kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 I don't know where this information has been confirmed from exactly, so don't hyperventilate the way I am right now. I'm trying to find out more and praying hard, hard this has not truly happened. http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47720 Has feared mutation of avian flu arrived? Doctors in Thailand, Indonesia see 1st signs of human-to-human spread Posted: December 2, 2005 10:10 p.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Officials in at least two nations now suspect the avian flu bug has mutated into a virus that is being transmitted from human to human – a development world health authorities have estimated could result in the deaths of tens of millions. Thai health officials have expressed concern that the country's two latest confirmed victims may be the beginning of the much feared human-to-human transmission. Dr. Charoen Chuchottaworn, an avian-flu expert at the Public Health Ministry, said doctors reviewing the cases were alerted by the very mild symptoms present in both patients, neither of whom had had any recent contact with birds or poultry. The doctors are unsure as to how either of the infected contracted the disease and have raised the possibility that the virus has traded its pathogenicity for ease of transmission. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the disease is spreading so rapidly, particularly in the capital of Jakarta, some health officials strongly suspect the long-dreaded mutation has already occurred. "There are just too many people who have it," said one doctor. "In many cases, it is difficult to establish any contact with birds." Another official said the flu has "spread all over the city." The latest victim confirmed officially by the Ministry of Health is a 25-year-old woman. She was treated at Tangerang Hospital before being transferred to Sulianti Saroso. The woman had difficulty breathing and a breathing tube had to be inserted The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has so far confirmed 13 bird flu cases in humans in Indonesia, with eight people dying from the virus. Separately, Minister of Health Siti Fadila Supari said Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche had given Indonesia approval to produce its antiviral drug Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans. So far the government has relied on donors such as Singapore, Japan and Australia for its supply of Tamiflu The government also said it would launch a yearlong operation against bird flu, involving the military, house-to-house checks and mass culls of birds across the country "The president has said that until 2006, for one year, we will intensively eradicate bird flu virus," said Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono. He said the yearlong program would include weekly checks of backyard farms and larger farms in Greater Jakarta for infected birds The Jakarta Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Agency today destroyed some 500 chickens and pet birds in Utan Kayu, where a number of infected birds have been found. From about 2,000 tests conducted by the agency in 30 of the capital's 267 subdistricts, dozens of infected birds were found in the subdistricts of Ceger, Utan Kayu, Pondok Kelapa, Duren Sawit and Cipinang Melayu, all in East Jakarta, as well as in Sunter Jaya and Cilincing in North Jakarta, Kapuk in West Jakarta, and Petojo in Central Jakarta. With one small genetic adjustment in Influenza A, or H5N1, millions of people could die, warns World Health Organization Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shigeru Omi. Omi has called for health ministers and representatives to launch an all-out war on the deadly strain. If the virus acquires sufficient human genes, allowing transmission from one person to another, an estimated 2 million to 7.4 million people around the world could die, the WHO estimates. Some health officials make even more dire predictions. They point to the great flu pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed far more people worldwide than died in World War I – an estimated 40 to 50 million people. There are more signs the virus is spreading – outward from Asia and through Europe. Romania appears to be the hardest hit. Three more villages in eastern Romania have been quarantined following the discovery of an H5 strain of avian influenza in poultry in one of the villages. The Romanian Ministry of Agriculture suspects the presence of bird flu in the other villages but is awaiting confirmation of test results from the United Kingdom. Culling has begun in the area, and authorities estimate that 9,500 birds will be killed. Romanian Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said today that 10,000 birds have been slaughtered following the discovery this week of three cases of avian flu in the Danube Delta. "The villages of Periprava as well as Dudescu and Bumbacari have been placed under quarantine and the soil has been disinfected," he told journalists. "We have also alerted the Ukrainian authorities, since the village of Periprava is only three kilometers (two miles) from the frontier." Although the latest cases have been identified as the H5 variety, more tests are being carried out to find out if the virus belongs to the deadly H5NI strain that has killed more than 60 people in Asia and is feared as a possible source of a human flu pandemic. A member of the national animal health authority, Florica Durlea, warned that the risk of avian flu remained, because new waves of migratory birds are expected as a result of mild temperatures. The Danube Delta is a stopping off point for birds flying from central Asia and Russia. So far, 12 outbreaks of bird flu have been detected in Romania. In China, a team from the World Health Organization investigating the deaths from avian influenza said the extent of the problem in the country -- and elsewhere -- may be worse than initially thought. Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, told the New York Times, "In some cases the surveillance system may not be there. We're not nosing around, but we may be able to provide (China with) some technical expertise." The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed at least 68 people in Asia since 2003. Click to learn more... U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the purchase of additional vaccine that could be used in the event of a potential influenza pandemic. The department has awarded a $62.5 million contract to Chiron Corp. to manufacture an avian influenza vaccine designed to protect against the H5N1 influenza virus strain. The number of individuals who could be protected by the newly contracted vaccine is still to be determined by ongoing clinical studies. "An influenza vaccine effective against the H5N1 virus is our best hope of protecting the American people from a virus for which they have no immunity," said Leavitt. "This contract will increase our stockpile of the vaccine and is a continuation of our aggressive multi-pronged approach to a potentially critical public health challenge." This purchase builds on the department's current plans to buy enough H5N1 influenza vaccine for 20 million people and enough influenza antivirals for another 20 million people. These supplies of vaccine and antiviral treatment will be placed in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile where they will be available for use should an influenza pandemic occur. Recently, HHS awarded a $100 million contract to sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, for avian flu vaccine. Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 Found a link here: http://avianflu.futurehs.com/?S=A More specifically here: http://avianflu.futurehs.com/?p=1793 Dec. 1, 2005: Posted By: Future Health Solutions - Spence Category(s): News, and Asia, and Thailand Bangkok’s Independent Newspaper: Doctors fear latest human-to-human bird-flu cases Bangkok’s Independent Newspaper Doctors fear latest human-to-human bird-flu cases Published on Dec 01 , 2005 The two latest confirmed cases of human bird flu in Thailand might be human-to-human transmissions, a senior health official said yesterday. Dr Charoen Chuchottaworn, a bird-flu expert at the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Medical Services, said doctors concluded after reviewing the history of the past two cases that both victims presented very mild symptoms of avian influenza and neither had any physical contact with chickens or birds. One of the victims was a boy in Bangkok and the other was an 18-year-old man from Nonthaburi province. This left doctors no clues as to where the patients became infected with the H5N1 virus and showed that the avian influenza had moved from causing severe human infection to milder cases. Charoen, who is also a member of the national committee issuing guidelines for the treatment of avian influenza, was speaking at the Joint International Tropical Medicine Meeting 2005 in Bangkok. Dr Kamnuan Ungchusak, director of the Epidemiology Bureau, challenged Charoen’s assertion about human-to-human transmissions. He told The Nation that while neither of the patients had direct contact with chickens, they lived in an environment where the virus was prevalent. “Chickens were dying near their homes and chicken droppings were everywhere around their neighbourhood,” he said. “They might have contracted the virus through contaminated soil.” Dr Charoen said that the milder the symptoms, the harder it is for doctors to diagnose. This means that a lot more advanced laboratory facilities are needed with a testing technique called RT-PCR to confirm cases and decide if patients should be treated with antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate). He said this meant that avian influenza could become asymptomatic now. The only tool available in Thailand to fight H5N1 infections at the moment is insufficient, he said. At present, Thailand has about a million capsules (for 100,000 treatments) of Tamiflu, but it is estimated that about 120 million capsules of the drug will be needed. In the past, only severe cases of human bird flu have been detected in Thailand simply because patients went to hospital for treatment. But doctors believe that there have been many cases with mild symptoms of the disease. “We believe that this is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. Signs of possible human-to-human transmission were closely observed in Vietnam, where 10 clusters of probable human transmissions were detected in which the victims had no contact with infected poultry, Charoen said. Thailand and Indonesia had one official cluster, he said, but the Indonesian cluster showed clear-cut evidence because a child contracted H5N1 without going to an infected area, as her father had. Arthit Khwankhom Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 Darlene, my heart's in my throat too, but my dh says two doctors hold conflicting opinions so let's just pray the optimist is right. I'm praying hard. My dh says we'll discuss it further in the morning and we'll certainly keep our ear to the news. It appears to me that WND got its information from the Bloomberg report and perhaps other sources as well. Thankfully, there appear to be a couple of conflicting statements on the numbers affected in Indonesia: "Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the disease is spreading so rapidly, particularly in the capital of Jakarta, some health officials strongly suspect the long-dreaded mutation has already occurred." "The World Health Organization-sanctioned laboratory in Hong Kong has so far confirmed 13 bird flu cases in humans in Indonesia, with eight people dying from the virus." Link to comment
