November 25 Flu Update
South Korea has now confirmed that the H5N1 in the southern part of the country is high path.Taiwan does not expect problems from South Korea is bird flu.
Promed on the South Korea story. Note that the affected area is on a migratory bird path.
Recombinomics reports that nearly six hundred dogs were culled in South Korea as part of the response to the outbreak.
India has set up a bird flu research center in its major poultry production region.
Britain's financial services sector underwent a six week bird flu exercise, and concluded that it could survive.
"It was a bit daunting at 10am on a Monday morning dealing with this escalating pandemic. It was a bit like being in that film 'The Day After Tomorrow'," said a participant at a major bank who worked on the desk-bound exercise.
Nigerian poultry farmers have been urged to learn more about the bird flu.
The forums on the flu wiki have been redesigned and updated, as Revere notes here.
posted by Orange @ 9:35 AM
1 Comments:
Orange;
This is going to be one of my weirdest comments, but here goes. The recombinomics article about the severity of the outbreak in South Korea, and the culling of the dogs, brings to mind one of the most significant problems we might face, even during a mild-to-moderate avian influenza pandemic. That is: what is going to happen with the hundreds of millions of pets and animals during a pandemic... people over reacting.
Earlier this spring, when scientists observed the H5N1 in domestic cats in Europe, guess what happened ? Pet owners over reacted. Thousands of cats were released by their owners and the authorities had a significant problem rounding them up and disposing them. This was a significant problem during Katrina. Now think what would happen in the U.S. and Canada if dogs were found to be infected with the H5N1 deadly virus - I'll be willing to wager the same thing. There are thousands of dogs just in my own neighborhood, some of them of a breed I don't think should be kept, like Pit Bulls for example. Having a loose hungry Pit Bull or German Shepard snarling and gnawing on your leg is not my idea of having a great day, let alone be petrified about getting the deadly flu bug.
Loose animals are a significant problem in many areas now, just ask law enforcement. They go feral after a short amount of time and resort to their primitive nature, which is hunting for food. They hunt in packs.
What's gonna happen if people panic and thousands if not millions of people set their Fido's loose ? I'll tell you and all your readers - Fido is going to get hungry and go looking for dinner. The SPCA may be actually one of the worst places to work during a pandemic.
Wulfgang
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