Ok, what's up with 'bird flu'?

[Mr.V.]

Nah, wouldn't fall apart. You'd be surprised how easily people adapt to
soldiers in the streets.

This assumes the soliders would be healthy. If it is really bad...soldiers and all will be sick. It'll be damn near impossible to successfully quarantine this thing anyways.

However, I completely agree with your point about society not falling apart. The "black death" was the best thing that happened to europe. It released it from the feudal system and the clutches of the then incredibly corrupt Catholic church (no comment on the current one =)


Also I never saw that water thing...at http://www.grandpappy.info/wwater.htm
it's interesting. I think the solar still isn't going to cut it...1 pint/24 hrs? eek. I like the distiller but you need a heat source and I'm not sure the gas company is going to be checking meters...

however, it got me into thinking...does anyone make a solar-powered heater that you could use to heat the water and distill it? Then that would be great...

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

Besides doubling the thickness of the tinfoil hat, one thing we should all do is strengthen our imune system. Increase the ability of our bodies to fight the virus, once acquired. Sanitation, nutrition, vitamin supplements, are all important steps we can all take. It seems to me that these viruses thrive in the less developed countries, where standards of living are lower: food, water, sanitation, disease, medical care, are not on par with, let's say, the US ones. The 1918 outbreak came after the world was ravaged -and weakened- by four years of war, starvation, malnutrition, and people close together (refugees, army camps). The flu kills mostly old people and young children, those with already weakened imune systems. Eating a fast/junk food diet doesn't help...

A flu pandemic would accomplish a mild thinning of the herd. The United States would not fare as well as many other developed countries because our immune systems are already compromised by our stressful lifestyles, which is why we have much higher incidences of diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory ailments than countries like England. But we would still fare much better than third world countries, which would be hit hard because of poor sanitation and hygiene.

I would think the military would be first in line to receive a limited supply of whatever medication is needed for whatever pandemic occurs. I agree that any disruption would be temporary, provided we weren't foolish enough to grant dictatorial powers to any one branch of the federal government.

 

[Sistema1927]

Rule of "4s":

You can die in 4 weeks without food

You can die in 4 days without water

You can die in 4 hours without proper shelter from the elements

You can die in 4 minutes without oxygen.

You can die in 4 seconds if you panic.

Right now, I see a bunch of fear mongering and attempts to induce panic related to the avian flu. Wonder why?

 

[TamThompson]

I'm a freelance writer, and I just finished ghostwriting an ebook on bird flu. I"ve been researching it for personal curiousity and here are my thoughts:

1. It's a very real threat. Yes, mind-boggling that it could infect up to 50% of Americans if it comes here AND if it goes human-to-human WITH a lethality rate of about 50%. Losing 1 out of 4 would make things come to a giant, screeching halt for a little while, tough thereafter. IMPORTANT: Just because, to my best intel, we dodged a bullet with Y2K and SARS, we should NOT get complacent and assume everything is overhyped B.S. Some is, some isn't. I don't think this is, but we'll see.

2. In the Spanish flu, people DID self-quarantine their towns and communities by using local militia and anyone they could to keep outsiders out. Generally, it worked well.

3. As of a few days ago, the CDC and WHO announced two worrisome facts: a) there are 4 avian flu viruses now with the potential to mutate and go human-to-human with disastrous effects, b) the virus has now mutated to survive well in warm, moist climates (look out, Houston.)

4. I'd rather be a year early than an hour late when the shelves start getting cleaned out. Those of you who've been through hurricanes know what I mean.

5. There's a major "scare the sheeple" TV movie coming out--I think it's May 7 or 9--on bird flu. Look for a SERIOUS dent in available preps for awhile after that.

6. All commercial canneries in the US are currently backordered 4-6 weeks on dehydrated food in good-sized quantities like #10 cans and the big 5-6 gallon pails. Mountain House, especially, due to large group buys.

7. The govt. knows more than it's letting on because nothing good will come of a panic.

8. I suspect this H5N1 flu virus may not be entirely natural. One of the UN's stated goals is population control (read: reduction.) How very convenient.

9. I also don't rule out a pretense for totalitarian martial law and control. Remember what Tommy Franks told us in that Cigar Afficionado interview, and substitute the word "pandemic" for "terror attack."

10. Regardless of who cooked this thing up or how, I'd suggest preparing.

STORING WATER: Do it the free way. Everytime I use a bottle that has a screw-on cap--water, soda, liquor, anything non-oil--I refill with tap water and add bleach at the rate of 1/2 eyedropper per 16 oz, and store out in the shade inside our barn.

 

[neil minor]

If some type of pandemic event does occur:

One of the biggest potential problems will be the fear levels and fear mongering. The evening news shows will probably cause a lot of panic. Education will be one of the best preventive measures - but it's hard to find reliable data.

I have read that the inexpensive masks found at WalMart/Home Depot are not very effective. As it's been mentioned in this thread, with most contagious diseases, hand washing will be very important. Shaking hands will need to be stopped. Hopefully, more companies will offer for their employees to be able to work at home. School administrators will have to use proactive judgement (it's better to be safe than sorry). If this does escalate, I do not want to have to fly anywhere on public airlines.

From some of the information/opinions I have read (not necessarily here) , I begin to wonder if certain people actually want some type of major disaster to happen. I don't understand this. Does anyone else sense this?

If people want excitement, they should go to Six Flags - or drive in Atlanta.

 

[odysseus]

No one should want this. Major pandemics are hard on the healthy as well as the sick. The impact will be devasting socially, govermentally, and economically.

I can't remember the source, but there was a great overview some organization did which showed how quickly (mainly due to International air travel) a highly contagious (airborn) virus could spread across the world. We all can tell what that is like. One of the reasons why some very deadly ones have not spread is because they are exactly that: deadly. Someone showing symptoms quickly will not get far. However with this one, I am not sure...

 

[jerkyman45]

I'm not worried about bird flu. It's a sensationalized story to get more viewers to watch. My philosophy is when there's nothing to worry about, don't worry. Currently I'm more concerned about antigunners taking away our right to own firearms.

 

[k_semler]

http://www.hhs.gov/pandemicflu/plan/

http://www.hhs.gov/pandemicflu/plan/pdf/HHSPandemicInfluenzaPlan.pdf

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

Enjoy.


--Issuing official, legally binding quarantine orders
---Posting a guard outside the home
----Using electronic forms of monitoring
-----Using guarded facilities
-------Protocols for using checkpoints to restrict travel between neighborhoods.