Bookworm Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 The news is getting worse every day. I am a prepper by nature, but I have been doing alot more since learning of H5N1. Firefly Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Personally Im not buying all this hype about this flu scare. If it arrives then Ill worry but in the meantime Im just living life as it comes. Theres enough on my plate to be concerned with.I dont have much in cold and flu supplies because I dont like taking meds at all. Children;s cough syrup messes me up! Anyhow, Ill just take a wait and see attitude. Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 It seems that ever since 911 we've been deluged with alerts several times per year, none of which has panned out. It's especially disturbing because if or when the "real" thing comes around I may be caught off guard because I'm just plain tired. I do hear Karen's feelings. At the same time, I think Firefly's wanting to continue getting ready is an encouragement to us all. It's what I personally need to hear. I've seen nothing else on this so far so I am seriously hoping it is nothing. WND still has the story at the top of their headlines and I do know they are very careful not to print anything which is unsubstantiated. What they're reporting is not a 100% definitive finding, hence the titling of the piece with a question. They've managed to grab some potentially important tidbits to give people a headsup, just in case. I did all my hyperventilating last night. This morning I'm encouraged that nothing else has hit the news. Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 Just found an up-to-the-hour site on this Avian Flu. They have a piece related to the article I posted although it simply states the flu is rapidly spreading throughout Jakarta. I would think that if this is a panic event then the CDC would be on it in no time. But then, look what happened in New Orleans..... http://www.newsnow.co.uk/newsfeed/?name=Bi...amp;x=7&y=5 http://www.postchronicle.com/news/health/a...e_2121632.shtml Jakarta: Avian Flu Virus 'All Over City' by J. Grant Swank, Jr. Dec 2, 2005 Fear is spreading. So is the bird flu. In Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, officials admit that "it's very serious. Based on our research, the virus has spread all over the city." In Tien Giang province, a man was taken to the hospital when saying he had a high fever, the AP reports. He was then taken to isolation. However, he said he needed to get some personal belongings back at his home. He left the hospital and never returned. Before leaving hospital care, he informed the staff that he had become ill after he had slaughtered his bird flu sick poultry. More than millions of birds have been killed in Indonesia due to the infection. Continue reading this article below Indonesia has not been all that open with some of its detail nor willing to "carry out mass slaughters, citing a lack of money. But affected farmers were Friday offered some compensation." In Indonesia's 30 provinces, 23 have been found to have the H5N1 virus. Seven humans have died from the virus. The President stated to media last week that "domestic Tamiflu production was needed as the country's current inventory was insufficient." Even then, no one can prove that the mutant virus would be overcome with any vaccine now available. Scientists are working to locate such a vaccine; however, it is difficult to predict the constituency of the mutant virus and thereby difficult to finalize a vaccine to attack it successfully. "Authorities Friday also destroyed 400 fowl in a residential area of Jakarta near the home of a young girl who died from the disease." Copyright 2005, J. Grant Swank, Jr. Link to comment
Mother Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 I'm like Karen in that I can't take meds of almost any kind. But, there are other things to be stocked up on for the flu besides the common meds. Herbs, herb teas and Homeopathics come's to mind first and are surprisingly effective. Then there are things like tissues, aroma therapy inhalants and nourishing broths and foods that are easy to eat. I almost hesitate mentioning Lysol or hand wipes but that might be something some would want on hand. AND if we ever get to a pandemic in this country, it's possible that we would want to stay out of the public as much as possible to avoid contamination. It might be wise to be just a bit extra prepared from what you/we are normally ready for so we don't have to be in the grocery stores and malls and such. Who has other thoughts for things to stock up on specific to the cold/flu/ (fever) season that might also apply here? Mother Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 4, 2005 Author Share Posted December 4, 2005 I'm not hearing anything else new so, for now, I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I hope this didn't get anyone upset. I suspect we're going to get lots of close call news stories just like we've gotten lots of terrorist alerts that never panned out. The times we live in...... No news is good news in this case. It would seem that if this were truly something to be concerned about that something would have hit MSNBC or another major news outlet by now. Link to comment
