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Thread ID: 63767 2005-11-22 05:54:00 Bird Flu wmoore (6009) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
406379 2005-11-22 08:40:00 mmmm free poultry... *licks lips*. :rolleyes: Now all I need is a hillbilly accent. HEY MAW!!!!! bob_doe_nz (92)
406380 2005-11-22 09:08:00 I agree with maccrazy, our house has extra food stocked up .... just in case
Why? What do you imagine that will accomplish?
pctek (84)
406381 2005-11-22 20:40:00 I'm inclined to agree with Netchicken that the hysteria is being generated by the media. It is a great story and quite an easy one to write. Journalists only need a report or two of birds dying here and there. They then interview (using email and the phone) virologists and health officials who explain the risks. The journalist doesn't even need to leave their desk.

But all species - be it trees, fish, insects, or mammals - face biological culling from time to time. Disease strikes swiftly and comprehensively. There appears to be a natural mechanism which kills off some of the species and strengthens the survivors.

So world wide influenza is not an irrational prediction. Despite modern medicine, the sheer speed at which humans move from country to country means that it can spread in days.

All of which means that having a few extra tins of baked beans in the pantry and a large container of water (put iodine in it for sterility) is a small price to pay as a sensible precaution.
Winston001 (3612)
406382 2005-11-22 21:00:00 Some NZ scientist who is based in the US and working on bird flu said on TV1 news last night reckons there is a 10% chance of it getting to NZ.

Trevor :)
Trev (427)
406383 2005-11-22 21:52:00 Hi guys

I've read all the different views posted here and I would say that:

If the bird flu virus mutates, the mutation is an unknown at this stage. Suffice to say that all previous "Spanish flu" and similar epidemics of distant years past have been caused by a variant of the bird flu. If it mutates to something known, we may have immunity due to previous exposure to "normal" flu. If it mutates to something new, we will be in the poo because nobody will have any immunity and there will be a high mortality rate. It may be even so bad as the previously mentioned Ebola, etc (if you get it you will probably die) - nobody knows.

You guys saying it will hit Oz first - probably, but you won't know about it. Air travel plus the fact that you may be a carrier and not show any signs of the flu for up to 12 hours (while at the same time shedding virii) means that if Oz gets it, we will too.

Tamiflu will not cure this variant, it will only help to get over it quicker and perhaps relieve a bit of the symptoms.

As they say - it's not if it will happen, it is when it will happen.

sarel
sarel (2490)
406384 2005-11-22 21:57:00 Why? What do you imagine that will accomplish?
Not having to leave the house == less likely to catch it. :)
maccrazy (6741)
406385 2005-11-22 22:00:00 Once upon a time we used to get the occational cold, remember the cold? It's that annoying winter thing with the coughs, flem, and grotty low energy feel like death warmed up feeling?

It was nasty, but was a part of life we got over and got on with. It did however kill a lot of moari who had no imunity to it at all as untill the arival of western "civilisation" as there had been no exposure to it.

Of course the cold just got to be a bit pasé after a while, so we started getting the flu instead. Remember the flu? It's that annoying winter thing with the coughs, flem, and grotty low energy feel like death warmed up feeling?

Pasé pasé

I've just had bird flu, it must have been. It was just like that annoying winter thing with the coughs, flem, and grotty low energy feel like death warmed up feeling!

So when your next at a bustop, and someone sneezes - don't forget to panic! :p
personthingy (1670)
406386 2005-11-22 22:03:00 Just because there are profiteering scaremongerers in the world doesn't mean it won't happen. I'm pleased I don't lve in a densely populated area. mark c (247)
406387 2005-11-23 08:09:00 I put this in the same basket as global warming, Y2K bug and other urban myths.

More chance of being hit by a stray comet I say!
Elephant (599)
406388 2005-11-23 08:32:00 I'd say the unexplained sudden loss of confidence by "business people" reported today, is due to irrational fear of a 'flu pandemic.

There was even one loony business? man moaning that there was no certainty, that they didn't know how the currency was going to move, I almost expected him to include the uncertainty of the 'flu. :thumbs:
Terry Porritt (14)
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