BIRD FLU: perhaps science fiction?...

website;
Apparently the risk of infection from birds to humans is low,
but it does exist.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/

Key Facts:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm

What is the risk to humans from bird flu?
The risk from bird flu is generally low to most people because the viruses occur mainly among birds and do not usually infect humans. However, during an outbreak of bird flu among poultry (domesticated chicken, ducks, turkeys), there is a possible risk to people who have contact with infected birds or surfaces that have been contaminated with excretions from infected birds. The current outbreak of avian influenza A (H5N1) among poultry in Asia and Europe (see below) is an example of a bird flu outbreak that has caused human infections and deaths. In such situations, people should avoid contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces, and should be careful when handling and cooking poultry. For more information about avian influenza and food safety issues, visit the World Health Organization website. In rare instances, limited human-to-human spread of H5N1 virus has occurred, and transmission has not been observed to continue beyond one person.

How can we be "overdue". Is that implying that no matter how much medicine learns or changes, we somehow MUST have a deadly pandemic on some schedule? I've heard about being "overdue" for a big earthquake, and even that is somewhat suspicious since the shape of the earth's crust is dynamic. But I'd trust that prediction more than one that says flu epidemics shrug off any change in medical care.

Bird flu is being found in the birds. The Administration didn't even talk about it last year when people had contracted it. It is the same scare tactics that they used on weapons of mass destruction, smallpox, and anthrax. Everyone should read the information on the CDC website about the bird flu. We should be informed but we should not overreact. The Bush Administration thrives on creating panic.

I eat a lot of meals at the Taco Bell down the street because they will change recipes to give me a totally veggie meal. The store, like many in Mpls, is exclusively staff by Latinas. That got me to thinking about restaurants and bird flu. I was wondering if a pandemic threat would close down the restaurants since people wouldn't want to eat anything touched by the hands of strangers. But then it occurred to me how Minnesota would go into overdrive if any big health threat appeared. I've seen it repeatedly.

But then there are all those OTHER states where making money trumps absolutely everything else. So, there's no doubt flu would find easy pickings within the USA.

And that made me think just how MUCH of this thing looks like national karma. First we have troops trying to suppress a totally chaotic country because it has oil, a country right on the flight path of the wild birds from Asia to Africa where they winter. Just like 1918, a great place for people to pick up the flu bug. So there's strike one.

Then there's our wonderful policy that says healthcare is only a right for those rich enough to pay for it or lucky enough to work for an employer who chooses to offer insurance. We have over 50 million people too poor to afford health insurance. AND too poor to stay home from work. They pick up the bug, they take it to work, does the employer station doctors at the door to send home anyone who looks remotely sick? Why when he's too cheap to help insure the poor people? There's strike two.

Then there's the "guest worker" program which basically exists to help greedy employers get hungry employees who'll work for any rate of pay and never complain about workplace oppression. As has been shown in past public health scenarios, they don't come with the idea that a few deaths from contagious illness matter that much. They produce more kids than can be fed, so they are used to people keeling over. One less mouth to feed when employment is nearly impossible to get. What can I say? Strike three and we, as a money-loving (people-hating) country are outa there!

We COULD repent of our dubiously-moral ways, but then Sodom and Gomorrah got warnings, too, if my aging memory doesn't fail me. And you saw what happened there. Could it be, with the American tendency to swallow resources without a thought, that maybe the world could USE a reduction in its American component? Well, not if we relearned the generosity we heard about in Sunday school. But if we are determined to be the Anti-christ of the world, it might be "good riddance".

What I'm talking about is a series of causes. All pretty much come from the same motives. Those motives stink. And the world has a way of paying such people back. I feel a great remorse for the people mowed down overseas because of what people like Americans have done to the earth, but my greatest concern is our inability to learn ANYTHING from our mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but those who call every defeat a triumph are doomed. Its a matter of when not if.