Bird Flu Gets Scarier...10/05/07

**brenda67** · 10-05-2007, 01:26 PM

The deadly bird flu virus has mutated and may infect people more easily if it begins spreading from human to human, according to a new study.

Scientist Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the H5N1 virus, commonly referred to as the bird flu, has mutated and can now develop in the upper respiratory systems of humans, which may increase the chances of the virus spreading from one person to another.

Recent virus samples taken from birds in Africa and Europe show mutations that resemble human viruses, Kawaoka stated in a report published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens.

Click here to read the report

The bird flu usually doesn’t develop in the nose or throat of humans, said Kawaoka, but this particular strain allows the virus to live in cooler temperatures similar to those found in the human upper respiratory tract.

In the new study, conducted in mice, researchers found a small, but significant change in the virus that allowed it to settle in the upper respiratory system, which may allow the virus to infect more cell types and spread more easily.

"The viruses that are in circulation now are much more mammalian-like than the ones circulating in 1997," said Kawaoka.

Bird flu strikes chickens and other birds and can infect humans who are in close contact with the infected animals. The new strain of the H5N1 virus may allow the disease to spread from one person to another through coughing or sneezing, according to the report. Temperatures in the lungs are also higher and more amenable to the efficient growth of the virus.

To date, there have been more than 250 human bird flu cases and more than 150 reported deaths. There have been no reported human-to-human transmissions.

Kawaoka believes that, as more humans and animals are exposed to the virus, the virus may continue to mutate and has the possibility of becoming a pandemic.

Are you prepared?

**YankeeMom** · 10-05-2007, 01:46 PM

I read that earlier today & it gave me chills.

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-05-2007, 02:00 PM

Honestly, please don't think I'm being crass but this really doesn't bother me. You just about have to be constantly kissing a sick bird to get the virus. I have and will continue to have chickens, they are free range and we really don't handle them much.

And any death is sad, but that is such a small number, and I really think that these articles tend to blow things out of proportion.

15 years ago it was the encphylitis scare, and yes it effected MANY horses and people, but for the healthy it was a mild flu like, hubby and I had it.

Then it was/is west nile, as bad as they make it sound you'd think they'd have a human vaccine for it, the equine vaccine has been around for 7 years now.

kj

**brenda67** · 10-05-2007, 02:11 PM

I made a really big deal about this last year to my family & friends..I went out and stocked up on all kinds of medicines,soy flour, tons of food(nothing new for me in general anyway..LOL..)and obviously it never hit the States yet..but I did see on TV last night that there is another show airing this Sunday night (not sure what station) pertaining to the Bird Flu epidemic again..So I was thinking I better re-evaluate my stockpile of what I need to stockup on again..Imagine how quickly the grocery stores shelves would be empty if it were to hit the United States today ? Something to ponder..

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-05-2007, 02:16 PM

Why would it empty our shelves so quickly? And honestly they are already taking a lot of measures with domestic flocks. Breeders now have to register flight birds they raise, records are kept on them, they would be the first domestics to be involved.

I think if we take all the time to worry about all the diseases we could potentially get we'll never take time to enjoy life

kj

**brenda67** · 10-05-2007, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by frugalfarmwife

Why would it empty our shelves so quickly? And honestly they are already taking a lot of measures with domestic flocks. Breeders now have to register flight birds they raise, records are kept on them, they would be the first domestics to be involved.

I think if we take all the time to worry about all the diseases we could potentially get we'll never take time to enjoy life

kj

I guess you didn't see the movie? The shelves were wiped out in no time due to people being confined to their homes for weeks so the virus wasn't spread..

There has been alot of cases involving E-Coli lately.. Who was in charge of seeing that our food is safe? I know it's a totally different story here.. But I don't trust people like I use to.. I sometimes wonder with the world being so over populated that what an easier way to eliminate a good portion of the population with a epidemic like this one..Could it be man made? I don't let myself be consume by it but like most of here on FV like to be prepared for the worst..

