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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:12 pm Post subject: Risk of Avian Flu Pandemic Growing Worse |
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Rapid spread of bird flu has officials worried
Feb. 21, 2006. 09:53 PM
GENEVA (AP) — The unprecedented spread of bird flu to 14 more countries in the past three weeks brings the disease closer to millions of people, giving it many more chances to mutate into a global outbreak, international health experts said Tuesday. Fourteen countries — from India to Nigeria and Egypt to France — have reported their first cases of birds infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu since the beginning of February, the World Health Organization said.
WHO said the 14 countries that have had outbreaks since the beginning of February — in order of reporting — are Iraq, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Iran, Austria, Germany, Egypt, India, France, and Hungary. "We've never seen so many outbreaks of the same virus in so many different regions," WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng told The Associated Press. "Our concern obviously is that humans could potentially come into contact with birds infected with H5N1, which would mean populations worldwide are potentially at risk."
WHO says it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1. The agency has confirmed 170 human cases, including 92 deaths, since 2003 — mostly in east Asia. But WHO experts fear that the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted from person to person and set off a flu pandemic.
Many of the recent outbreaks were in Europe, where wild birds have tested positive for the disease. Tests confirmed Tuesday that three dead swans found in Hungary were infected with the H5N1 strain, making it the seventh European Union country to confirm the disease in birds.
The 1,000-year-old Tower of London moved its famous six ravens inside for protection. Britain so far has been spared, but wardens were taking no chances — legend holds that the British monarchy will fall if the ravens ever leave the Tower. "It's purely precautionary," Derrick Coyle, the tower's Yeoman Raven Master, said Tuesday. The zoo at Paris' Jardin des Plantes also closed its aviary Tuesday and another on the city's outskirts took measures to keep its flamingos from mixing with wild ducks.
But poultry cases in India, Egypt and Nigeria are causing international health authorities more concern because of the close contact chickens and other domestic fowl can have with people who keep them around their homes, increasing the chance of the disease jumping the species barrier. "At the moment we don't have very good information about how extensive these outbreaks are," said Cheng. So far, she noted, there have no human cases reported in those countries or nor in western Europe.
In western India's Navapur district, where nearly 800,000 birds are to be killed following an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry, farmers distraught over their losses asked how they would survive. "It is a question of livelihood for 5,000 families," said Ghulam Vohra, a member of a Navapur poultry farmers association, after his 30,000 birds were killed. "We are all jobless."
Indonesia, which has had 27 human cases since July, including 20 deaths, is also a primary concern because of the high infection rates among birds and people. The latest victim was a 27-year-old woman who died Monday, a senior Health Ministry official said Wednesday, citing local test results. The woman had a history of contact with chickens that were infected with the H5N1 virus, Hariadi Wibisono said.
Juan Lubroth, head of the infectious disease group at the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization, said he was concerned about outbreaks in Africa, but "I do not want to lose focus on the situation that we have in Indonesia. There is a national strategy in Indonesia. Now we just have to implement it." Vietnam has the highest number of confirmed human cases of H5N1 since 2003, with 93 people infected and 42 deaths, but none of Vietnam's cases have been this year.
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:38 am Post subject: |
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December 4, 2005
P.I.D. Radio 12/5/05: You Might Feel a Little Sting
Republicans in the Senate have proposed the creation of a new agency, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency, or BARDA, to develop and test new drugs and vaccines needed to respond to a bioterrorist attack or super-flu pandemic. BARDA would be exempt from long-standing open records and meetings laws that apply to most government departments.
In addition, the legislation also proposes giving manufacturers immunity from liability in exchange for their participation in the public-private effort.
We find this disturbing. Not even the CIA and NSA are exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests! Under this proposal, US taxpayers would pay for the research and development of new vaccines–in secret–and the drug manufacturers wouldn��t be liable if anything went wrong.
http://www.peeringintodarkness.com/radio/?p=89 |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 8:12 am Post subject: |
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We must hurry. Everyone should panic now before it's too late. We have to act fast, set up more superpowerful agencies inside the government, spend more stolen money from taxpayers, and make more government lickspittles rich. Worry, worry, don't waste time. If we don't all hurry up and panic now, this whole thing will blow over and we will have done nothing and worse, we will discover that we never needed to do anything in the first place. Then (horrors!) a few more people will see that the king is in his underwear and the sky is not falling.
