Do you think the bird flu will become a reality - spark a pandemic ? if so when ?
535981
Influenza is a real threat only when it crosses the species barrier i.e. can be transmitted from pigs to birds to humans.  So far this Avian flu has not crossed the species barrier to humans, staying within the confines of the bird community.  Once humans start displaying the symptoms of the Avian flu, then we will have something to worry about.  Best course of action: make sure your immune system is up to scratch and don't worry because itll take some time to mutate, unless we fight it with antibiotics which will make it mutate faster and then.........
1155222
The bird flu has not been spread outside Asia yet to my knowledge. It is possible from research studies of the Bird Flu that it could become airborne, spread through breathing, if that happens, a world panic would occur. Hopefully it doesn't and researchers will find a cure for it.
8595
Yes. In 2003 there was a patient who was diagnosed with avian bird flu in New York.
203990
Have you heard, watched, or read ANYTHING about the bird flu?!
269690
As their lungs filled … the patients became short of breath and increasingly cyanotic. After gasping for several hours they became delirious and incontinent, and many died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth. It was a dreadful business.\n\n--Isaac Starr, 3rd year medical student, University of Pennsylvania, 1918.\n\nAll the genes of all influenza viruses in the world are being maintained in aquatic birds, and periodically they transmit to other species... The 1918 viruses are still being maintained in the bird reservoir. So even though these viruses are very ancient, they still have the capacity to evolve, to acquire new genes, new hosts. The potential is still there for the catastrophe of 1918 to happen again.\n\n--Dr. Robert Webster, Influenza Expert, Present Day.\n\nThe pair of quotes presented above were used to begin and end a short essay I wrote many years ago on The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Isaac Starr's words offer powerful testimonial to the harsh lethality of a killer stain of influenza, and Dr. Robert Websters observation reminds us that it would be dangerous to regard the events of 1918 as an isolated slice of history that we can safely file away and forget. \n\nIn the early part of 1995, as I cast around in search of the disease that would ultimately prove to be the true villian of the science thriller I was planning to write, influenza was scarcely on the radar scope of anyone but virologists specializing in the field of emerging diseases. Because influenza exists in the human population in an ever-present but relatively benign form, changing just a little from year to year, we tend, quite mistakenly, to think we understand the nature of the threat that it presents. \nBird Flu cannot be eradicated, we must learn to live with it\nDespite the apparent "novelty" of a strain of bird flu that can sweep across the globe and kill not only the domesticated foul that carries the virus causing the pandemic, but also those humans unfortunate enough to get too close to the sick birds they tend, finding influenza in domesticated birds is not the least bit uncommon. \n\nThe natural reservoir for influenza virus is in fact the intestines of water fowl. In particular, ducks habor the virus, and suffer no ill effects from doing so. Because these migratory birds are always on the move, and because they shed virus in the waterways that they inhabit, influenza virus travels widely and is easily transmitted from bird to bird. Because of this, domesticated birds, like the turkey and the chicken, which cross paths with the virus, become infected and habor the potential to transmit the virus to humans (for example, virus secreted onto the surface of eggs could end up infecting egg handlers-- for this reason, if bird handlers notice any of the following symptons in their birds they should immediately notify Federal or State animal health officials: sudden death; lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production; soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; swelling; purple discoloration; nasal discharge; coughing, sneezing; lack of coordination and diarrhea). \n\nOften an intermediate host, the pig, is involved in the cross-species transmission of influenza. When this happens, the result is referred to as Swine Flu. Even so, the source of the virus is generally aquatic birds. \n\nMost strains of bird flu do not cross species and end up infecting humans. However the H5N1 strain that has in the last decade been known to infect humans, and kill them in 5 out of every 10 cases, clearly has surmounted the first of two barriers that must be cleared before a bird flu pandemic can take hold in the human population. The second barrier will be surmounted when this strain acquires the ability to jump from one human to another. This may never happen, and hopefully will not. But based on the history of pandemic flu, it seems more likely that this is just a matter of time.
47746
very concerned, think about chain reactions. lets say i have a infected chicken, and i skin it. i give the feathers to a pillow company and the rest to a processing company. lets say that a woman with three children buys the chicken, and she works at a school. think of all those people the workers and children pass by at work/school, and the people they love. that is serious.\n\nYes we should, unfortunately, we dont have antibodies for the avian flu. Yet.
