OUTBREAK: 2000+ Have Fever In Bird Flu Hot Spot

This might sound a bit ridiculous, but...

Right now, everyone should go out and buy a small bottle of alcohol based hand sanitizer and force themselves into the habit of washing their hands on a regular bases.

Even if this isn't bird flu, this is the best way to prevent yourself from catching a virus.

However, if it is the bird flu, for 2000 people to have symptoms in the past 5 days then it is a good assumption that it has already spread further than is being reported. For all we know, it could already be circulating through the population of any area of the world, and we would not know it for a few weeks because it would not be noticed until the numbers got sufficiently high.

So, the only answer is to protect yourself with good hygiene habits. Wash your hands before you eat, and use the hand sanitizer anytime after you handle cash (it's filthy), or touch a door knob, open a public door, etc... And, most of all, try to break the habit of rubbing your eyes, putting you fingers in your mouth, itching your ears, etc... At least until after you wash your hands.

reply to post by Fuzzyone


Washing your hands is a good way but unfortunately mutation could include airborn not just contact...

Originally posted by plaetorian
reply to post by Fuzzyone

 

Washing your hands is a good way but unfortunately mutation could include airborn not just contact...

Would not could...because for it to be extremely efficient in its human transfers people would have to catch it easily

I don't see how this isn't being transmitted human to human . Or did all these people work in the same poultry factory or something?
I mean if there trying to cover up one aspect why not another?

what i would like first is if someone can post more sources. So we can confirm the status of 2000+ people ill. Otherwise this could prove nothing. Of course there is the bird flu (in birds) outbreak going on right now in Indonesia but thats different.

reply to post by Chaos Comes


Heres a few .
news.xinhuanet.com...
www.newsroomamerica.com...
www.ndtv.com.../21/2008%207:39:00%20AM

Hope that helps. Here is the search results on google news where i got those sources.
news.google.com...

[Edit: sorry this confirms the 100+ cases]

[edit on 29-1-2008 by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR]

Anyway, let's all calm down, and not work ourselves into a frenzy about a plague that hasn't happened yet. Is it a potential danger? Yes, but it's not happening right this minute.

Lest we not forget how quickly bubonic plague spread. Within days the plague spread through Europe and in less than 5 years an estimated 25 million people all over the world died.

www.themiddleages.net...

Be afraid. Be very afraid. And be even more afraid of people who tell you not to be afraid. Some of the most heinous acts of mankind are about to unfold as if it were either natures selection or by accident.

Make no mistake- it will not be an accident and nor will it be natures selection. Keep your eyes, ears and mind open.

[edit on 29-1-2008 by dk3000]

One of the best resources for those interested in tracking potential outbreaks of H5N1 in humans is the World Health Organization's (WHO) website.

Also, if you like to google the news services, look for stories coming out of Indonesia. Half of all human H5N1 infections have originated in Indonesia since 2005.

Why Indonesia? Well, unlike other asian countries with massive urban sprawl and a population living in extreme proxmity to poultry, Indonesia chose not to exterminate its birds. A broken governmental system and a thriving poultry market served to dissuade authorities from instigating a mass culling.

Exterminating the poultry in Indonesia is no longer a viable option, since it is only effective during a small outbreak. Bird flu is rife throughout the country (in birds). Should H5N1 transition to humans, the only solution would be a mass vaccination program, for which the country is ill-prepared to handle.

Virologists close to the problem say that the virus is currently uncontrollable in Indonesia.

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Originally posted by dk3000

Be afraid. Be very afraid. And be even more afraid of people who tell you not to be afraid. Some of the most heinous acts of mankind are about to unfold as if it were either natures selection or by accident.

I think people need to be more afraid of this kind of talk.

Its been what weeks now since the latest virus outbreak in India and how many human cases have there been ???

ZERO.

2000 people in a country of 1 billion is not even a number worth considering. More over the area around Calcutta is one of the most densely populated areas in that region.

In a tropical country with a large population, the probability of people having flu is very high. The probability of it being H5N1 is not so high. Just because some people have flu like symptoms, it doesnt mean anything definite.

H5N1 avian influenza is the flu rampaging through India today. It is an airborne virus. The government is attempting to cull 2.5 million birds to halt the spread of the virus. Should they be unable to halt its spread, the H5N1 virus will quickly travel across the country and over its borders.

Should a major outbreak occur, no amount of culling will be effective in eliminating the virus.

While this does not consitute human-to-human H5N1, we should understand that limited transmission from poulty to humans of this strain has occurred before. To date, such transmission has proven too weak to spread through the population.

If, however, culling attempts prove unsuccessful and H5N1 becomes epidemic in the poultry population, the chances of H5N1 mutating into human-transmissable form increase dramatically.

We should be very nervous.

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I was referring to people . Also the region of the avian influenza is in one part of India which despite being densely populated has not had any human cases so far. AS more and more culling takes places the chances of it spreading decreases.

We have nothing to fear, despite 2 weeks there has not been 1 case so far in humans and that is what is most important. Livestock can be replaced. Even if there is human cases, which there isnt despite two weeks plus exposure to the virus by hundreds and maybe thousands of people, the probability that it will spread inside India is slim let alone the rest of the world.

It is juvenile to discount their ability to handle the situation and fear mongering is even more ridiculous. To claim that it will "spread across the country" is even more ridiculous when the area affected is minuscule compared to India as a whole. Besides, there is no proof that virus is indeed airborne there .