palestar Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 The Bird Flu is a featured segment on 20/20 tonight. Who knows if they will cover this latest development. Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 4, 2005 Author Share Posted December 4, 2005 Mother, here is a piece I just found which shares some general thoughts others are doing to prepare: http://avianflu.futurehs.com/?p=1827 Dec. 4, 2005: Posted By: Future Health Solutions - Spence Category(s): Canada, and North America, and Pandemic Preparation/ Self Care Survival Strategies: Stock up and steel yourself for ’societal disruption’ FACING A PANDEMIC: Face masks will be a common sight in our city if a flu pandemic hits. This type of mask above, modelled by Sara Thomas, a sales associate at Homecare & Surgical on Whyte, was widely used during the SARS outbreak in Toronto. Sarah O’Donnell, The Edmonton Journal Published: Sunday, December 04, 2005 EDMONTON — Hans Machel believes in taking sensible precautions. He fastens his seatbelt. He stores a week’s worth of firewood at home in case the power goes out. He wears safety goggles when handling power tools. Machel is so alarmed by the swelling mountain of research warning of an influenza pandemic that the University of Alberta earth sciences professor has enough food, water and emergency supplies to hole up at home for two weeks. That includes gasoline stored safely in his garage and a 14-day supply of Tamiflu in his fridge, medicine that can ease influenza’s aches and coughs. “I’m using common sense,” Machel says. “If half or even just a third of the population is ill, so ill they can’t perform their job — take half the people out of general society, gas stations, banks, grocery stores — society as we know it will go belly up.” Public health experts and disaster planners have a term to describe what Machel is preparing for: societal disruption. That’s any breakdown in life as we know it. It can be as minor as waiting an extra 15 minutes in the grocery store checkout because staff are off sick. Or it can be as monumental as a ban on people congregating in large groups in places such as movies theatres and churches. Alberta Health and Wellness warns the impact could be “broad and severe” if sickness sweeps across the country and becomes a moderate to serious pandemic. “Major disruptions to all social and economic sectors could occur,” says a provincial government website. Few will be surprised when the first person falls sick in Edmonton with the new flu. Most will have braced themselves for weeks. Sherry Cooper, chief economist for BMO Nesbitt Burns, describes what might happen at the first sign of the pandemic. Crowds of worried shoppers will empty store shelves of emergency supplies such as bottled water, canned food and generators. People also will rush pharmacies for essential medications and medical products such as insulin, she says in an October report on pandemic influenza titled Don’t Fear Fear or Panic Panic: An Economist’s View of Pandemic Flu. “With today’s global supply chain, shortages would soon develop,” Cooper writes. To preserve supplies, shoppers may face rationing. Meanwhile, we will wait for this highly contagious disease, popping up like weeds around the world as travellers spread the virus, to make its way here. The lack of direct international flights that we normally complain about could buy us a little more time than some Canadian cities. Many will religiously adhere to strict hand-washing regimens. Anyone coughing or sneezing will be eyed with suspicion. Then, one morning, the Capital Health Authority will call a news conference. Dr. Gerry Predy, standing before a microphone, will tell us what he has already told the mayor and city manager by phone. Edmonton has its first case of this dreaded flu. That’s when Cathy Gendron will pull her four foster children out of school. “You bet I will, for their own safety and our own,” says Gendron, fiercely protective of her charges who range in age from five to 17. “I guess we’d be doing some home-schooling.” For the first time in their lives, many, like Gendron, will change their daily routines to protect their health. “This generation has no context for this whatsoever,” says Cindy Jardine, an expert in risk communication at the University of Alberta. “We’ve missed any recent kind of massive outbreak of disease. “This is not the polio generation or the tuberculosis generation or the Spanish flu generation. Even the small epidemics that have occurred, here in Alberta we’re so geographically removed from those, that it will be very hard to bend our minds around what kind of consequences this is going to have for us personally and as a society.” After a year that has seen a hurricane drown New Orleans and turn some of its residents into looters, it is easy to imagine a pandemic pushing Edmonton into chaos — its citizens storming hospitals for antiviral medication and stealing from short-staffed shops. But those who already have spent years thinking and planning for this health emergency expect that inconvenience, not anarchy, will predominate. “There will be social change and disruption,” Edmonton police Supt. P.J. Duggan says. “But there will not be social disorder.” Avoidance and inconvenience Every Thursday morning, as they have for more than a decade, a group of west Edmonton women meet at Westmount Centre mall. The group — as many as 10 women some weeks — includes retired health professionals, a synchronized swimming coach, secretaries and homemakers. They’ve lived through polio and tuberculosis scares. And when the topic turns to a pandemic, they share a common attitude towards how their lives will change. They won’t run and hide. “We’ve all been volunteers over the years and we wouldn’t stop,” says Auddie Taylor, a retired registered nurse. “I’ve got lots of kids and grandkids, so I’d be helping them out, too.” “When you care for your elderly parents for 10 years, you’re not afraid of anything,” Connie Black says. The weekly coffee