View Full Version : BIRD FLU
Tom Cornwall
20-Oct-05, 23:49
Have you seen/heard all the hype on the 'bird flu' ? the tv seem to be pushing it like mad.
Apparently, 60 people worldwide have died from it in the last two years. but over a 1000 people die every year from the ordinary flu in this country alone.
is this the same thing that cost the country millions in the year 1999, hyped up by the media. the so-called Millenium Bug, which never materialised?
apparently, the drug manufacturer, Roche, is making millions out of the scare.
invest some money in that company, you'll be minted by the end of it. thats what the Bin Ladens did.... they made a fortune out of 9/11
is this the same thing that cost the country millions in the year 1999, hyped up by the media. the so-called Millenium Bug, which never materialised?
The Millenium Bug was a disaster averted because everyone was forewarned and took precautions. When New Year arrived without event it was because the problem had been dealt with not because the problem was never there.
Have you seen/heard all the hype on the 'bird flu' ? the tv seem to be pushing it like mad.
Apparently, 60 people worldwide have died from it in the last two years. but over a 1000 people die every year from the ordinary flu in this country alone.
is this the same thing that cost the country millions in the year 1999, hyped up by the media. the so-called Millenium Bug, which never materialised?
apparently, the drug manufacturer, Roche, is making millions out of the scare.
I think your missing the point though.60 people have died so far becuase the virus can currently only transfer between birds and humans (not human to human) and even that is quite hard. But as more people get it there is a greater chance of it coming into contact with a version of human flu which it will(at some point down the line) then combine with and it will allow it to be spread person to person which is when it gets very dangerous.
Normally i would treat this with a pich of salt but my girfriend is a biologist and she confirms that its not just a case of if it happens its a case of when it happens.
Tom Cornwall wrote:
Have you seen/heard all the hype on the 'bird flu' ?
How could we fail to miss it Tom?
agm wrote:
my girfriend is a biologist and she confirms that its not just a case of if it happens its a case of when it happens.
Yes there are an awful lot of things in this life that are certainties which we will all have to deal with but getting this threat of ‘Bird ‘flu’ fed to us breakfast, lunch and dinner time through the media is really more than some folk can cope with – I feel so sorry for those who are panicking - of course we are all worried.
We were threatened not all that long ago that a huge number of us were going to die of ‘Sars‘ but thankfully that seemed to ‘die a death’ excuse the pun………
Let us all hope and pray that it never materialises.
Penny
can blokes catch bird flu as well? :lol: ;)
The biggest problem at present is not the bird flu but the media blowing the whole thing out of proportion
Dogs and cats get flu all the time but do we immediately start using medieval methods of culling them to prevent cross species contraction? No of course!
So why are we mass culling domestic birds?
The mutation into a mass human killer is not guaranteed.
Dogs and cats get flu all the time but do we immediately start using medieval methods of culling them to prevent cross species contraction? No of course!
Because humans can't catch dog or cat flu.
So why are we mass culling domestic birds?
The mutation into a mass human killer is not guaranteed.
Because humans can catch bird flu and it is a killer. The mutation is not guaranteed but the more people catch bird flu the more likely it is.
What sort of odds would you consider acceptable when the stake is a hundred million lives? Even if the odds were a million to one against the mutation happening we would still have to take action when the stakes are that high.
A mutated cat flu virus could be passed to humans. That is the ethos with bird flu isn't it?
Well I suppose we should be seen to be doing something even if it won't matter a jot considering all the migrating birds in the world can just spread this willy nilly.
I am surprised we aren't mass killing all the geese on Loch of Mey by now. ;)
Hi fred you have to remember the media is blowing the hole thing out of proportion to sell a story and if bird flu comes ot the uk it will kill a certain percentage of people just as normal flu does every year and no matter how much birds they kill there will always be one bird that will slip through thats the way of the world but the media is at fault for scareing people
Tugmistress
21-Oct-05, 22:22
Well don't know about IF it hits the uk
Parrot dies of bird flu in quaratine in UK ....
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=159994426&p=y59995y3z
ok so it arrived mid september, what about the birds that left there between it arriving and dying?
A mutated cat flu virus could be passed to humans. That is the ethos with bird flu isn't it?
No.
The chances of cat flu mutating so humans could catch it would be astronomical, near enough impossible.
If someone who had human flu caught bird flu the chances of the two viruses combining would be quite low.
Hi fred you have to remember the media is blowing the hole thing out of proportion to sell a story and if bird flu comes ot the uk it will kill a certain percentage of people just as normal flu does every year and no matter how much birds they kill there will always be one bird that will slip through thats the way of the world but the media is at fault for scareing people
It's the medias job to sell stories and they do like to sensationalise things.
That doesn't mean there isn't a substantial risk of bird flu becoming infectious to humans, just as scrapie became mad cow diseas in cows then CJD in humans.
Yes it would kill a certain percentage of humans, at the moment it's killing one in five people who get it in Vietnam, at first it was as high as eight out of ten. The 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic killed one in 20 and 40 million people died.