[edit on 29-1-2008 by IAF101]

Originally posted by IAF101
It is juvenile to discount their ability to handle the situation and fear mongering is even more ridiculous. To claim that it will "spread across the country" is even more ridiculous when the area affected is minuscule compared to India as a whole. Besides, there is no proof that virus is indeed airborne there .
[edit on 29-1-2008 by IAF101]

I don't think it's juvenile to suggest the authorities might be unable to handle the situation. I'm not alone in this. It seems India's federal authorities share my concern:

Dead birds are reported to have been dumped in village wells and ponds by people not aware of the risks from the H5N1 virus. Federal officials have warned that if the pace of culling does not pick up fast, the airborne virus may spread to the remaining districts and finally hit Calcutta.

Please also note that the article describes the virus as 'airbone.' The complete article can be found here: India bird flu disease 'alarming'

India's problem could mimic Indonesia's. They, too, have been unable to cull enough poultry to limit the spread of H5N1.

Finally, to counter your claim that the spread across borders is ridiculous, please note that the same article quotes authorities worried that the virus may soon spread to Calcutta. The virus has already spread to 13 of the 19 districts in West Bengal -- hardly a miniscule region by anyone's standards.

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Originally posted by AJ Lavender
I don't think it's juvenile to suggest the authorities might be unable to handle the situation. I'm not alone in this. It seems India's federal authorities share my concern:

That is a warning, not a concern that they will be unable to contain the spread. Also if you read other articles the Federal authorities have stated that they are completely prepared to and equiped to deal with H5N1 should the state government fail in its efforst. Even the WHO claims this.

www.sciam.com...

Originally posted by AJ Lavender
Please also note that the article describes the virus as 'airbone.' The complete article can be found here:

The article is wrong. The disease H5N1 avian flu is present in the intestines of the birds and propagates through contamination by bird droppings. That is common knowledge. If it was air born it wouldnt have take 2 weeks for the infection to spread.

Originally posted by AJ Lavender
India's problem could mimic Indonesia's. They, too, have been unable to cull enough poultry to limit the spread of H5N1.

Indonesia and Indian scale and resources are totally different. This virus had earlier also affected another Indian state which sucessfully eradicated the disease with its poultry industry. The speed at which this was done indicates the effectiveness of that particular state government and this state's poor governance though it shows no indication that they will be unable to successfully cull the spread.

Originally posted by AJ Lavender
Finally, to counter your claim that the spread across borders is ridiculous, please note that the same article quotes authorities worried that the virus may soon spread to Calcutta. The virus has already spread to 13 of the 19 districts in West Bengal -- hardly a miniscule region by anyone's standards.

Do you know how big West Bengal is compared to the rest of India? How does the spread of the virus to Calcutta imply that it has crossed borders when calcutta is in the same state ? Also 13 districts in West Bengal compared to 604 districts and various other territories is ridiculously minuscule in both size and scope.

Well, we shall see. I hope you are right, but I think not. There was a report picked up by Reuters last week which reported that health officials, including those at the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control, are almost universally agreed that a global pandemic is inevitable and even overdue.

Call that ridiculous if you wish, call it scaremongering. But I'm going to side with the experts on this one.

How strange that the Birdflu outbreak comes out of "Birb"hum district?

This is scary. And that Tama-whatever stuff isn't working on some strains.

I am getting my bunker ready.

reply to post by phineasJwhoopie


Tamiflu can be used to prevent and treat the influenza virus, but is not a vaccine. It has shown a capability to limit the effects of flu but must be given within 48 hours of flu symptoms.

When you hear talk of a vaccine for the bird flu, this is not Tamiflu. A vaccine would need to be administered before the onset of flu symptoms. A vaccine for bird flu was created several years ago, but it was never fully developed or used, in part because the influenza strain it attacked had mutated into a different form.

British pharmaceutical Glaxo Smith Klein has announced the creation of a newer vaccine for bird flu, which has undergone successful testing on both humans and ferrets. Supposedly, it protects against different variants of the H5N1 virus, including new strains. Of course, the virus may mutate again and may render this new vaccine less effective.

The larger problem may be our ability to produce significant quantities of this vaccine in time to treat a potential outbreak. Facilities for the creation of vaccine are being constructed in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. However, time from blueprint to production may be as much as four years. In the interim, and should H5N1 transition to humans at the pandemic level, we would need to rely on older versions of the vaccine, and Tamiflu, in an attempt to mitigate the worse effects of the outbreak.

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Can anyone confirm the reliability of expressindia.com I mean seriously why be so scared when its fake. Im not saying the bird outbreak is fake, I am saying could it not be a possibility that the 2000 fevers a fake. Every other website i try to go to on the subject just takes me back to expressindia.com So...I really dont dont how legit this website is.

I tend to visit the World Health Organization's website, as they tend to publish the 'facts' rather than speculation.

Link: WHO Avian Flu News Page

And your point is a good one. Just because 2,000 individuals come down with flu-like symptoms doesn't mean it's the flu, and certainly doesn't mean it's bird flu.

India isolates 26 people as bird flu spreads in Asia


Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding this whole time is that a pandemic was hinged on someone having the flu and the bird flu at the same time. That is what I remember reading. This is the situation they have been waiting for or dreading I should say.

You are right. The fear is that someone sick with a human virus strain will be exposed to the avian virus, allowing the latter to mutate into a more readily transmissive version, which may promulgate from human-to-human.

Studies in October at the University of Wisconsin-Madison indicated that H5N1 avian flu was already beginning to make this transition. It being flu season in Asia, and with such an increase of exposure to avain flu across the continent, medical experts are deeply concerned about the chances of just such a mutation finally occurring.

Thanks for the link.