klatch will continue but they’ll avoid the mall. “We might meet at each others’ homes instead,” Taylor says. Depending on the severity of the pandemic, they might not have a choice. The most aggressive public health measures will come in the early days of the disease striking Edmonton. The first handful of sick people will be isolated in their homes. Environmental health officers armed with letters from Capital Health will knock on their doors and reiterate the letter’s contents: Stay inside. Stay away from others. Those who have been in contact with them — family, friends and co-workers — will be quarantined. Unaffected family and friends will be expected to help out delivering food and medical supplies to their quarantined loved ones. Our city, which prides itself on its volunteer spirit, will start a list of people available to help. Volunteers will deliver meals to the sick, drive the elderly to vaccine sites and anything else officials deem necessary. “Once you start to have little cases sporadically through the city, that is going to start to be a different scenario,” says Dr. Karen Grimsrud, deputy provincial health officer. Tracing the steps of the sick to see whom they might have infected will become too onerous. That’s because influenza is highly contagious, making it tough to contain. The U of A’s Jardine predicts most people’s first reaction will be self-preservation. They will also want to know everything health professionals know or suspect, even if it later proves to be wrong. “The gut reaction of everybody is going to be, ‘What can I do to protect myself and the people that I love?’” Jardine says. “We’re all going to be a bit selfish from that perspective.” That means people like Hans Machel will shun public places. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that I want to be in an igloo or a bubble and will never go out anymore, but I would try to avoid places that are bound to be germ factories,” Machel says. Few will want to step onto an airplane or spend hours in a crowded public venue with strangers. The symphony, hockey games, shopping malls, night clubs and movie theatres will be economic victims. Some businesses will allow employees to work from home. Restaurants will be hit hard. Almost half of what Canadians eat is prepared outside the home. Workers such as waiters, cooks or cashiers will be dismissed during the slump. Whether they collect paycheques will be up to employers. But there will be pressure on the federal government to swiftly provide these workers with unemployment insurance. BMO’s Cooper estimates that pandemic influenza will cost Canada’s economy $8 billion to $18 billion, possibly higher. Governments will act selfishly to protect their citizens. Some countries will close borders, adding infected nations to a no-fly list. Food experts expect these closures to choke off our usual supplies of fresh fruit and some vegetables. Alberta, with its plentiful supply of meats and grains, will be better off than many places. The problem with pandemic influenza There are mornings when Sheila Vaisanen joins the long line-up in the Bissell Centre for a hot lunch or sandwich. To protect her health during a pandemic, the 31-year-old will wear a mask and avoid busy places such as the Bissell Centre, even if that means giving up a meal. There are good reasons to fear the flu. It can leave you achy, feverish and weak for days. It also can be deadly, particularly if your immune system is fighting off a foreign invader like the strain of H5N1 avian flu that popped up most recently in China, killing two people. The monumental challenge for communities will be this: How do you keep providing essential services such as garbage pick-up, transit, firefighting and police if you suddenly lose 10, 20, 30 or even 40 per cent of your staff to illness? And how do you keep essential, private sector businesses, especially food suppliers and pharmacies, offering goods that people depend on? Edmonton’s emergency preparedness director Bob Black says the city can continue to offer key services for a limited time, with up to a third of the staff away. “Beyond 30 per cent, we have to, in certain areas, start looking very carefully at prioritization of services,” he says. Bus and LRT service, for example, could shift to a Sunday schedule until the number of drivers is back to full strength. Edmonton police could suspend some non-emergency work such as traffic safety programs and school visits. The changing face of Edmonton Many Edmontonians will alter their lives in a pandemic. But with the disease coming in waves over a period of a year, few will be able to lock themselves away. In 1918, the government ordered many public-health measures in a desperate effort to protect people from the deadly Spanish flu. In Edmonton, all public gatherings, including church services, were banned. Face masks were mandatory. Next time, any public-health measures ordered by the province for one community will be repeated across Alberta. It is unlikely that public facilities will be ordered to close. The one exception could be schools. Kids are excellent germ transmitters, so if the disease starts killing children, schools will be shuttered. Health officials say, however, that will only be a last resort since shutting schools triggers a host of problems for working parents. Face masks, a fixture during the Spanish flu, will reappear but not due to government decree. Medical experts question whether face masks will do any good. Blair Wick, a 28-year bus driver with Edmonton Transit says he’d want to wear one, along with protective gloves. Already, some medical supply stores report a stream of worried customers buying good-quality masks. Those who ask at Homecare & Surgical on Whyte get this advice