Last edited by ontheway on Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| We must hurry. Everyone should panic now before it's too late. We have to act fast, set up more superpowerful agencies inside the government, spend more stolen money from taxpayers, and make more government lidkwpittles rich. Worry, worry, don't waste time. If we don't all hurry up and panic now, this whole thing will blow over and we will have done nothing and worse, we will discover that we never needed to do anything in the first place. Then (horrors!) a few more people will see that the king is in his underwear and the sky is not falling. |
I think the public health agencies responding to the avian flu risk are doing all they can, and I wouldn't necessarily say suddenly setting up a bunch of new "superflu agencies" is an appropriate response. More like reinventing the wheel. And one should never underestimate the capacity for professional bureaucrats to promote their careers by serving a "public need". But I do think what's happened in the past few weeks, in terms of the spread of avian flu is a matter of concern, even if there isn't much the average person can do about it. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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I know an old mechanic who refuses to get a flu shot because he thinks it's just a drug company ploy to peddle their product.
Cynical blue-collar workers can even see the scam. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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From their website:
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| NEXUS is an international bi-monthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: Health Alternatives; Suppressed Science; Earth's Ancient Past; UFOs & the Unexplained; and Government Cover-Ups. |
Enough said. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:12 am Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| We must hurry. Everyone should panic now before it's too late. We have to act fast, set up more superpowerful agencies inside the government, spend more stolen money from taxpayers, and make more government lidkwpittles rich. |
Lidkwipiddles? You must mean the master dialecticians?
i.e. Problem, reaction, solution.
Preying upon the weak & gullible masses, as well as either "mis" or simply flat out "DIS" - informed
Constantly "capitalizing" on crisis 
Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu
Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder,
sees portfolio value growing.
October 31, 2005: 10:55 AM EST
By Nelson D. Schwartz, Fortune senior writer
NEW YORK (Fortune) - The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/
Order out of Chaos |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:53 am Post subject: |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
| Manner of Speaking wrote: |
From their website:
| Quote: |
| NEXUS is an international bi-monthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: Health Alternatives; Suppressed Science; Earth's Ancient Past; UFOs & the Unexplained; and Government Cover-Ups. |
Enough said. |
Say what you want, believe what you want. Are you saying that you actually believe everything the media has been telling us these past few years? WMD's ring a bell?
The article has links right to the government sources, so you can check it for yourself. Sure there are lots of whacked things in Nexus, but not everything. |
That's correct Way-Guk ...
People such as Manner whose "logic" is construed as such repeatedly premise their conclusions
on a GENETIC FALLACY 
http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=logic+genetic+fallacy&kgs=0&kls=0
If some could care less for logic, well ... what can we do? |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
| Say what you want, believe what you want. Are you saying that you actually believe everything the media has been telling us these past few years? WMD's ring a bell? |
Oh, dear God.
You guys are as one-dimensional in your thinking as the masses you claim to criticize.
Just because a media source is "mainstream" doesn't mean it's good or or factually accurate, but by the same token just because a media source is "alternative" doesn't make it good or factually accurate either. Blindly assuming an "alternative" media source is presenting you with accurate information is just as stupid as mindlessly believing everything you read in the mainstream news.
If you are looking for good alternative news sources (which I seriously doubt ) try Harper's, Mother Jones, the Manchester Guardian, The Progressive, or some similar quality news sources. Ones that do serious investigative journalism and really check their facts...not these nutbar, lazy-minded "conspiracy" theory websites which anybody can dream up. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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Jesus, look who's talking.
I post an article from a mainstream news source that extensively quotes an NGO (the World Health Organization), and you immediately discount its veracity because it's from a mainstream news source. How hypocritical is that?
It's a good thing you guys weren't born women.
You'd have trouble counting up to 28 every month. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:12 am Post subject: |
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So, did you even bother to look at those other sites I posted?
