn to infect people much better than it can manage now and will retain its lethality. More people will die before the pandemic among birds finally burns out. Death toll might be in the thousands or hundreds of thousands, as compared with hundreds to date. it think this unlikely as the flu viruses have all had excellent c
123230
So far as we know, the avian (bird) is not in North or South America.  We don't know when it will arrive nor do we know if it will easily spread between humans.  We do need to be vigilant & watch the news.  In general, good hygiene practices go a long way in helping to prevent the spread of flu.  If you're interested in more information check the Centers for Disease Control Web Site (www.cdc.gov).
688311
i think we should take this bird flu stuff very seriously... that's my answer!! :)
306979
If you keep your parakeet isolated from other birds, it should have a very minimal chance of contracting the disease. The bird flu is spread by contact. It is possible that it might contract it from contact with you or your family. Wash your hands before coming in contact with the cage or the bird. There is also the possibility of having it on your clothes or shoes, but there is not a lot you can do about that. It will also help to keep the cage clean. Clean it daily. Also do not let the bird out of the cage. It might pick up the virus from around the house.
100573
Yes touching raw chicken contaminated with the bird flu virus can make you sick. I would say that it is best to wear gloves during preparation, wash hands thoroughly before and after preparation, disinfect surfaces that had contact with the raw poultry. You should also make sure  that the raw poultry does not drip unto other foods that will be eaten raw.
71551
Basicly, we don't have to worry about bird flu until it passes from person to person.  So far that hasn't happened, so far its only from bird to human.  Thats easy to quarantine, simple really, especially in a nation that doesn't really live with their livestock up close and personal.  Now, if the virus mutates into something that can pass from person to person is when we've got something to worry about.  A cough, germs fly around on the air until someone else inhales them.  \nIn the world of jet travel its easy to think of millions of people being infected.  People interchange planes to everywhere in the world and mingle with each other every second of every day in airports.  Now, what the scientist mean when they say "its only a matter of when rather than if", they mean that germs as tiny as they may be aren't going to go away any time soon.  The bird flu virus is something us humans don't much have a immunity against, because its never been in our system, and thus it could be deadly if it ever passed from human to human.  Till then, I suggest everybody go about their lives and focus on the now of things.\nGerms are here to stay, we learned that after trying to repeat what we did with Smallpox.  Smallpox, the only disease we've ever completely killed without doubt and that was only because it only existed in humans.  Of course there is HIV, a slower killing plague that has crossed over to everyone through slow action and thus leads to AIDS, which basicly makes your body open for business for every other germ.  TB, etc, etc, its a small world and the germs know it better than anyone.
301002
The reason we watch asian flus is b/c the farms there are set up w/ ponds where ducks rest and pigs drink. The duck/bird strains are more likely to mutate to the pig first than to a human- the catch is, a pig is actually very close to us as far as internal working go, and it is easier for a pig strain (origianlly from a bird) can then mutate to infect the farmers... and then spread to the general population. So the likelihood... good. Pray. Peace out.
63376
WELL AM AN INDIAN IN CHINA where this 1st struck but not in all provinces in china.but these people say they hav a way to avoid this. not exactly sure,i will ask the senior doctors an let know if atall.i am a student of meedicine
258778
Most of our info is very speculative as of now, as when it comes to future mutations of the bird flue, all we have are our fears. Really, we're worried about a recurrance of the Spanish Flue, which killed millions in the early twentieth century. As of now however, there has been only one case of bird flue transmitted between people, the rest has been from bird to poultry worker (total infected is around 100 people I believe). The big deal is, from the infected we've seen, it has a 50% mortality rate, and this is before it's even fully evolved to attack humans.\n\nHowever, a good deal of this is speculation, as it is easily possible that many more have been infected and fealt no adverse effects, or nothing more than a cold. All the cases we now know about were severe enough to warrant hospitalization, but what if there are many more that never had to go to the hospital, and so we never learned about them?\n\nBut, with 2 mutations left to go to be fully suited to attack humans, the avian flue (H1N1) it can't be long until we know for sure.\n\nTo prevent this, people are attempting to quarentine and kill ay infected birds nd poultry, but as you can imagine, this is easier said than done. We're also stocking up on Tamiflu, which some say is our best shot at an antiviral for fighting this thing.\n\nThe Spanish Flu ended when it burned itself out. It moved so quickly that it killed off the more suceptable humans, and the tougher ones became immune. It had nowhere left to go, and died off. If the avian flu is anything like it, the same will happen, though our use of antivirals may hamper this.\n\nThese pandemics are a natural part of population control and evolution. Who can say what we do to our species when we do all we can to fight it, and keep it from having an impact upon us?
274567
It's an AVIAN flu virus. We already have it here (~10-15 BIRDS with it and maybe 1-2 people) and it's no big deal right now. IF it manages to acquire the ability for human to human transmission THEN we are all in big trouble. \n\nRight now I would only worry for people that go hunting or people that keep lots of birds. You can only get it from birds...
98319
Kill all affected birds, human in direct contact with those birds are prone to bird flu, last 3 years 92 people are dead from bird flu and all were bird handlers.\n\nThere is no harm in eating well cooked chicken and egg.\n\nIt has not yet spead from humam to human but danger is still there.