from sales associate Sara Thomas: “Buy the N95 mask.” Price: $3 per mask. “We’ve limited some people when we’ve been low on stock,” Thomas says. “But most people get at least a full box of 20 because they think about their family and friends.” ON YOUR OWN With his boxes of corn flakes, cans of vegetable soup, club soda and ground coffee, Hans Machel is a model for the message that disaster planners want to drill into our collective consciousness: Be prepared. A severe pandemic will tax government resources. Everyone, they warn, needs to be ready to look after themselves and their families without assistance for at least a few days. Tamiflu is the one thing Machel has that isn’t on a typical emergency supply list. But after compiling a four-page memo on the imminent threat of a flu pandemic, which he e-mailed to 10 friends and family members, he doesn’t regret having his doctor write a prescription two months ago for the anti-viral. Tamiflu won’t necessarily save your life if you’re horribly sick, Machel says, but it could increase your chances of survival. “It’s like running across Whyte Avenue and not looking where you’re walking,” he says. “People do that, they get run over, and they shouldn’t be surprised when it happens. That will happen with the pandemic. If you don’t watch where you’re going, you’re done for.” sodonnell@thejournal.canwest.com Flu Fact: Influenza is a lung infection that typically starts with a headache, chills and cough, followed rapidly by fever, loss of appetite, muscle aches and fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes and throat irritation. As many as one-quarter of Canadians get the flu each year. Up to 1,500 die each year of pneumonia brought on by the flu while others die of complications. FLU FACT Fear of germs during an influenza pandemic means that handshakes will, at least temporarily, be eschewed as a greeting. But hands are only one source of germs. Here’s how long the virus survives on different surfaces. w Hands: Five minutes w Cloth, paper and tissue: Eight to 12 hours w Hard surfaces: 24 to 48 hours. Source: Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 “There will be social change and disruption,” Edmonton police Supt. P.J. Duggan says. “But there will not be social disorder.” Who is he trying to kid? People today, are not like people in years gone by. If faced with hunger and starvation for themselves or their families, you better believe that people are going to get very dangerous, and anyone who thinks otherwise is not being honest with themselves. I find it disheartening, I find it sad, it disgusts and disappoints me but facts are facts. A large majority of people are going to be of the mindset *every man/woman/child for themselves*. Unfortunate, but true. Y'all better be careful and y'all better be prepared. Doesn't matter if you wanna believe me or not, it still doesn't change the fact that it's true. Link to comment
gardnmom Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 With the "you owe me" attitude of some today, I sure do agree with you. Link to comment
palestar Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Quote: The Bird Flu is a featured segment on 20/20 tonight. Who knows if they will cover this latest development. Sorry - it's on 60 Minutes Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Yes, Darlene and Lois, and isn't it interesting that the people quoted in the article don't have a clue about any of that. The ones saying they'll look after their own families have hearts of gold, but I don't think they're realistically facing how horrendous and contagious this flu could be. As with all tragedies we'd see the heroes giving their lives and sacrificing for others, along with those sinking to the worst of human nature. That's certainly what we saw with 911. I'm praying that, if this flu becomes a pandemic, that God causes the "death angel" to pass by the houses of all who are His or those He has plans for in some way. Because a lot of those people will be thinking about people on their Meals on Wheels routes, etc. and having a lot of difficulty letting the helpless around them die without some kindness shown. Those of us who have elderly neighbors we tend to, etc. I know my son will be one of those wanting to tend to those people while I'm pleading with him to stay home where it is safer. The challenge will be in discerning the thin line between helping others and staying home. For us Christians we'll be having to think very carefully about whether this life is most important or the one after. I pray I'm not placed in such a situation with hard choices. I think those who have younger children to protect will already know that protecting them is the best thing to do in God's sight. Link to comment
kaseyb (Supermom!) Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Ooops! My apologies to Happy Valley who apparently caught this preparation article well before I did as it's in the Are You Ready forum. Check out further comments there. Link to comment
cartoongirl Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 If the feared mutation were to happen in the near future it would be a Catastrophe. God help us all if it does mutate. I'm doing my best to prepare now as humanly possible. Ulitimately, God is in control. Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Quote: I'm praying that, if this flu becomes a pandemic, that God causes the "death angel" to pass by the houses of all who are His or those He has plans for in some way. Be sure to stock up then and send me your address... cause I will be staying with your prayer. I am sure I am not the only one. So we will need all the preps everyone has! So keep stocking up! Link to comment
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