Judging by your response, I'd say no. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:22 am Post subject: |
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| Give the man a cigar. |
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Manner of Speaking
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:29 am Post subject: |
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Avian flu crippling Nigeria's poultry industry
Farmers destroy birds, fire workers, lose valuable trade
Christian Allen Purefoy, Chronicle Foreign Service
San Francisco Chronicle
Kano, Nigeria -- With only their bare hands and a single knife among them, three young Nigerian men set about the work of destroying thousands of chickens infected with avian flu. Young children emerging from a dusty, infected coop brought more chickens to be killed -- the blood from the carcasses spilling onto their bare feet. "It's a total disaster," said Abdullahi Saidu, owner of Soviet Farms in northern Nigeria, as he watched the slaughter of his chickens.
The bird flu outbreak in Nigeria has entered its second week since it was discovered about 200 miles south of Soviet Farms. The government was slow to respond, and it already has spread to six states. That, in turn, threatens to destroy of one of the continent's most important sources of industry, employment, trade and protein. "Definitely we're in trouble now ... I employ 65 people. It's going to affect us because there's no work, no job, no money -- they can't meet up with their daily needs," Saidu said.
In a country with 150 million chickens, destroying flocks infected with the deadly H5N1 avian influenza is the best hope for curbing an outbreak that has already spread uncontrollably across Nigeria's northern region. Yet only about 150,000 birds reportedly have been killed to contain the flu.
Despite a ban on the movement of poultry across the country, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is worried that the outbreak in Nigeria could become a regional crisis across West Africa.
"There is ample evidence that the Nigerian bird flu situation is difficult and worrisome," Joseph Domenech, the Food and Agriculture Organization's chief veterinary officer, said Wednesday. "The government has taken the right measures, such as culling in outbreak areas and biosecurity controls, but the authorities are facing immense difficulties to enforce controls."
Most of Nigeria's chickens are kept in people's backyards rather than commercial farms. Much of the slaughtering is done in homes or yards, or beside roads. "So many poor people depend on small poultry farms to supplement their income -- it's beyond monetary value," said Nigerian Minister of Agriculture Adamu Bello. At another of Saidu's farms, men wearing reused face masks and tattered green overalls for protection set about disposing of dead chickens by throwing them into a shallow pit. As one of them poured kerosene over the carcasses, a group of young children climbed over a tattered fence -- their bare feet treading over the farm's previous burn site -- to get a better look at the raging fire emitting thick, black smoke.
"We haven't seen any serious plan to curb this problem, apart from individual security attempts. We are all scared," said Auwala Haruna, managing director of Rugayya Integrated Farms and secretary of Kano's Poultry Association Union. "Government has to come up with a package," Haruna said. "Otherwise, there will be chances that farmers will not declare the problems of their farms and this problem will linger on for God knows how long."
The Nigerian government has offered 250 naira -- less than $2 -- compensation for each dead bird, which poultry farmers protest is too little. They are demanding at least 1,000 naira apiece. Aide from the matter of compensation, poultry provides essential protein to poor communities. Seventy percent of Nigeria's population lives in poverty, and the country has the third-highest number of AIDS cases in the world.
Els Standaert, project coordinator of Doctors Without Borders-Nigeria, said he worries that those with AIDS or HIV will be especially hard hit because of malnutrition and the weakened state of their immune systems.
Nigeria's neighbors have closed their borders to poultry sales, but as the virus spreads across the Sahel region, other countries could see their problems of famine compounded.
Avian flu experts have feared an outbreak in Africa, where the health infrastructure is unable to cope with any major outbreak. There have been about 150 cases worldwide of humans contracting avian flu, but an uncontrolled outbreak of the kind feared in Nigeria increases both the possibility of humans catching the virus from birds and of the virus mutating into a form that would allow it to spread from human to human.
Making things worse, the Nigeria outbreak comes just before migrating birds fly north to Europe. "Migration starts in March -- March, April, May are the peak times," said Phil Hall, a British conservationist based in Nigeria who works closely with Nigeria's Conservation Foundation. "It's now up to the Nigerian government. It's a critical time."
However, the government has failed to close Kano's dusty poultry markets, from which chickens are bought, sold and transported across the region. Beneath one coop, a dead bird is kicked every so often by a passing sandal. Sales are down, but customers still come to barter.
"We don't need the government to come and close anything here because our birds are fine, they are all well," said Alahji Kow-Magashi, chairman of the poultry sellers association of Kano state, pointedly eating a piece of local spiced chicken. "I am so worried for this market because all those people killing their poultry are our colleagues."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/23/MNG61HD09K1.DTL&feed=rss.news |
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