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-05-2007, 03:40 PM

No I didn't see the movie, don't watch much television.

And yes, I've been a member of the village for quite a while, and also like to be prepared, but these things to me almost seem like scare tactics.

And e-coli has ALWAYS been around, meat needs cooked. Salmonella has always been around. Eggs need cooked, hands need washed after handling animals.

I take sensible measures, but I don't really worry.

With my luck I'd stress, worry, prepare, and then I'd end up getting hit by a bus.

kj

**brenda67** · 10-05-2007, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by frugalfarmwife

No I didn't see the movie, don't watch much television.

And yes, I've been a member of the village for quite a while, and also like to be prepared, but these things to me almost seem like scare tactics.

And e-coli has ALWAYS been around, meat needs cooked. Salmonella has always been around. Eggs need cooked, hands need washed after handling animals.

I take sensible measures, but I don't really worry.

With my luck I'd stress, worry, prepare, and then I'd end up getting hit by a bus.

kj

We all know how the media blows everything out of proportion.. it seems like were hearing every other week about a new case of e-Coli..What about the spinach? I don't know about everbody else but I don't was my fresh spinach or Iceberg lettuce or carrots ect.. you know what seems really weird to me? When I was a little kid my mom use to leave food out all night long like spaghetti & meatballs, soups,pizza, sticks of butter in the butter dish(I've been doing this for years) and we ate it the next day and never got sick..What is so diiferent with our food today then back 30yrs ago?

QUOTE..With my luck I'd stress, worry, prepare, and then I'd end up getting hit by a bus.

LOL..that's probably what will happen to me...

**Odilia** · 10-05-2007, 04:00 PM

frugalfarmwife, I also have free-range chickens (and ducks). I'm not concerned about catching diseases from them.

I do keep abreast of what's going on with H5N1 -- for two reasons.
1. I don't want anyone messing with my poultry! If people get too alarmed, they can get a little nuts and start calling for the destruction of flocks.
2. If this goes human-to-human in an easily transmittable form, then it's big cause for concern. I don't worry about catching this from my poultry; I worry about catching it from the sneezing lady behind me in the checkout or from the gentleman sitting next to our family at church. I see how quickly regular ol' seasonal flu spreads through a community (every public school around us closed last winter due to flu). A pandemic flu strain will spread every bit as quickly.

Pandemic flu has occurred in the past and will, no doubt, occur in the future. I don't know if H5N1 will be the next pandemic strain, but for me, it bears watching.

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-05-2007, 06:41 PM

I agree with keeping updated on it, and yes, I'm also concerned that things could get to the point like the destruction of cattle over the mad cow disease, I do NOT want to see that.

But things like that movie (I remember hearing about it now, a "fictional" movie about what could happen) just really fuel hysteria.

And the media is constantly putting even the smallest illness in our faces. People have ALWAYS had illnesses due to the handling of food, insects, vermin. It's just always going to be there.

They say that studies show 27% or more horses carry salmonella in their systems, stress can cause the shedding of it or onset of it in the horse. But I'm not going to get rid of my horses because of it, they are a way of life for me.

Last year I ended up with cellulitis because I run around barefoot all the time. I still run around barefoot, it's me.

I just get concerned when things are thrown out there as the NEXT BIG THING day after day after day.

kj

**gentledenny** · 10-05-2007, 08:01 PM

I would just buy you some surgical masks. I am supposed to wear them when i go out in crowds due to my immune system but i dont. Kids think i am a doctor and adults think i am a leper. I dont wear them but i have them in my car and house if need be. So if everyone is scared to go to grocery store after the initial scare. you can put on your mask and go the next day after the shelves or restocked . Oh yeah. and frugalmom stop kissing your chickens.

**baxjul** · 10-05-2007, 09:04 PM

What movie? I never saw it! I'm not really worried about the bird flu. I figure if the cancer didn't kill me, I'm not going to worry about anything else!