Low Risk

after they found the swan in scotland, they've suddenly changed their tune (at least here in the uk) saying that the chances of it spreading to humans is 'low risk'. I do wish they'd make up their minds.

Do you have a link for the story, FudgeStix?

Also...were you trying to reply in another thread and hit the 'New Thread' button instead of 'reply'?

A link would be nice, though...since H5N1 is giving everyone the chills.

(pun intended)

news.bbc.co.uk... there you go

Thanks for the link, FudgeStix.

Sir David King sounds very optimistic that this incident is an isolated case in that the swan 'washed ashore' after dying while crossing the water.

He doesn't sound too certain that the virus has not infected the wild bird populations, though...and the area 'at risk' seems fairly large when looking at the map provided in the link (965 sq. miles).

From what I understand, most, if not all 100+ cases of human death have been the result of handling or eating of poorly cooked infected birds.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Speaking on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme Sir David King said bird flu was not among the human population.

He said the government was preparing for it as a "very low possibility".

He added: "We have got a virus in the bird population that has gone on since 1996, and in Asia particularly there has been a lot of contact between human beings and the birds that have got that virus."

Despite that, a human virus had not developed, he said.

Sir David said bird flu was "absolutely not" present among poultry, and said he was "fairly optimistic" it was absent in wild birds.

He stressed that so far one dead bird had been washed ashore with H5N1, which may have come from a previously infected part of Europe.

nice catch



'edit to add 'poorly cooked'



[edit on 13-4-2006 by masqua]

Honestley how many of you think this will become the pandemic we are being told it can?.....i think the chance of this getting bad enough to infect and kill large numbers of people is very slim.

I think we should all be more worryed and scared about the u.s planing to attack iran nuke power plants....thats more scarey.....and its more likley to happon.....i seen on the news theay makeing plan for preemptive nuklear strike agesnt iran nuklear plants and reserch buildings.....maybe that will happon maybe not....eather way its something more to worry about then some dumb virus that will less then likeley do anything more then it is....

fear the iran war more people.....if america nukes iran...things will change....there not as small and weak as iraq....i think of it as the beging of ww3....now you tell me wut do you fear more? some dumb animal virus thats onley killing some animals or a large war more then likeley going to get out of hand..ww3...pick one..i think most of you see the right thing to fear

sry for bad spelling