~AVIAN INFLUENZA~
People need to take this very seriously.
I've heard people say "Oh, it's just another scare tactic" or "They'll find a cure before it hits us"...but that is most definitely not the case. Experts have warned for years that another pandemic was imminent, that as conditions changed and the flu virus mutated, eventually after much drifting, the virus would shift, mutate radically into an entirely new and deadly strain that no one has ever been exposed to, therefore we would have no immunity to it.
To develop any type of immunity to a disease, one must first become exposed. One's body develops "antibodies" to the exposure and creates a defense against it. The flu that people suffer with in recent years, KILLED people in the past, until immunity was built up. Now, most so-called "common" types of flu are generally not too terribly heinous in terms of mortality. We lose a few days in bed, maybe a week, require cough medicines, something to ease our breathing, lots of fluids....and feel pretty much back on our feet within a few weeks. Some people recover more quickly, some, older or ill, may require hospitalization and a small percentage will die.
The new strain of flu will hit like the 1918 flu...the catchphrase of that time was something like "Healthy at breakfast, dead by supper" because people were doing just that! And that flu was uncharacteristic in that it seemed to be attacking the least likely....the young and healthy.
WHY?
Because they'd never been exposed to it nor to any similar strain in their life and hence, had absolutely NO NATURAL DEFENSES against it!
Because they'd never been exposed to it nor to any similar strain in their life and hence, had absolutely NO NATURAL DEFENSES against it!
Older people, who had suffered slightly similar strains may have had some bit of immunity to it and if they did contract it, had some fight against it.
This newly emerging strain is a total mutation, a completely NEW strain that has developed and NO ONE will have any immunity to it.
'It is predicted to become the worst pandemic known to man if it is spreads...which it appears to now be doing. It has essentially "jumped species" from animal to human....and if the virus spreads from human to human, as it appears it will or has, mankind could be doomed!
Hungary is reported to have developed an experimental vaccine that may or may not be effective. The reasons for this are that it is not known how much of the vaccine will be required, nor how long it will take for the body to then develop antibodies to the new strain., if indeed it does.
In the meantime, people are dying, birds are migrating....waterfowl that migrate are a particular threat because they fly and move about, traveling long distances and if they are infected, could spread the virus far and wide!
I remember years ago, reading of culling thousands or millions of chickens in Asia to prevent further spread of this newly emerging virus...again, this is proposed in some regions, some are being ordered to isolate their fowl and keep it inside to prevent their exposure to migrating fowl.
Some areas are a giant mixing vat and a perfect climate for the spread of this heinous disease, places where people and their livestock cohabitate and the mingling of viruses is easily achieved and these areas are the greatest threat and the least compliant to orders to cease this practice. Hence, the disease has now "jumped species" and mankind is in great peril!
I wonder why the hell it has taken so long for so many to take this threat seriously? There have been reports regarding it for years...the C.D.C. and the W.H.O. both have a great deal of information as well as a timeline, a history of influenza, the pandemics that have taken place and the toll they exact. There has been no shortage of information, especially with the advent of the P.C. and easy access to one.
With all the terrible tragedies that have befallen so many in this last year, our system is weakened,, our resources are strained, our public health services stretched beyond their limits....If this predicted pandemic were to occur this year, we haven't the resources nor preparedness to deal with it.
If you check out the C.D.C. and W.H.O. websites and read about the proposed "Emergency Preparedness" you'll note that there will be very few health care workers remaining to treat the ill, since nearly ALL will be struck down by this disease and there will be bodies piling up everywhere as in past pandemics. There will be a severe shortage of workers, doctors, nurses, and the morgues will be overflowing with no where to put bodies. We are talking millions!
This predicted pandemic WILL happen...it is no longer a matter of IF but WHEN.
We are in the beginning phase now since the virus has already developed into an entirely new strain.
I am angry that the warnings by scientists who KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT have been ignored! If something had been done at the onset, this may have been prevented, a vaccine developed, a stop put into motion by halting the influx of infected people or animals. HUGE changes, huge GLOBAL changes would have had to be enforced, countries would have had to work together to halt this but it could have been possible!
We are so very fortunate to have people that are courageous enough to go forth into treacherous regions, facing the very real threat of infection themselves, yet bravely facing peril and disease, death...to seek out and destroy those lurking, mutating viruses that most of us are completely unaware of. Yet, how are they rewarded? By apathy! By an "it won't happen to us" attitude! By ignoring it, and it'll go away?
IT WON'T GO AWAY!
These people who so valiantly slave and risk life & limb for us must not face this peril alone! They must not fight this battle in vain! The least we can do as a united country is to LISTEN, PAY ATTENTION AND ACT!
It is too late now for the woulda, shoulda., couldas....this ain't going away and mankind is in for the fight of their lives!
I wonder....thinking ahead a few years from now, how many of us will still remain? Will it be like "the flood" where we are all washed away and there are a pair of every species remaining to repopulate the earth?
Will it be the end?
Will those left be living in a kind of limbo, where they are all alone and isolated, with no one left around them....to be thrust back into a time where it is survival of the fittest and one must hunt and live off the land, off the grid, intent only upon survival? We are talking millions upon millions perishing from this pandemic!
A GLOBAL PANDEMIC!
Action is needed NOW! I am an animal lover, I fight for their rights, I am, a vegetarian and I don't advocate killing, yet to save humanity, it may be necessary to cull, which is just a way of saying "weed out and kill off large numbers" of infected animals who carry or are suspected of carrying the virus. But it is too late to weed them all out, the spread has been allowed to go beyond that. Now that migrating birds also carry it, what is to be done?
My hope is that any areas that break the laws regarding sharing close proximity with one's livestock will be relegated to an isolated island upon which they may share space with all the others who ignore the severity and seriousness of this, along with their livestock. I think any region known to have infected persons must quarantine those people. No import of any type of creature that can carry & spread the virus. No exceptions. Yet these are all only security measures...a band-aid...since the worst has already happened...the virus has completely mutated into a new, deadly strain.
That cannot be undone.
Hungary is on the right track with their development of a vaccine....
maybe people who are imprisoned for crimes for which they will receive the death penalty can be convinced to "volunteer" to give the vaccine a good test, by receiving the vaccine and then facing exposure to the virus itself. If they do not die, then they could be given life in prison instead of death, as reward for their "good deed". Something needs to be done...and quickly!
I applaud the efforts of the few who have been on track with regard to this emerging threat....their efforts could have been so much more effective had they received the cooperation and funding, the public awareness and support they so direly need!
We must pray...and pray often and fervently that all the efforts are not too late, pray for the protection and safety of these courageous souls, pray that God intervenes and prevents this predicted pandemic from becoming a reality.
Years ago, when the threat of the "Swine Flu" pandemic was upon us, MIRACULOUSLY we were spared, the virus was isolated to a group of people aboard a ship and there they remained, and it was never able to spread.
This current impending pandemic is not isolated to a few, nor to only one region...it will be far reaching and widespead.
God is our only hope of survival and God can do anything.
We, as a GLOBAL ENTITY must UNITE in prayer, asking for God's mercy.
I believe that God is our only hope.
There is not a moment to waste.
Pray now.
Pray fervently.
posted by NEBULA @ 9/27/2005 04:18:00 AM
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