Bird Flu
- Thread starter harry
- Start date
It's hardly a hot spot, harry - one farmer has let his (now dead) children handle dead birds which died of the 'flu. I don't think the countries where this has hit so far have anywhere near the Health inspections we have, or anywhere near the hygiene standards we expect. Overall, it's still a very tiny amount of people to die. There are probably far more articles on it than deaths at the moment. You stand a better chance of having your mortality shortened by black ice at present.
A
Ardross
Guest
It has spread to three more people 600 km away in Ankara tonight K - a bit more worrying
BrianH
At the Start
For the third or fourth time - the time to start worrying is when HN51 is passed on to a human from another human. This has not happened yet - pray it doesn't.
Get a sense of proportion about it, Ardross. People handled sick birds, which transmitted the virus to them. So far, there's - as Brian will die in the attempt to enlighten us - no human-to-human contamination. Don't play with sick birds. Avoid ill or dying wild birds, especially migrants, however tempting it is to try to rescue them. Report their sighting to the RSPB or DEFRA, and let them take care of their despatch and autopsy.
A
Ardross
Guest
I have a perfectly clear sense of proportion about it thank you . It is a matter of concern however that it appears to have spread within bird populations in Turkey such as there to be more human cases . It seems that these like nearly all but one suspect case in Vietnam have spread from bird to human but it does not mean that we should not be more concerned than if it was just one isolated farmer and his very unfortunate children as you inaccurately stated earlier.
I say get a sense of proportion - there are millions of people dying, right now, from AIDS, malaria, dysentery, starvation, various poxes, blackwater fever, and a host of communicable diseases such as TB, yet everyone suddenly becomes slightly hysterical because the media has become bored with those (presumably because they're so commonplace as to be no longer panicworthy), and has focussed on a tiny amount of people stricken by diseased birds.
Okay, it might migrate to the UK. So what? TB is being brought in all the time by people from countries where the disease is still rife - Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, for starters. Our cases of TB infection in the UK have risen considerably over the past few years. You're as likely to contract it from handling a supermarket trolley that a diseased person has just sneezed on, than from the unlikely scenario that you're going to pick up and handle a diseased wild duck.
With the enormous flow of airline passengers from all over the world, it may well be the avian virus might be introduced into the UK, in the same way that Africans who are HIV positive may travel here and infect whoever they bonk. There's a bigger chance of that, I hazard, than someone bringing in a diseased bird that isn't caught by our quarantine system.
Okay, it might migrate to the UK. So what? TB is being brought in all the time by people from countries where the disease is still rife - Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, for starters. Our cases of TB infection in the UK have risen considerably over the past few years. You're as likely to contract it from handling a supermarket trolley that a diseased person has just sneezed on, than from the unlikely scenario that you're going to pick up and handle a diseased wild duck.
With the enormous flow of airline passengers from all over the world, it may well be the avian virus might be introduced into the UK, in the same way that Africans who are HIV positive may travel here and infect whoever they bonk. There's a bigger chance of that, I hazard, than someone bringing in a diseased bird that isn't caught by our quarantine system.
jft2005
Conditional
I watched Panorama a few months back & there was a case in east asia somewhere, & a doctor who was treating patients with Bird Flu contracted the symptoms-he did recover which makes me suspect whether or not it was the HGN1 strain. It also featured a family who were killing poultry for food, and the young boy contracted Bird Flu (but survived) but then his sister also contracted, presumably from the brother, but she also survived.
After watching this programme i was inclined to believe that not all Bird Flu cases are fatal. Im not sure what to believe, but one thing I do know is the government will be playing any potential disaster down. The panorama programme could be one of their many puppets..
After watching this programme i was inclined to believe that not all Bird Flu cases are fatal. Im not sure what to believe, but one thing I do know is the government will be playing any potential disaster down. The panorama programme could be one of their many puppets..
This is true. On Friday morning last week the car in front of me struck and killed a cock pheasant. I stopped and put the dead bird in the boot, then hung it when I got home.I had it's breasts for dinner last night. How soon will I know if I've got bird flu?
This is partially true. On a slightly different note, 20 years ago I was enjoying an intimate session with a person of the opposite sex when she was sick all over me. 15 mins. later, when I realised, I got up and left. I've never played with a sick bird since.
This is partially true. On a slightly different note, 20 years ago I was enjoying an intimate session with a person of the opposite sex when she was sick all over me. 15 mins. later, when I realised, I got up and left. I've never played with a sick bird since.
Honest Tom
At the Start
- Joined
- May 2, 2003
- Messages
- 1,272
A disease in the meat chain will kill you all
No, PDJ, it took him 15 minutes to realize she'd been sick over him - the session lasted the usual - 2m 3.5 secs. :lol:
You just have to look at the turkeys and chickens all scratching around the yards (or, free range as we call it!), eating any old junk, to see that they're hardly kept under 'hygienic' conditions, as I said earlier. Most are the property of very poor families who have outdoor loos, where peeing outside isn't exactly unusual, etc, and drains run all kinds of muck freely past their homes. Once again, the news presenter went to some length to explain that the three children from the one family had been handling sick and dead birds. The dead birds hadn't been burned, and presumably the live ones went on living around the carcasses for some time. I know we ain't perfect in the UK, as investigative documentaries sometimes demonstrate, but I don't think there'll be too many children playing among the carcasses of dead birds or animals.
You just have to look at the turkeys and chickens all scratching around the yards (or, free range as we call it!), eating any old junk, to see that they're hardly kept under 'hygienic' conditions, as I said earlier. Most are the property of very poor families who have outdoor loos, where peeing outside isn't exactly unusual, etc, and drains run all kinds of muck freely past their homes. Once again, the news presenter went to some length to explain that the three children from the one family had been handling sick and dead birds. The dead birds hadn't been burned, and presumably the live ones went on living around the carcasses for some time. I know we ain't perfect in the UK, as investigative documentaries sometimes demonstrate, but I don't think there'll be too many children playing among the carcasses of dead birds or animals.
What Brian posted is absolutely correct, good post Brian.
Please remember this one very important fact, one HAS to be in contact with an infected bird to even have the remotest chance of being infected with bird flu.
I am glad that in the UK we will put down any infected migratory birds humanely, gas, injections etc in some parts of the world they simply bury the birds alive, they do not even know how to snap a birds neck, it takes less than a second.
Please remember this one very important fact, one HAS to be in contact with an infected bird to even have the remotest chance of being infected with bird flu.
I am glad that in the UK we will put down any infected migratory birds humanely, gas, injections etc in some parts of the world they simply bury the birds alive, they do not even know how to snap a birds neck, it takes less than a second.
Shadow Leader
At the Start
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- Nov 9, 2003
- Messages
- 9,884
It's comforting to see that rags such as the Daily Mail are having their intended effect - to cause hysteria built upon myths.
More chance of being run over by a car, more chance of dying from aids, more chance of being killed in a terrorist attack, more chance of dying from a heart attack, more chance of dying from cancer. 
h34r:
You are in fact correct Homer, we are all, in our own way fooked.
h34r: You are in fact correct Homer, we are all, in our own way fooked.
