Bird flu 'could take 142m lives'

Post by **werldhed** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:49 pm

The virus has already mutated into human strain.

As for Tamiflu, there have already been resistant strains isolated. And the possibility of it mutating into a more virulent for is quite likely.

Nevertheless, for those of us in western societies with health care access have little to worry about. At least in terms of dying for it.

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:34 pm

obsidian wrote:Bird flu will only become a major problem if:
* Bird flu mutates into a human strain and we are unable to contain it.

The problem is that this is probably likely to happen.

Post by **busetibi** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:31 am

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ ... 16782.html

Post by **mjrpes** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:24 am

Anyone know about this hypothetical situation?

Say I, as an America, visit Europe during the summer. While I am there, the virus successfully becomes communicable between humans, causing a serious outbreak in the country I am visiting. Would the US prevent me or at least severely delay my return to the US?

Post by **Underpants?** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:28 am

I thought it was more common practive to quarantine returning citizens then restrict passage, but then again we've not had even a hypothetical epidemic on a scale as this for some time...

Post by **mjrpes** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 6:39 am

Yeah, that's what I was wondering... if this shit is so bad they enact their ultra 'everyone stay the fuck out of the country even if you are American' protocol.

Post by **Dave** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:29 am

National security and "clear and present danger" will keep you out or sealed in a lab

Post by **eepberries** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:36 am

mjrpes wrote:Yeah, that's what I was wondering... if this shit is so bad they enact their ultra 'everyone stay the fuck out of the country even if you are American' protocol.

It's kind of hard to keep migratory birds from entering the country

Post by **Ezekiel** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:48 am

The media hasn't helped much, at least in the UK anyway. The moment a duck coughs over in France the more 'witch hunt' inclined papers (the Daily Express for example) run headlines telling everybody that we are about to experience a bird flu pandemic.

I seem to remember Holland having an outbreak several years ago - obviously it wasn't the same strain of flu, but the death count was negligable: more people were killed falling from dykes.

Post by **mjrpes** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:24 pm

eepberries wrote:
mjrpes wrote:Yeah, that's what I was wondering... if this shit is so bad they enact their ultra 'everyone stay the fuck out of the country even if you are American' protocol.
It's kind of hard to keep migratory birds from entering the country

It's not about the migratory birds infected with the virus as much the specific strand of virus that's mutated and able to spread between people (and not birds, at that point) that is the cause of concern. That's why I bring of this hypothetical situation where the virus has mutated to transmit between humans and is possibly isolated that country at that point.