Deadly strain in Russian bird flu outbreak!!!!

[egghead]

Developing story! OMG,

China or Japan have the abillity and resorces to stop this spread in their countries but in russia? OMG! we're doomed lol. Look how fast it's spreading. They say could go to Europe Africa Middle East?

This can't be stopped in my opinion in many of those countries. It is simply impossible due to geographic and financial resources.

Egghead

Read the story:

An outbreak of avian flu in Siberia that is spreading towards Europe is of the deadly H5N1 strain, Russian health officials confirmed today.

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Nearly 1,000 birds have been slaughtered in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Ural mountains where geese, chicken and ducks have caught the virus.
Although no human cases have been confirmed, vets have examined 65 poultry workers and residents, while the district hospital near Oktyabrskoye had prepared an isolated ward.


It has spread about 600 miles westwards to Chelyabinsk, which lies close to the Ural mountains that act as the geographic divide between Europe from Asia. Neighbouring Kazakhstan and Mongolia have also reported outbreaks. Officials fear it could spread westwards to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1737871,00.html


Plague!

[egghead]

I have a friend who is a nurse in Australia and she just said to me that Australia is stock pilling medicine. They knew bird flue was coming to Australia from Asia. But this Russian Bird Flu caught everyone off gaurd..

If that don't sink your stomach, read this.... Quoted from above story

"Mr Vlasov said there was no way to block the migration routes when next month tens of millions of birds that nest in Siberia will continue their migration to warmer climates ahead of Russia’s harsh winter."

Now my friend who is a nurse told me what happens in worst case senario

"bird's to pig's - pig's to man - man to man. that's the cycle"

[Big Booger]

When the bird flu hit Japan the CEO of a chicken company in Kyoto, Japan committed suicide along with his wife:

http://tinyurl.com/8bugh

All because they didn't fully disclose the facts as quickly as they should have.

You would think the world health organization would take quick action to quell these diseases that have the potential to wreak havoc on the world... why are teams not being sent in to help destroy these birds that have the disease?

And the poo is the fastest way to spread the disease. Wild birds fly over feedlots and dump doo doo that domesticated birds then eat and pick up the disease and it spreads like a wild fire... the only way is to kill them all... :(

[egghead]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Avian flu will mutate and become transmissible by humans and the world has no time to lose to stop it becoming a pandemic, the head of the U.N. World Health Organization said on Thursday.
Lee Jong-wook, a South Korean doctor, delivered his stark warning as the United States worked to rally states behind a new U.S. plan to fight the disease, which has already killed more than 60 people in Asia and spread to Russia and Europe.
"Human influenza is coming, we know that, and no government, no leaders can afford to be caught off-guard," Lee said.
"We must pounce on human pandemic outbreaks with all medicines at our disposal and at the earliest possible moment," he told a news conference in New York.
"When the pandemic starts, it is simply too late."

read more
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-09-15T182509Z_01_DIT566330_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-BIRDFLU-UN-DC.XML

[bluefin]

the flu has spread to uk, russia and usa also including these countries you have mentioned
if a pandemic occurs it will sweep away entire populations with it
we haveto act fast
i found very good information at http://www.drugdelivery.ca/bird-flu.aspx

[egghead]

06/11/2005 - 13:42:23

China today said it had asked for outside help to test three possible cases of bird flu in humans, and reported that its latest outbreak among poultry lies along a migration route for wild birds.

China said it had asked WHO to help it determine whether the death of a 12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu.

There have been four outbreaks of the deadly and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu among poultry in China in the past three weeks, but Beijing has not confirmed any human deaths from the virus, which has killed at least 62 people across Southeast Asia.

But earlier today, Xinhua reported that Chinese experts “cannot rule out the possibility of human transmission of H5N1 bird flu” in the cases of three people in Wantang in central Hunan province who came down with pneumonia last month following a bird flu outbreak among local poultry.

One of them, the 12-year-old girl, died. Her 9-year-old brother and a 36-year-old middle school teacher recovered. Chinese officials initially said the girl and her brother tested negative for the bird flu virus.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=69139276&p=69y39578

[joshsiao]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
"When the pandemic starts, it is simply too late."



Agreed. Once it starts, its almost impossible to contain a spread unless there is culling of humans...

It always starts with pigs. Pigs are the biochemical pots, mixing and mutating the viruses. Those who come in direct contact with birds are the most vunerable. Then comes the general population especially from human to human contact. Its really lethal.

[rohitk89]

So what can the common man do to save himself (besides giving up pork :p)? What are the symptoms and is there any medication in the markets?

edit: The following article contains very basic stuff that I think we all should know. Sources: Google Blog, Wikipedia.

Although avian influenza in humans can be detected with standard influenza tests, these tests have not always proved reliable. In March 2005, the World Health Organization announced that seven people from Vietnam who initially tested negative for bird flu were later found to have carried the virus. All seven have since recovered from the disease. Currently (6/05) the most reliable test (microneutralization) requires use of the live virus to interact with antibodies from the patient's blood.

Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches) to eye infections and pneumonia. If you feel you've been exposed, there are a couple of treatment recommendations available today that you may want to discuss with your doctor. Until these are tested in a pandemic, however, their true efficacy is unknown. There are currently no vaccines available, but many companies are working on them. Vaccines, however, take at least four months to produce and must be prepared for each subtype.

Further, as a result of widespread use of the antiviral drug amantadine as a preventive or treatment for chickens in China starting in the late 1990s, some strains of the avian flu virus in Asia have developed drug resistance against amantadine. There is some evidence that indicates that Kimchi and by extension Sauerkraut may be used to treat avian influenza in birds. There is currently no evidence of its effects on humans.

The CDC recommends ways that you can help prevent the spread of influenza by using good health habits:

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.

Stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick, if possible. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.

Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

Get vaccinated.
Although no vaccine currently exists for avian influenza, it is prudent practice to get vaccinated for the more common human influenza viruses.

[cash_site]

a bit worrying i must say... good tips rohit.