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| New bird flu strain 'will be worse than Sars' |
| 2004-12-21 |
| The title is, shall we say, the understatement of the day - or century... International health officials warned yesterday that the world was closer to its next pandemic - a potent mix of avian influenza and a human flu virus - and that Asia was likely to be its epicentre. Francois-Xavier Meslin, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) co-ordinator for disease control, prevention and eradication, said: "We are getting closer, but when it's going to happen, I don't know. If it happens, which is not yet proven, it's going to be worse than Sars. A full-blown flu virus you can transmit easily to people in your family or people you work with. It's a highly contagious disease compared to Sars." Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, killed 774 and infected nearly 8,000, mostly in Asia, in 2003. The H5N1 bird-flu virus, which ravaged the region's poultry stocks, also spread to people, killing 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam. But there was no evidence that it had acquired the human-flu characteristics it would need to be passed easily between people. Once that happens, the result would be a pandemic that could cause as many as seven million deaths, the WHO has warned. ... There will be a very select few to thank for this bad boy when it finally comes to pass and is unleashed on the modern world... |
| Posted by:.com |
| #5 Our local hospital has solved the problem...anyone who arrives at the door with a fever or feeling unwell is asked to go away...go home...leave. You know state medicare is on the ropes when they refuse to treat sick people. |
| Posted by: john 2004-12-21 3:18:17 PM |
| #4 Bar--If you think you might be getting a cold instead of the flu, go get yourself some Zicam stat! That stuff is great for bringing a cold to its knees before it can do it to you. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-12-21 2:34:25 PM |
| #3 Well at least I got an early start. I don't feel achey or feverish, but my throat feels like its full of sand grains and I have lung congestion, all of which started around last Saturday. Just my luck... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-12-21 11:29:47 AM |
| #2 In a first world country with good medical care, yes. In the rest of the world, look out. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-12-21 8:40:58 AM |
| #1 Fortunately, between the reasonalbly good public health services, and given our current paranoia WRT any kind of infectious disease, the likely hood of a repeat of the 1918 flu pandemic is medium-low. Not that this is an excuse to slack off. Wash your filthy paws, and cover (or avert) your face when you sneeze, you pigs! |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-12-21 4:20:50 AM |