Posted on 05/24/2006 9:09:33 AM PDT by OB1kNOb
1,000s quarantined in Bucharest
22/05/2006 22:54 - (SA)
Bucharest - About 13,000 people were quarantined in the Romanian capital on Monday as troops and police sealed off streets in response to the city's second bird-flu outbreak, said officials.
The mayor of the southern fourth district, Adrian Inimaroiu, said residents would be cut off and all businesses in the area would be closed during the quarantine period of up to three weeks.
The move came after the agriculture ministry earlier on Monday confirmed the presence of the H5 bird-flu virus in dead chickens found in the neighbourhood, the latest of dozens of outbreaks of avian flu in Romania this spring.
Inimaroiu said, urging residents to stay calm, that "about 40 streets have been blocked" in the Luica quarter.
He said the quarantine would last for "a period of a week to 21 days and all the institutions in this quarter will be closed".
"About 2,500 birds from this area will be slaughtered as rapidly as possible," said the mayor.
A neighbourhood on the northern outskirts of the capital was put under quarantine on Sunday evening with fences blocking a dozen streets and police preventing anyone from going in or out, except for medical emergencies.
It is strange...
what can you really do? get Tammiflu in advance? how many people can realisitically do that? stockpile some food - OK, we can do that. but how many days of foods can you store in your house? 7 days? 30 days?
Or the risk of them.
From this site:
Government officials have recalled a great quantity of chicken meat from across Romania. The director and the manager of one chicken farm in Codlea were arrested by the police on Sunday in connection with the outbreak.
Prayers up, keep preparing.
How long might a quarantine last - either self-imposed or health department ordered? Personally, I think 3 months is a minimum amount to stock - longer if you can.
Buy basic foods right off the grocery shelf. No need for those fancy long-term survivalist storage packages, just buy readily available canned and packaged foods which keep a while. You can have a nice little pantry full for surprisingly minimal cost. Buy stuff you like to eat and which can be prepared simply or eaten directly out of the can. If this event turns out as no problem, you just eat the stuff up in the normal course of living and save on future food bills. Of course, this stock is also good for hurricanes, winter storms or if the Islamics get a bomb and use it. Just periodically eat out of it and replace it with fresher food.
Of course if you wait until there is a panic, your options become dimmer in choice of menus - sort of like trying to buy plywood with the hurricane 24 hours out. Or, you can just assume FEMA will feed you like they did in New Orleans when things got bad there - assuming FEMA is up and running, not tied up in something else and is concerned about your little corner of the world. Or maybe your neighbors will have enough food to spare and will help you survive - or sell you some at the "right" price.
But, this is all your call. Make it while you have time. Doing nothing is also making a decision.
What can you do? More than some people will!..Prepare for at least a month of quarantine. Have extra Meds, Vitamins, hygiene products. Buy canned goods you can eat without cooking, when the power grid goes down.. But eat your cold and frozen food first. Have containers to draw water. That's a start.
The worst case scenario is the panic buying that will follow the announcement the flu is here. It will be mass hysteria.
The Nation will shut down and nothing will get to the grocery stores which won't be staffed or open anyway. The Bird Flu exists..it's not an imaginary Y2K. All the experts agree it's coming. Oh, and get a gun.
Go to www.avianflutalk.com The forum covers all you need to know.
sw
Cans of pork and beans don't cost much, and for those who are scoffing at this, maybe they should buy a few cases. Pet food, as well.
I'm not broadcasting my efforts to the neighbors. I don't want to be popular if they are out of food :)
I do rotate my supply, and there's even some candy in there :)
sw
www.fluwikie.com
another good spot for information. and the forum has lots of discussions about preparations and food storage.
FEMA has already declared that they will not be coming to your rescue in a Bird Flu pandemic.
Quarantine in Romania to stop bird flu doubted
By Nicholas Wood International Herald Tribune
THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006
BUCHAREST For most of the past four days, few people have moved into or out of an eastern district of this capital that was under quarantine after an outbreak of bird flu. A cordon surrounded seven streets, and similar measures were in effect in another neighborhood of the city, affecting about 60,000 people.
Officials from the World Health Organization said they believed it to be the first time that the movements of so many people were restricted because of bird flu. The Romanian authorities said the tough measures were necessary when the virus threatened an urban area, an assertion WHO disputes.
"It is much easier to clean and monitor a farm complex," said Constantin Cruceanu, a government veterinarian tasked with overseeing the clean up operation Tuesday morning. "Here, it can spread among the houses."
A town in central Romania, Codlea, and its 23,000 residents, were also put under quarantine. All this happened after a dead chicken was discovered to have been infected with the H5N1 virus that health officials fear might mutate into a human epidemic.
