|
Author
|
Topic: Renowned Bird Flu Expert Warns: Be Prepared
|
helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
|
posted
That is the same thing I said to my husband. "How are you gonna prepare for this?" "You cant prepare for something like this!" They say that this thing has the potential to kill 1/2 the world's population if it mutates and they believe it will. He read somewhere that a quaranteen would last 3 months. So we will prepare to remain in our home if we have to for 3 months. I said "OK, Honey you da boss!" Though I do not see any harm in being resonably prepared, I feel like if we get it we get it. I am ready to go when ever the good Lords says lets go. Fortunately 2 of my children are adults and one is almost there and if we should go before them, they will be ok, but I cant imagine leaving little ones. I guess that all we can do is know that God is in control and is merciful. One thing I am not going to do is worry or panic.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
|
BrazilianMommy
Advanced Member
Member # 4787
|
posted
Some plague will happen, many people will die. We all know that. The bible is clear about it. We Just do not know if it is this one and when.
The truth is: There is no way in this world for anyone to be prepared. How long will it last? 6 months? What will we do? Stay under the ground for 6 months will be the only way. Stock up water and food because we better forget any service that needs people to do it: Eletricity, Gas is out. TV, Radio... whatever people do, it will be stopped. Who will get out of the house and risk bringing the flu back to their family ?
I just pray to Jesus that if we do get it that my kids die before us. I heard that the last time they found children alone in their homes while parents died right there. Can not even imagine that.
--------------------
Jesus loves you
Posts: 83 | From: United States | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
|
|
helpforhomeschoolers
Advanced Member
Member # 15
|
posted
Renowned Bird Flu Expert Warns: Be Prepared
There Are "About Even Odds" That the Virus Could Mutate to an Easily Transmitted Form, He Tells 'World News Tonight'
Dr. Robert G. Webster
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/AvianFlu/story?id=1724801
Robert G. Webster believes there is a 50-50 chance the avian flu could mutate to become easily transmissble to humans. (St. Jude Hospital)
Related Stories
* Bird Flu
* What You Should Do to Prepare for an Epidemic
* How Would You Know If You Had Avian Flu?
WNT Headlines
* Webcast / Broadcast Archive
* Judge to Let U.S. Seek Death for Moussaoui
* World News Tonight Webcast Google vs. DOJ, Israeli raid, extra charge for aisle seat
By JIM AVILA and MEREDITH RAMSEY
March 14, 2006 — Robert G. Webster is one of the few bird flu experts confident enough to answer the key question: Will the avian flu switch from posing a terrible hazard to birds to becoming a real threat to humans?
There are "about even odds at this time for the virus to learn how to transmit human to human," he told ABC's "World News Tonight." Webster, the Rosemary Thomas Chair at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., is credited with being the first scientist to find the link between human flu and bird flu.
Webster and his team of scientists are working to find a way to beat the virus if it morphs. He has even been dubbed the Flu Hunter.
Right now, H5N1, a type of avian influenza virus, has confined itself to birds. It can be transmitted from bird to human but only by direct contact with the droppings and excretions of infected birds.
But viruses mutate, and the big fear among the world's scientists is that the bird flu virus will join the human flu virus, change its genetic code and emerge as a new and deadly flu that can spread through the air from human to human.
"I personally believe it will happen and make personal preparations," said Webster, who has stored a three-month supply of food and water at his home in case of an outbreak.
Frightening Warning
"Society just can't accept the idea that 50 percent of the population could die. And I think we have to face that possibility," Webster said. "I'm sorry if I'm making people a little frightened, but I feel it's my role."
Most scientists won't put it that bluntly, but many acknowledge that Webster could be right about the flu becoming transmissible among humans, even though they believe the 50 percent figure could be too high.
Researcher Dr. Anne Moscona at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center said that a human form may not mutate this year or next — or ever — but it would be foolish to ignore the dire consequences if it did.
"If bird flu becomes not bird flu but mutates into a form that can be transmitted between humans, we could then have a spread like wildfire across the globe," Moscona said.
No one knows how long or how many mutation changes it would take for bird flu to become a direct threat to humans.
"It may not do it. There may just be too many changes. The virus may not be able to be a human virus," Moscona said.
But that hasn't stopped Moscona from searching for new types of anti-viral treatments that both prevent and slow the spread of bird flu.
"I don't think that once we have human-to-human transmission, it's going to be possible to contain it," she said.
That is why nearly every viral scientist in America, perhaps the world, is waiting and watching the avian flu virus to see if it remains just a threat to birds or changes its genetic code and becomes just as deadly to humans.
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
