A decade of alertness
This week the UN's top official on avian flu pandemic planning, Dr. David Nabarro, said that the "bird flu virus can reside in flocks for long periods of time, showing no symptoms, before spreading to new areas via trade or migration", and warned that governments needed to remain on alert for a pandemic 5 to 10 more years.
"There are probables in there. There are certainties in there. But the one absolute requirement on the basis of this is, we have to get prepared for the pandemic."Will health agencies of the world (and the taxpayers who support them) retain sufficient focus to remain on alert for pandemic H5N1 over such an extended period? See you in 2016...I hope.
posted by Garry at
11:12 AM
3 Comments:
Thank you for your post.
We have today added the "A decade of alertness" entry of your blog, to The-Best-Bird-Flu-Blogs section of our site.
The-Best-Bird-Flu-Blogs-Team.
www.birdflubreakingnews.com
By
Anonymous, At
8:43 PM, October 25, 2006
That's really scary.
The one thing that scares me more is the thought of forced vaccinations.
Which seems like a real possibility, what with the legislature they've been throwing around lately.
By
Unknown, At
4:52 PM, October 28, 2006
Well, don't worry about forced vaccinations quite yet - no vaccine exists for a recombinant human H5N1 virus, because the virus itself doesn't exist yet. Only after the virus mutates can a vaccine be developed...Tamiflu has proven effective in treating people who've caught the bird version of H5N1, but nobody knows how well it might work against any mutant strain when and if it begins to transmit H2H.
One bright spot though, since you mentioned home schooling in the other post - if there's a pandemic all the schools will be closed, but home schoolers won't have to worry about that!
By
Garry, At
10:43 AM, October 30, 2006
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