Romania was one of the first European countries to be affected by bird flu last fall, but until now outbreaks have been limited to rural areas. The prospect of tackling bird flu among rows of packed houses with small backyards has alarmed government officials. But by Tuesday afternoon, the authorities said the danger of contamination had been reduced. The government relaxed measures in the capital and in Codlea.
International health experts questioned the necessity of placing humans under quarantine, and critics suggested the heavy-handed response was a way of covering up the government's inability to stop the virus in the first place.
"Generally we do not recommend that the movement of people is restricted to contain an animal outbreak," said Maria Cheng, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization in Geneva. In the effected areas, many residents seemed confused about the threat to their communities.
"People do not understand, we do not have clarity about what has happened," said Robu Stoica, a teacher from Codlea who was unable to go to work. He said many residents were not clear on whether there was still a threat or not.
On Monday, Romanian television broadcast scenes of angry residents demanding that they be allowed to go to work. Several said they had to pay for food the government provided.
If a quarantine was indeed necessary, it would have to last longer to do its job, said Tibor Kalnoky, a veterinarian and ornithologist working near Codlea. "From a medical point of view a quarantine for four days is ridiculous," he said. "You need about a week or 10 days."
Government officials have recalled a great quantity of chicken meat from across Romania. The director and the manager of one chicken farm in Codlea were arrested by the police on Sunday in connection with the outbreak. But Kalnoky said the government had overlooked the more obvious source of the disease.
"These farms are on the shores of a lake that is one of the major routes for migratory birds," he said. "It was obvious it would be a source of major infection but they did nothing to monitor it."
BUCHAREST For most of the past four days, few people have moved into or out of an eastern district of this capital that was under quarantine after an outbreak of bird flu.
A cordon surrounded seven streets, and similar measures were in effect in another neighborhood of the city, affecting about 60,000 people.
Officials from the World Health Organization said they believed it to be the first time that the movements of so many people were restricted because of bird flu. The Romanian authorities said the tough measures were necessary when the virus threatened an urban area, an assertion WHO disputes.
"It is much easier to clean and monitor a farm complex," said Constantin Cruceanu, a government veterinarian tasked with overseeing the clean up operation Tuesday morning. "Here, it can spread among the houses."
A town in central Romania, Codlea, and its 23,000 residents, were also put under quarantine. All this happened after a dead chicken was discovered to have been infected with the H5N1 virus that health officials fear might mutate into a human epidemic.
Romania was one of the first European countries to be affected by bird flu last fall, but until now outbreaks have been limited to rural areas. The prospect of tackling bird flu among rows of packed houses with small backyards has alarmed government officials.
But by Tuesday afternoon, the authorities said the danger of contamination had been reduced. The government relaxed measures in the capital and in Codlea.
International health experts questioned the necessity of placing humans under quarantine, and critics suggested the heavy-handed response was a way of covering up the government's inability to stop the virus in the first place.
"Generally we do not recommend that the movement of people is restricted to contain an animal outbreak," said Maria Cheng, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization in Geneva.
In the effected areas, many residents seemed confused about the threat to their communities. "People do not understand, we do not have clarity about what has happened," said Robu Stoica, a teacher from Codlea who was unable to go to work. He said many residents were not clear on whether there was still a threat or not.
On Monday, Romanian television broadcast scenes of angry residents demanding that they be allowed to go to work. Several said they had to pay for food the government provided.
If a quarantine was indeed necessary, it would have to last longer to do its job, said Tibor Kalnoky, a veterinarian and ornithologist working near Codlea. "From a medical point of view a quarantine for four days is ridiculous," he said. "You need about a week or 10 days."
Government officials have recalled a great quantity of chicken meat from across Romania. The director and the manager of one chicken farm in Codlea were arrested by the police on Sunday in connection with the outbreak. But Kalnoky said the government had overlooked the more obvious source of the disease.
"These farms are on the shores of a lake that is one of the major routes for migratory birds," he said. "It was obvious it would be a source of major infection but they did nothing to monitor it."
Bird Flu Vampires are the worst: First, they drain your blood. Then, they sneeze on your spoons.
Yup. It won't be pretty if it happens. I'm completely prepared, candy too, lol.
If by the Indonesian outbreak you are referring to the latest North Sumatra family cluster case, then to my knowledge from what I've read, six out of seven family members have died from H5N1, only one has survived so far. If I see anything different than that I'll be sure to post it here as an update. - OB1
sw
I wasn't kidding.
bump
Nope. You?
I don't know that I can even store that much food, but I can get some I guess. why would the power grid go down?
Add me too, please!
Prepare (I'd rather be well stocked wrong than vice-versa. Plus, the US government and the World health "experts" have point-blank told us we are on our own.)
Tamiflu is obtainable... I don't know at this point if it is covered under insurance.
I can store as much food and other stuff as it takes to do my darn-level-best to ensure my family is safeguarded. It can be done. Starting place with a lot of info and links HERE!
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