bird flu - phooey or fact?

LOL! You can 'ave 'er!

You know her?

Yes. Very well.

I was in Southern China last February and no one was the least bit worried. They said only half a dozen people had died of it in Asia so, relative to other nasties in the world, it was nothing to worry about.

SARS was a different matter all together, caused real panic, ethnic tension and serious damage to businesses - one hotel chain in Kunming city banned all people from Guandong province so consequently that chain is now boycotted by the southern Chinese.

You know her?

My bird had flu last month. She was not as miserable as she normally is.

So it was the same, except less nagging and the dishes piled up in the sink. And it was cheese on toast for a few days.

My bird had flu last month. She was not as miserable as she normally is.

Amazing SPOD just not sure if we want to know how you found that one out.

Warning Bird Poo May Contain Traces of Nut.

Thought i would warn you incase anyone has a nut allegy and wanted to try SupremeSpod theory out.

Bird Poo Factoid #2
Dried bird poo does not taste like sherbert!

Bird-Poo FACT hard to get off car if left on for to long.

Looks like a bit scaremongering for fund-raising to me

From Google news link :

www.abc.net.au/ra/news/st...378375.htm

Last Updated 27/05/2005, 18:24:15

Chinese authorities say they have found no human cases of bird flu or unexplained pneumonia after the discovery that avian flu killed wild geese in the western province of Qinghai.

But officials have said many more migratory geese and other birds were found dead of bird flu than previously reported.

Investigators now say they have found more than 500 dead birds in the affected nature reserve.

China previously reported fewer than 200 had been found.

Authorities have ordered all three million chickens, ducks and other farm birds in Qinghai vaccinated, and have told the public to avoid nature reserves.

New vaccines

Chinese scientists have developed two new vaccines which they claim can stop the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in birds and poultry.

Xinhua news agency reports the new vaccines have been developed by China's National Bird Flu Reference Laboratory.

The Laboratory's, Chen Hualan, says the vaccines have proved to be a success.

"Experiments show the efficiency rate of the newly developed vaccines in preventing infection by the H5N1 virus is 100 percent," Ms Chen was quoted as saying.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that while some vaccines can reduce the amount of virus in the birds, others may be masking the problem.

"In some cases, there's an argument that what you're reducing are the symptoms in birds," said WHO spokeswoman, Maria Cheng.

"But they still have the virus and are still shedding the virus," Ms Cheng told the AFP newsagency.

US braces for flu pandemic

Health officials says the US is not prepared for a pandemic resulting from a mutation of the bird flu virus.

They have warned a medium level pandemic could result in more than 200,000 deaths in the US.

Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says between 15 percent and 35 percent of the US population would be affected by a flu pandemic.

She says the cost to the US economy would be between US$71 billion and US$166 billion.

US government authorities and pharmaceutical companies are working together to try to make sure there are sufficient supplies of vaccines and other medicines.

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