Posted on 10/24/2006 3:33:31 PM PDT by blam
Bird flu take an increasing toll but the world escaped an immediate influenza pandemic, U.N. bird flu chief says
The Associated Press
Published: October 23, 2006
UNITED NATIONS More than 30 countries reported outbreaks of bird flu this year and the number of people dying every month is increasing, but the world escaped an immediate influenza pandemic possibly because of the energetic global response to warnings a year ago, the U.N. bird flu chief said Monday.
Dr. David Nabarro said his warning last year that a mutation of the virulent H5N1 virus which has ravaged poultry stocks since late 2003 could appear anytime and cause an influenza pandemic in humans that kills millions of people was not "overblown."
"There will be an influenza pandemic one day. I don't know — you don't know — when it will be. When it does come along, it will have really major economic and social consequences," he said.
"The one absolutely requirement for this is that we have to get prepared."
The H5N1 virus has affected poultry all over the world except the Western hemisphere and has killed tens of millions of chickens, ducks, geese and other birds, Nabarro told a news conference.
"In 2006, we did see more than 30 countries reporting outbreaks," he said. "Unfortunately, the virus continues to affect humans — with 256 people known to be affected and 151 dying" since 2003.
"The trendline is that the number of deaths per month seems to be increasing at the momnt globally ... and that is primarily because of quite a lot of human death in Indonesia," he said.
Nabarro estimated that the H5N1 avian influenza virus will remain a major animal health issue for most of the world for at least five years, and perhaps 10 years...
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
Bird Flu Update.
BWAHAHAHAhahahahaa! What a tool. The entire "pandemic" was based upon grave assumptions and a ****load of "if"s. And now they're sounding disappointed with the numbers of deaths.
So that's why I'm not dead yet.
No species jump, yet.
No reason not to have a few 3m masks in storage though...
It didn't happen because we warned everyone. Yep, that's a sure fire preventative every time.
Thanks, blam.
Thanks, blam!
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