George Brims
21-Oct-05, 23:40
Most of the flu viruses that cause the annual human flu epidemics come from birds (and the ones that kill birds come back to the birds from humans). For some reason the kinds of flu virus that affect birds and humans always seem to be closely related. Pigs are also sometimes in the loop. The point about this particular avian flu is that it is likely to cause a lot of deaths if it starts to spread between humans, because it's not similar to any recent ones. The year by year versions of the flu virus are usually not that different from each other, so if you had last winter's one or last year's vaccination, you will have at least some chance of fighting off this year's one. Just now and again there's a big change and then a really bad pandemic occurs - such as in 1918. That's whath they'r elooking at with this particular avian flu. Advances in molecular biology allow the scientists to figure that out ahead of time, rather than turning around next year and saying "Wow, that was a bad one".
There's a lot of information here http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/
If someone who had human flu caught bird flu the chances of the two viruses combining would be quite low.
So there is nothing to worry about then?
If someone who had human flu caught bird flu the chances of the two viruses combining would be quite low.
So there is nothing to worry about then?
Nothing for you to worry about at all.
we have to learn from our history..
if you want to know how deadly bird flu is
research the 1918 spanish flu
wich killed more people than the war itself.
in america people fought over every tiny piece of wood.. because bodies were piling up in the streets and there were not enough wood to make coffins..
it was a case of waking up in the morning and asking.. who is still alive?
that is why they are so worried..
im sure that if your wife or husband son or daughter started bleeding from their orffices and drowning from the fluid in their lungs .. and no antibiotics will work all you can do is sit and wait for them to die..
so yup think the precautions for the flu is good..
would rather have it all hyped up and nothing happen than to have my children die in my arms.
porshiepoo
22-Oct-05, 09:39
Aren't we all missing the point here! We can all spend time worrying and debating this bird flu then get hit by a bus tomorrow, and theres probably a higher risk of that.
Having lived in england for many years my first thought was that with all the clean air up here and the sparse population surely theres less chance of it getting a grip, but then I thought that might be the undoing of it. In england there is so much smog (and believe me the air smells very different) that maybe the immune system is stronger and in fighting spirit to hold it off.
Like I say I haven't got a clue about this bird flu and I hope that no one has to die suffering from it but when your times up it's up.
I find it so ironic that everyone gets up in arms about a bird flu that MAY come and cause grief and will probably take all precautions to prevent it and will then probably go home and light up a fag! :confused
Aren't we all missing the point here!
Yes, I think you probably are, if you looked at the location of the person who started this thread it might give you a clue.
There is a serious threat but a system of killing all domestic poultry in affected areas has proved effective in the past and there is every chance it will prove effective this time. Strains of flu virus don't last long and the more deadly the strain the shorter lived they are, we only have to prevent it from spreading to humans for a few years.
So it is a very serious and worrying situation at the moment for people who keep domestic poultry or whos livelyhoods depend on domestic poultry, once bird flu hits Britain and that's only a matter of time they will have to start stretching necks.
Seems to me that the newspapers are telling us of an epidemic that MIGHT come to our shores and MIGHT infect our birds and MIGHT pass from a bird to a human but then has never passed from a human to a human but then it MIGHT mutate and then It MIGHT pass between humans and then it MIGHT turn into an epidemic liek never seen before and it MIGHT kill millions of people
If thats all i had to worry about id be a very very lucky girl!!!!
havig said that it is a sight more interesting that the Tory party leadership contest which appearsto be the only other news
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN N
Tugmistress
22-Oct-05, 13:00
So it concerns none of you that I posted a link last night that IT HAS already been found in the UK, albeit in Quarantine :eek: :eek:
Well don't know about IF it hits the uk
Parrot dies of bird flu in quaratine in UK ....
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=159994426&p=y59995y3z
ok so it arrived mid september, what about the birds that left there between it arriving and dying?
Was it a Norwegian Blue Parrot?
Was it a Norwegian Blue Parrot?
I'm stunned; I think you may have nailed it down scorrie.
But, then again, perhaps it was a Finnish Seagull (http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08260502/H5N1_Finland.html). I would consider migration if I were you. Before they start calling for a gull cull ...
Tugmistress
22-Oct-05, 14:48
Taken from
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ebarnes/python/dead-parrot.htm
:lol: :lol: :lol:
The sketch:
A customer enters a pet shop.
Mr. Praline: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.
(The owner does not respond.)
Mr. Praline: 'Ello, Miss?
Owner: What do you mean "miss"?
Mr. Praline: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!
Owner: We're closin' for lunch.
Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
Mr. Praline: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
Owner: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. .......
Thats funny tugmistress... made me laugh
To be honest finding bird flu in an importedparrot isnt quite the same as the hordes of infected wild birds we are told we MIGHT get.
