bird flu..

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mobeyone

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Looks as if 'chick' flu is getting more and more press... and closer.

anyone worried yet?
 
mobeyone said:
Looks as if 'chick' flu is getting more and more press... and closer.

anyone worried yet?

;) Nope

Life is far to short to worry about these 'serious risks' ;)

John
 
Nope......

Was feeding the geese at work yesterday actually .....

We have a heron at work that eats bread :crazy: , he is nearly tame enough to take from your hand but not quite, he doesn't like it if you look him in the eye either, you have to look away while you feed him or he flies away.....


Ahhh....... nature....
 
Howard said:
We have a heron at work that eats bread :crazy: , he is nearly tame enough to take from your hand but not quite, he doesn't like it if you look him in the eye either, you have to look away while you feed him or he flies away.....

Sounds like our youngest kid.
 
Howard said:
Nope......
he doesn't like it if you look him in the eye either, you have to look away while you feed him or he flies away.....


In a previous life he might have been a car saleperson :eek:

John
 
The current virus which passes from bird to human only is no big deal (unless you keep chickens in your bedroom ;)). The problem comes when it mutates into a strain that can be passed from human to human, resulting in rapid global spread (a pandemic).

See this info. from the World Health Organisation:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic10things/en/index.html

http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/influenza/WHO_CDS_CSR_GIP_05_8-EN.pdf

Most major companies/organisations now have plans in place, basically how they will continue to function with much of their workforce off sick.
 
Bet we haven't :rolleyes:

Considering i work for the Environment Agency which is a part of DEFRA , i haven't heard anything yet .....

Doesn't surprise me ....... :crazy:
 
BTB 500 said:
The problem comes when it mutates into a strain that can be passed from human to human, resulting in rapid global spread (a pandemic).

BTB, should this not read, IF it mutates ;)
 
The oil company I work for is taking it very seriously indeed, I went to a presentation of their plans a few weeks ago. IIRC the W.H.O. told them they consider a pandemic likely within the next 6 months.
 
lotusmark2 said:
BTB, should this not read, IF it mutates ;)

Yes, however expert opinion seems to be that it's just a matter of time. Have you looked at the W.H.O. stuff above?
 
BTB 500 said:
The oil company I work for is taking it very seriously indeed, I went to a presentation of their plans a few weeks ago. IIRC the W.H.O. told them they consider a pandemic likely within the next 6 months.

So if you went to this meeting a couple of weeks ago and they used the term 'in six months' I wonder when the paper was wrote? Are we saying that by no later than the end of May beginning of June??

It is most unusual for these prophets of doom to put a time on when the world is going to end, but I bet they have booked their summer holidays ;)

John the doubter
 
glojo said:
they used the term 'in six months'

It was "within 6 months" rather than "in 6 months" (subtle difference!) ... and of course "likely", rather than "certain"! Plus that's based on my memory of a long presentation with no handouts :)

But the basic message was that based on advice from the W.H.O. most governments and major corporates are now taking the threat very seriously (enough to be spending significant time and money on planning etc.).
 
BTB 500 said:
It was "within 6 months" rather than "in 6 months" (subtle difference!) ... and of course "likely", rather than "certain"! Plus that's based on my memory of a long presentation with no handouts :)

But the basic message was that based on advice from the W.H.O. most governments and major corporates are now taking the threat very seriously (enough to be spending significant time and money on planning etc.).

I apologise if I am being flippant over this latest scare, but when it was first publicised I went on record as saying it appeared to be a good excuse for government ministers to get rich quick... by authorising the purchase of vaccines.

This was said without the benefit of hindsight, or inside knowledge.

How many millions of pounds of tax payers money has been wasted buying useless vaccines that have no effect against this terrible desease. Shouldn't we all be dead from AID's or monkey flu?

In my personal open the media is at present trying to highlight the misconduct of our government over the Iraqi war, the government as usual is attempting to divert their attention. My money is on the government winning this battle.

Play catch with dead infected birds heads, then put your fingers in your mouth and you might indeed catch some nasty desease, likewise to be very crude, if you wipe your backside with your finger then put these same fingers into your mouth I would expect that person to become ill?? (sorry for being very crude :eek: )

I simply don't believe the World will likely -- probably -- possibly -- maybe come to an end within or in :) six months :)

I am writing this very much tongue in cheek and have a smile on my face as I sneeze all over the monitor.

Take care and enjoy the next six months (they might be our last)

John
 
IMO it's not really an 'end of the world' scenario, it's more about how banking / law and order / health services / utilities / etc. would cope for a month or two with (say) 50% of their staff off sick. I don't believe any of the major corporates are buying vaccines, btw.

PS Never mind the nana, we need a 'sick bird' smiley! :D
 
BTB 500 said:
it's more about how banking / law and order / health services / utilities / etc. would cope for a month or two with (say) 50% of their staff off sick.

Considering that 1/3 of all wealth (personal) is held in stocks/banks and not 'bricks and mortar' it would seem like the 'end of the world' and that is not even to touch on how many jobs depend on the world economy and the devaluing of assets.
 
BTB 500 said:
I don't believe any of the major corporates are buying vaccines, btw.

PS Never mind the nana, we need a 'sick bird' smiley! :D

Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt said in a statement: "I have decided it would be prudent to purchase a limited quantity of H5N1 vaccine which could be used to help protect those that need it most, such as NHS workers. This, alongside the purchase of 14.6 million doses of antivirals and the other public health measures we have in place, will help ensure that the UK continues to be at the forefront of international preparedness for a possible flu pandemic."

She added that the UK would also carry out clinical studies of how the vaccine works against the virus, and how effective it could be.

The government has invited manufacturers of the vaccine to tender for a contract to supply two million doses.
®


I agree major corporates might not have bought these worthless items. This was published in July of last year by the way.

John
 
Have to admit I sit firmly with John on this one.... Oh how silly we will look eh John ;)
 
This topic is probably more of a concern due to the business impact rather than the actual infection itself.

The company I am consulting for implemented a full Business Continuity mode when SARS was a concern in Asia, and they are considering the same for Bird Flu. The costs of invoking secondary sites, splitting staff, etc run into the tens of millions in order to maintain a reaonable level of service.

I noticed that HSBC were mentioned earlier in the week's press on this very topic.

It's serious stuff where international business is concerned, so for me it's a worry.
 
'good way of meddling with the economy of say a booming country would you not say?
 
As a slightly "Off Topic" contribution, I'd recommend that you read Michael Chrichton's novel "State of Fear". It happens to be based around global warming (and contains some useful information about the "facts" of that topic) but the key message is about the media's need to keep everyone in a "state of fear" to keep them watching/listening/reading.

If nothing else, it will give you a good read to distract you from worrying about a possible pandemic and/or the next possible disaster.
 

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