So, who’s a turkey?
The number of cases of the deadly bird flu virus is increasing around the world as scientists struggle to combat the disease that is now threatening to jump species and infect humans. The news comes as Britain confirmed its first ever case of H5N1 in a farm in Suffolk. More than 160,000 birds will now be slaughtered as the country’s farming industry goes on high alert for more outbreaks.
As the authorities responded to the outbreak in Suffolk, local residents questioned why it had taken some 48 hours after the first chicks died last Tuesday for the government’s Department of Food and Rural Affairs, Defra, to be informed. But there was also wider concern. Japan and Nigeria have reported a series of cases of the lethal virus, and China, Egypt, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have also revealed outbreaks in birds and in humans in the past two months. Indonesia began a mass bird cull in the capital city of Jakarta last Wednesday. At least 164 people are now known to have been killed by the disease across the globe.
An exclusion zone of three-kilometres (nearly two miles) has been set up around the farm. All poultry in the area are to be kept indoors and tested for the H5N1 virus. A further 10km zone has been established in which all movements of poultry are banned, and last night another 2,090sq km restriction zone was created to isolate poultry from wild birds. Other measures will include a ban on bird shows, poultry markets and pigeon racing. This follows a decision by Defra to revoke the national general licence on bird gatherings.
Of course, there will be reasoned scientific deliberation of how to deal with H5N1 when it gets here. It’s already in progress — has been for a while. Then it goes into the hands of the people who actually make the rules.
Related story: CDC Practices for the ‘Big One’
I have many bird feeders in my back yard and I have put out small boxes of tissue for them just in case. I did see one bird sneeze and the others took off so fast they left a vapor trail.
OMG! 164 people in a world of over 6 billion have already been killed by this devastating disease since 2004! That’s roughly 7 people a month! That’s over 1 a week!
I don’t know about you, but when something like this wipes out this many people in the world, I’m going to hold up in my basement for the next few years.
Or maybe it’s just more fear mongering by…well…everyone.
A cousin of mine has been gnashing his teeth and crying doom unto the heavens about bird flu for the last two years. I haven’t seen him so excited since the glory days of Y2K. But why worry? The American Enterprise Institute will simply offer bribes to researchers to use the Cheney “1% possibility” reality-denial system and “disprove” the danger. That’s what they’ve been doing to counter global warming evidence – see http://tinyurl.com/2nwab2 – and I figure if it’s that easy to fix global warming, curing a bird flu pandemic should be a walk in the park.
😀
If a few billion are killed by Bird Flu (TM) then the survivors combined Carbon Footprint (TM) will be reduced and they won’t have to worry about Global Warming (TM).
And then there are the fools who feel no responsibility, no concern, for their own actions and the policies of the crooks they elect and the corporations they worship. Who says the days of loyal serfs are over?
Yeah! So Stop Worrying ™
(really just testing GlobalWarmer’s “TM” trick – Will It Work? ™ )
Oh, well. Hey TheGlobalWarmer â„¢, how the heck do you do that?
I don’t think TGW is a serf. He just likes to sniff his master’s slippers.
Don’t worry, when the Bird Flu arrives in the U.S., the administration will be on top of things. A division of Halliburton will make millions of doses of vaccine. When that fails, a division of Halliburton will make the incinerators to burn the dead bodies piling up. Then a division of Halliburton will run the internment camps to hold the rounded-up looters and rioters. Following that, a division of Halliburton will build and run the secret underground luxury bunkers that the administration and its friends and relatives will live in while the rest of us perish. See? Everything is all taken care of.
#2 puts it in perspective..that comment changed how i view all the info i read on this topic.i guess it all comes down to”do the math”,the truth is out there! i jest, but that post made me re-evaluate my concerns,i take the potential threat seriously but am not overly worried yet.in fact i can’t see myself getting worried at all..i think there are more pressing problems with this planet than bird flu..over-hyped comes to mind..
and i say that because of #2.
It will no longer be the bird flu when the strain evolves that is aerosol transmittable to humans. These huge poultry complexes are pretty decent evolution grounds for this virus.
I thought this flash based game appropriate to this thread.
http://www.jarkey.net/playgames/pandemic_game.htm
The virus has to become stealthy in the beginning, then mutate to deadly in it’s last stages.
FWIW, developing vaccines requires donors that are immune, that we currently don’t have, so don’t count on Haliburton too much.
11. Damn, I’m going to work for Halliburton!!! Sounds like job security to me.
#8 – Just put in the “TM” surrounded by spaced and parentheses. It gets automatically converted like some smilies. It should work fine until Global Warming (TM) gets too bad. 😉
#7 – Anyone who believes the spin put out by MSM bought and paid for by Greenpeace, Sierra Club, the evil UN, etc. should feel guilty for living an independent, civilized lifestyle. I am not religious and therefore do not believe my actions are destroying poor Mother Earth.
#17 — nice to see you’ve gotten beyond 19th Century superstition. Now, how about reading some real science if you can’t deal with political organizations whose policies are founded on the same information.
Do you need to be led by the hand? Or is it easier to rely on your political convictions instead of trying to learn something about a topic?
What a waste of food, they should have turn the turkeys into Turkey nuggets rather than bury the birds.