April 9 Bird Flu Update
CIDRAP on new cases in Egypt and Indonesia (reported here previously).ProMed with the story on recent news from Cambodia. Note that the human case preceded reports of avian cases.
Pakistan has reported avian outbreaks in two provinces.
More bird flu also found in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Cambodia has trained 4,700 vets and villagers to fight bird flu.
Alberta is implementing a "highly successful" bird flu surveillance system.
More from Alberta--health systems are working with the legislature to prepare for bird flu.
Hygiene--and how to live with birds--is being taught in Egypt.
Laos has developed an educational puppet show on the bird flu.
A University of Tennessee professor has received grant funds for bird flu work.
CIDRAP with its take on a story we have seen before--big knowledge gaps in how to use a respirator.
Revere with a "quirky" post comparing himself in Williams Sonoma to a flu virus.
posted by Orange @ 8:31 AM
3 Comments:
Last week the San Jose Mercury news had an op-ed on the threat of bird flu and Taiwan's bid to participate in the World Health Organization:
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_5607050
Orange;
Another interesting set of articles you have there.
The inflected poultry outbreaks keep steadily coming each week. More out of Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And it seems the human infections are mostly associated with these dead or ill chickens. I see we are now up to a total of 58 countries that have identified the H5N1 virus in wild birds or poultry, since 2003, several more than a few months ago (50), and it keeps climbing steadily.
I really found your article about Aspen Health Systems, out of Alberta, Canada, rather intriguing. It mentions in a fair amount of detail about their comprehensive pandemic plan proposal, and how it encompasses the following areas: surveillance, emergency preparedness, public health efforts including quarantine and isolation, distribution of anti-viral medication and vaccines, and a communication plan. I wonder why these plans never seem to address other obvious areas, such as: security, food and necessary pharmaceutical medicines, and maintaining essential community services (for example, garbage, banking, burial, gasoline, utilities, volunteer and school district coordination, EMS and fire protection) ?
It often seems to me that a lot of these elaborate pandemic plans miss out on some of the more critical areas, where a city or community is really most vulnerable and can quickly come to its knees.
I see the University of Tennessee professor, Dr. Mark Sangster, has snagged a lucrative piece of the government grant money for immune system research. This information was followed by more study information about “knowledge gaps in N-95 respirator use”. I think you and I need to team up, Orange, use our collective noodles and do a little pork-barreling, and propose some pandemic studies, and get a piece of this government grant pie, also. I would like to conduct a study and develop statistics on “how unprepared individuals are”. You could do another alternative study on “non-pharmaceutical interventions employed during the great influenza of 1918”, or “what the best materials are for N-95 masks”. I figure between the two of us, these proposals might be able to land a half million dollar government grant and an earmark. We could even get some on-line doctorate degrees in something to make it all legit – Dr. Orange and Dr. Wulfgang.
What do you think ? (Or should we stick with our day jobs ?). Before you turn down this golden opportunity, remember what Winston Churchill used to always say: “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”.
Speaking of sticking to day-jobs, Revere’s article was indeed a little quirky. I was a somewhat disappointed when the only parallel he drew between himself browsing in Williams Sonoma, and the virus, is that “the virus is wandering randomly also”. Actually, the H5N1 and all influenza viruses are opportunists. That’s how they have replicated and survived through hosts, for a million or so years.
Wulfgang
I don't know, Wulfgang. I couldn't even get into the Iowa Flu Market.
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