723646
most viral experts are full of sh it.\n\nwhere is the aids epidemic?  oh yeah, it is in a continent that Europeans and Americans never go to except in National geographic specials, where the people have been dying for centuries of civil war, unrest, famine,dirty water, and parasites.\n\n144 people have died of bird flu since 2003, they were mostly chicken handlers?\n\nWhere is SARS.\n\nCan you say, if I dont create a panic I am out of a job.
659818
I m neither a politician nor american.this is what the science is so read carefully.\n\nBird flu can be transmitted from infected birds to humans but not from human to human.\n\nH5N1 , the whole world is a potential target except any who have survived the infection(become immune)\n\nIf unfortunately, the genetic deal with flu viruses that can spread human to human ( God Help Us all), this would be a Pandemic.For reference all the previous flu pandemics were the result of this gene trade.So theratical risk is there.
647058
Go search the news.  It recently appeared to pass from person to person in a single Indonesian family, but apparently that was the 3rd time that that has happened on a very small scale.  That's why they were so concerned so long ago (and still are;) but so far, actual cases of it happening are very rare & isolated, involving a lot of close contact with the sick person.\n\nThey believe that the virus will have to mutate before it is capable of a pandemic, but that hasn't happened yet.
655911
Destruction of poultry - would that amount to an act of terrorism ? I don't think so. \n\nA better and more dangerous method ,appropriate to a terrorist mind would be to introduce the mutated(the ones which can spread from human to human by respiratory droplets) strains of Bird Flu into some country.The resultant epidemic and the large scale of deaths would create panic amongst citizens and thereby qualify as an act of terrorism.
222374
What's spooking the government, the scientists, and the media is that the bird flu is spreading very quickly, is very lethal, and has a very strong potential to mutate into a form that's transmissible from human to human. A good source of information about the bird flu is www.fluwikie.com.
141270
Whatever ...\nBoth will now die due to the avian flu ..
285043
I have heard stories of killer bees being a huge threat, a huge flu season for the last three years, so I'm a little skeptical about this bird flu.\n\nThat being said having an emergency plan for any contingency is ALWAYS a good thing.  The old Boy Scout motto of being alway prepared comes to mind
509603
I believe that the Bird Flu will be the next scare here in the U.S.  Remember the West Nile Virus?  The virus carried infected mosquitoes from Africa and infected millions.  Now only one percent of the people infected needed serious medical attention just here in the United States.  And only one percent of that one percent lived.  The outcome of the illness was severe brain damage, long and short term memory loss, stroke(s), blindness, speech, and other major normal day use of your body.  Their lives were basically destroyed.  The government have not been very helpful on getting these people help either.  \nBut, I feel the government is preparing for the pandemic properly.  Better be safe than sorry.  As for the people out there saying it is all propaganda, I'd like to smack them right here and now.\nI...ME...MYSELF was infected with that damn mosquito that nobody believed was ever going to happen and the government was just talking...propaganda.  \nMy life is hell to say the least.  I fight everyday to regain my strength, my day to day life living.  I have lost so many people near and dear to me because I got sick.  \nSo all of you out there that thinks this is all propaganda, write on here after you become infected with the pandemic so you can tell all of us how you were wrong.  Don't ever think it can never happen to you, because it can. Do not be ignorant and listen to warnings.  I guess the mistake I made was not using insect repellant.  One mistake I will never make again.\nWhy would our government want to mislead us in such a tragic way?  Don't you think the war we are in now is tragic enough?\nQuit being fools and listen to all health bulletins when and if the pandemic comes close to the States.
528508
Okay, take a deep breath. You are correct. The bird flu may or may not mutate, there may or may not be a pandemic, but all families need to be prepared for emergency situations. You need to discuss Disaster Preparedness with your parents again. Your concern is legitimate, but becoming hysterical will not help your cause nor solve the problem. For starters, your family needs to have a three month supply of water, toiletries, food, and regular medications for every member of your household. You can telephone the local office of the American Red Cross, ask for Disaster Services, and they will mail you a list of information on how to prepare and what to buy. I hope we never have to face this situation, but we need to protect our families for any emergency. Good luck !
639471
Look!  First thing is first the only people who have gotten the bird flu live with birds lots of birds I would not worry about it. It wastes time and energy and why dwell on it when it is not here yet?
664336
It is moving from   country to country via waterfowl migration.  It is likely to arrive in the US during the next migration back in the spring of 2007.  People who raise poultry have been working on plans to keep their flocks inside poultry houses to avoid contact with wild birds.\nShould bird flu be detected in the bird population, the public will be advised of sanitary procedures, such as not handling dead birds and wiping shoes before entering a home.