Posted on 10/05/2005 10:19:30 AM PDT by silentknight
Doctors "the patients fall ill and die within 2-3 days"
10 dead - 40+ hospitilized 80+ sick.
Unknown illness in Toronto.
Yes, it could be a highly pathogenic form of Avian Influenza.
What exactly are you expecting health care providers to do for the patients? Is there a plan of action for effectively treating large numbers of patients?
Actually I'm putting together a list of herbs which are considered to be immune strengtheners. I'll put it up on the Avian Flu Preparedness thread in several days. If you want to be pinged to it, freepmail me.
Here's link to the Avian Flu Preparedness thread, a lot of information on it if you haven't see it yet:
Avian Flu Preparedness Project
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453571/posts
How can this be? Don't they have a wonderful free-to-everyone health care system in Canada?
THANK YOU for that important link.
My point is that I don't buy the coincidental nature of a new high-mortality dog flu coming out of Florida, most likely corona, along with the 30 or so dead birds 11 miles from the nursing home - where the humans are having, really, the same symptoms as the dogs in Toronto. Another coronavirus. With virtually no time in between the two happening.
I have never been a tin foiler and often have been critical of them, but this is far too wierd for me. I am leaning strongly toward a bio terrorist thing.
Just how did mother nature become so deadly all of a sudden ?
International travel would be shut down but it would probably be after the fact. Based on their past histories I don't think China or Vietnam will jump up and exclaim to the world that "we have the first major outbreak of person-to-person avian flu". Also, I'm not sure most countries would shut down their international trade, etc. until enough testing, etc. has been done to confirm that it is a heavy-duty flu. Even a delay of a few days would have more movement of people than a couple of months back in 1918 I imagine.
"...have targeted their investigations on wild bats in China and discovered several genetically diverse coronaviruses, one of which closely resembles the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) corona virus. These findings implicate bats as the wild reservoir of this virus."
"...a rare event, the transfer of an entire influenza virus, H3N8, between unrelated mammalian species (horse to dog) and its sustained transmission. The virus is phylogenetically related to an equine influenza that circulated in the 1990s."
Someone may have already explained this, but just in case I'll give it a whirl.
When a virus jumps the species barrier, it overwhelms the host very quickly because the host (meaning the person infected) has no resistance against the virus. It is a totally new antigen, and because the species has not encountered the antigen/virus before, it does not know how to fight it.
That's one reason why when viruses jump the species barrier (i.e. ebola, new influenza viruses) they are extremely lethal.
Eventually the host population develops a level of immunity which mitigates the effect of the virus.
Also remember that from a Virology standpoint, a "good" (meaning effective) virus must be able to live long enough to reproduce. Because a virus can only reproduce in living cells, it has to be able to spread from one host to another.
If a virus kills off its host too fast, it can't spread to another host. The virus can mutate to increase its probability of survival - by not killing its host as quickly it has a better chance of spreading. (Then again sometimes a virus mutates to become more virulent too.)
OK that's the extent of what I remember about viruses from college - it's been a LOOONG time!
Come back for updates!
That's right, I remember reading about that. I presume that was why the "Spanish" flu killed young people whose immune systems are stronger more than the elderly.
Hmmm. How would we know if it's that kind of disease? I am ignorant of medical terminology and details. Could or have the people who've gotten the Avian flu already be tested to find out if that happened to them?
If Avian Flu does result in cytokine storms, then perhaps the best thing is to boost your immune system before infection to try to prevent catching the bug. Then, if you do become infected, stop taking anything to boost the immune system to minimize the reaction. Does that make sense?
Maybe Judith Anne or another person with medical expertise will weigh in.
It's the new Canadian euthenasia program. Notice that they are all elderly nursing home patients? They are costing the government too much, so they had to go.
"Unknown illness in Toronto."
Liberalism?
SARS is a coronavirus.
Both Avian Flu and SARS are difficult to get positive tests on. SARS victims often don't test positive until three weeks after being exposed to the disease, and well after they get sick. Avian flu tests positive first in the upper airways (nose, throat) then later only tests positive in deeper lung tissue.
I'm not real confident that the socialized medical system in Canada can get valid results on these two illnesses, despite their experience with SARs.
And after the dreadful economic hit Toronto took two years ago with the SARS outbreak, I SERIOUSLY don't think we'll get accurate answers to this outbreak. You can decide my tinfoil is wrapped too tight about this, if you want, but that's my assessment.
death by socialized medicine.
We are putting lots of hormones into the system. Cow milk is loaded with hormones to produce more milk. One person I know thought the story of an 8 year old girl getting pregnant was the "healthy nature" of our society.
So maybe the bugs might benefit from the super doses and other foods available now...
But strictly speculation on my part -- no scientific basis for it... Depends what might help the bugs turn nasty -- healthier victims and the food they eat or some other unknown factor.
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