Flu pandemic...probable chaos?

[Donmo 6]

I made you an appointment. Be prompt. :)

[Guest beana51]

Mr. Charlie, Its not that I totally disagree with you.I'm here in the boneyard,on the gulf coast.Last year,your namesake paid us a visit.So,I won't forget your name to soon.It has started,the "Croc" stampede.Whipped up by national,and soon world news. Watch out for the giant pythons they yell,there are large lizards,be aware they advise, THE Ants the RED ants ,theres no defense from them.If ya see any "CHICKENS" swim away in haste. Now if that don't make all these seniors go bonko,I don't know what will.Then again "Senility" is a great insulator against adversity.Materials for home protection,hoarding gas,plywood,is like some contraband on the black market,same with the Flu shots and all the associated fears,are now being flamed up,stoked red hot by "THEM"Now Charlie,Charlie was no picnic. Just recently getting it back to gether.I gotta tell ya, the real fear of no roof,no car,and no air-condition is frightful.We all know havoc sells papers,or prompts viewing ad nauseum.It also clouds the real news events.Then again ,its a great cover for the crooks to do their thing under cover in those houses in Washington DC.At some point ,ya have to go out in the yard,make peace with good OLE "MOM Nature" Recite that OLE Indian proverb,ya know something like its "a good day to die stuff" Or you can retire to a solid wall some where,and with your battery powered TV and yes watch "Jerry Springer"! tired watching "Charlie Rose" ,Chris Matthews,Ted turner reruns,Jane Fondas book signing,Ted Kennedy rescuing a drowning person,and of course that wronged women,by her philandering husband "DA HILLARY".I'll take "WILMA" instead.She promises to be much more exciting.Unlike New Orleans, we are not below sea level here,no dams to blow up.I feel secure with my currant elevation,It reassures me, a good solid towering 12ft above sea level.Thats high here.The natives,AKA the ancients, have to use oxygen.But they are the real "right stuff", they have "NO FEAR"They comfort me!! Talk to ya latter, maby?? :+ REGARDS , IN EXILE VIN

[Guest Charlie]

I like that response, Don. I was about to put together my own answer to his SMALL-minded arrogance, but your message will do fine.

[btacon 1,802]

No wonder folks are confused and worried. Just look at the diametrically opposed messages coming from the World Health Organization (WHO)WHO: Human Risk from Bird Flu 'Very Low' Friday, October 14, 2005GENEVA

[Bob Scott 7,721]

Aw, shucky darn, now my feelings are hurt. OK, maybe not.I have no sympathy for people who stand idly bye while an approaching danger is pointed out to them in flashing lights. Call that small-minded or arrogant if you want...I really don't care. When a person is too stupid to get out of the way of an approaching threat despite ample warning, natural selection is bound to occur.So, that said, there are things everyone can do to be ready if the Avian flu transmutates into a human-transmissible form and causes a pandemic...something which modern man has seen the likes of before...several times in fact. Because, absent some miraculous discovery in vaccine development, quarantines--strict ones--are the most likely control measure to be employed, it seems logical that people should be prepared to have to spend some time...maybe 3-4 weeks...holed-up in their houses without going out. A month emergency supply of food and water is always a good thing to keep around. If you have a chronic condition that requires medication, a 3-4 week supply would be a good thing, since the worst place you could go if your area is affected is a hospital or pharmacy where other sick people are likely to go. Some of these are the same sorts of measures that are prudent if you live, as I do, in an earthquake-prone area.Or, you can deny that a threat exists, and take your chances if the worst happens. I'll have no sympathy for you, and I will feel no obligation to help you or those like you to survive the consequences of your own poor choices. The people that get my help are the ones that didn't have and ignore the opportunity to avoid a real danger.CheerioBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300Santiago de Chile

[Bob Scott 7,721]

The current H5N1 avian influena virus presents a very low risk to humans...true statement. And the chances of an outbreak in birds in areas around the world...also very likely. The possibility of a human pandemic of a lethal variant...unknown but more than trivially possible.The problem with flu viruses is that they are built as if from a biological form of lego blocks. The process of reassortment...where different proteins are swapped back and forth between different variations of influenza viruses, is what makes this more than a 1-in-a-million chance of having some random gene flip and cause a virulent strain.The problem is that there are a number of virulent human-transmissible influenza strains out there now...we see them come and go every year. When persons or animals are co-infected with the existing strains and the very deadly H5N1 variant, the odds are non-trivial that a swap of some of these "lego block" proteins could occur which renders a virus that has both high transmissibility of a more common flu virus and the lethal consequences of the H5N1 avian strain. Nobody knows if it will happen, but a lot is known on how this reassortment produces a new batch of viruses every year with varying responses to vaccines, hence the need for a new vaccine each year.The spread of bird flu in its current form is a disaster if only because of impact to the poultry business. Stopping its spread is a priority just as for stopping hoof-and-mouth disease. But the real possibilities that this could turn into another human pandemic bug make it an emergency.Too many people, media included, are confusing the various sub-issues, and the wailing conspiracy theorists are quite content to keep stirring the issues together into a confusing mass so they can point at the people trying to get a handle on the problems and say "aha! see, they know nothing."As Tom A pointed out, there are many far-reaching second and third-order consequences from this flu...not all are cataclysmic, but there are many negative possibilities that deserve to be taken seriously.Bob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300Santiago de Chile

[Guest Charlie]

Dream on, Bob. You think a 3-4 week food supply is going to keep you safe if the disastrous pandemic we

[KevinAu 441]

>>The truth is that even the enormous mass of your own ego won