Tis a bit like finding rabies in a quarantined cat and headlining that we are all going to die from that
Tugmistress
22-Oct-05, 15:20
Was a brilliant Monty Python sketch, an all time classic :D
On the more serious note the Guardian have a bit on the dead parrot, and some vet says 360 birds have been culled? but doesn't say where....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/birdflu/story/0,14207,1598102,00.html
porshiepoo
22-Oct-05, 17:34
Aren't we all missing the point here!
Yes, I think you probably are, if you looked at the location of the person who started this thread it might give you a clue.
There is a serious threat but a system of killing all domestic poultry in affected areas has proved effective in the past and there is every chance it will prove effective this time. Strains of flu virus don't last long and the more deadly the strain the shorter lived they are, we only have to prevent it from spreading to humans for a few years.
So it is a very serious and worrying situation at the moment for people who keep domestic poultry or whos livelyhoods depend on domestic poultry, once bird flu hits Britain and that's only a matter of time they will have to start stretching necks.
Oops kinda didn't look at the location of the poster! Point taken!
But really, don't waste your life worrying about what MIGHT happen, worry about what IS happening. I don't spend my time worrying about what Might happen if a bus comes round the corner or what Might happen if my husband carries on smoking, there are enough ifs, buts and maybes in life to worry about without another one.
Obviously I would probably feel different if my livelihood depended on these birds but lets face it thats not what the majority of us worry about in this case, we might say 'poor farmers who kill chicken might not be able to kill chicken for a while' but thats crap! We're worried about ourselves only! Theres a teeny tiny weeny chance that this bird flu may cross with a human form of flu and mutate into something else, theres probably more chance of dying of normal flu. Mind you if the goverment have their way they'll have us believing that this bird flu will kill off the rest of the population that miraculously survived the deadly lethal all consuming SARs virus.
Anyway if this flu by some chance does do what they say, what do you think the chances are of say the royal family or tony blair dying of it???? Pretty near to zero I'll say.
No vaccine to it, poppy cock! They've probably already carried out testing on poor lab rats and have just enough to protect the above said people - you know, the important ones that run this country :lol:
One thing it has succeeded in doing though is gaining everyones attention, make everyone nice and vulnerable before they hit us with something else! [mad]
Obviously I would probably feel different if my livelihood depended on these birds but lets face it thats not what the majority of us worry about in this case, we might say 'poor farmers who kill chicken might not be able to kill chicken for a while' but thats crap! We're worried about ourselves only!
I'm not just worried about myself, I'm worried about my hens too.
No vaccine to it, poppy cock! They've probably already carried out testing on poor lab rats and have just enough to protect the above said people - you know, the important ones that run this country :lol:
There is no vaccine because there is no disease. A vaccine is the disease which has been treated so it can't reproduce. They inject it into you and it can't harm you because it can't multiply but your body can manufacture antibodies which will protect you if you ever get the live virus.
If the virus mutates to a human form then they will be able to make a vaccine but till then they can't.
Was it a Norwegian Blue Parrot?
I'm stunned; I think you may have nailed it down scorrie.
But, then again, perhaps it was a Finnish Seagull (http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08260502/H5N1_Finland.html). I would consider migration if I were you. Before they start calling for a gull cull ...
There are enough Culls in the government already, without calling for another!!
With reference to the Finnish Seagulls, what are these Cleavage Sites they are talking about? I thought it was Seagulls and not Tits that were the birds involved?
With reference to the Finnish Seagulls, what are these Cleavage Sites they are talking about? I thought it was Seagulls and not Tits that were the birds involved?
Well, I read here (http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/10/bush_dodges_a_q.html) that H5N1 has a "polybasic cleavage site ..." so perhaps Poly Parrot has been mutating with those wee birds you mentioned.
porshiepoo
23-Oct-05, 10:54
Obviously I would probably feel different if my livelihood depended on these birds but lets face it thats not what the majority of us worry about in this case, we might say 'poor farmers who kill chicken might not be able to kill chicken for a while' but thats crap! We're worried about ourselves only!
I'm not just worried about myself, I'm worried about my hens too.
No vaccine to it, poppy cock! They've probably already carried out testing on poor lab rats and have just enough to protect the above said people - you know, the important ones that run this country :lol:
There is no vaccine because there is no disease. A vaccine is the disease which has been treated so it can't reproduce. They inject it into you and it can't harm you because it can't multiply but your body can manufacture antibodies which will protect you if you ever get the live virus.
If the virus mutates to a human form then they will be able to make a vaccine but till then they can't.
Exactly, theres no disease! There are probably a million and one other forms of disease that we will be struck down with in the years to come, none of which are aound now and therefore have no vaccine, but we ain't worrying about them are we! What if the foot rot that sheep suffer from mutates with human athletes foot and causes gangrene and everyones feet drop off! Highly unlikely I know!
masseyboy
07-Nov-05, 23:52
Local publicans are taking the threat of bird flu very seriously, all pubs in Wick & Thurso have now banned hen nights
masseyboy
08-Nov-05, 23:11
first case of the disease hits caithness check out latest picture
http://photos22.flickr.com/28246096_37b4b4c99f_m.jpg
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