Darn you PBS!!!! Spreading the Bird Flu.
Posted on 07/22/2006 10:11:12 PM PDT by neverdem
Indonesia is about to surpass Vietnam as the country hardest hit by avian flu. And while Vietnam has not had a single human case or poultry outbreak this year, public health officials and experts say the situation in Indonesia is likely to get worse.
The flu is ubiquitous in thousands of backyard flocks, and it appears to be killing more birds every month, increasing the likelihood of human cases. Forty-two people have in Indonesia died since the first human case was confirmed a year ago.
“It’s like trying to fix the roof while there’s a storm going on,” said Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization. “Until the animal situation gets under control, there’s going to be this steady drip, drip, drip of human cases, and that’s a problem.”
Although the A(H5N1) flu arrived relatively late in Indonesia, it soon spiraled out of control, and deaths have mounted quickly.
Unlike Thailand, which quenched outbreaks by killing millions of chickens, or Vietnam, which used mandatory vaccination, Indonesia has tried a mix of limited culling and vaccinating in rings around the cull — so far, with little success.
Mathur Riady, chief of livestock for Indonesia’s Health Ministry, said recently that more than a million birds had died of the flu between January and March, about the same number as died all last year.
The biggest obstacle to beating the disease, international flu experts say, is the country’s decentralized government. Health officials in the capital, Jakarta, have been described as having powers extending no further than their office walls, while real power resides with the governors of the 33 provinces and the elected bupatis, or regents, of 480 districts.
“It’s a real mishmash,” said Dr. Jeffrey C. Mariner, a veterinary medicine professor at Tufts University who is helping the United Nations...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
Again ...
In all of these cases, we're not talking about developed countries. Yet, Indonesia seems to be losing control. I wonder why...
I think Allah's f-ing with them because they are such d-heads
:-)))
I believe that is the problem. If I catch the bird flu and die - then that is Allah's will.
Thanks for posting.
Darn you PBS!!!! Spreading the Bird Flu.
Spinal Cord Injuries Improved Years Later with Patients’ Own Olfactory Cells
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
IIRC, Indonesia has no strong central government, and is basically run by a plethora of local governments on thousands of islands. Coordination and control of efforts to contain, educate, and otherwise address disease issues have been generally lacking as a result.
Ping
I think bird flu is overhyped. Wouldn't suprise me if it was just a media created myth. :)
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