W Bengal bird flu 'is spreading'

BBC News ^ | 1-23-2007 | staff

[grey_whiskers]

Officials in the Indian state of West Bengal say that the bird flu epidemic has spread to two more of the state's 19 districts, taking the total to nine.

They say that the spread of the H5N1 virus means that even more chicken and duck will have to be killed than was originally estimated.

On Monday officials said that around 2m birds would need to be culled - a figure that will now rise.

Health experts have warned that the outbreak could get out of control.

[grey_whiskers]

Many of the poorer citizens are now buying chicken (according to one source now down to the equivalent of 50 cents/kilogram) without regard to possible contamination.

And another source mentioned at least 5 people with respiratory symptoms accompanied by fever...

As Scooby Doo says,

"Ruh-Roh."

[grey_whiskers]

Like, *PING*, folks.

Low signal-to-noise ratio, but try looking in http://www.avianflutalk.com

or http://birdflubreakingnews.com

[HangnJudge]

[Michael Barnes]

let's see, it's 2008, 2012 is (carry the one....) four years away?

And a few months. Well, eleven, but whose counting.

/any mayans around here?

[Travis McGee]

Any human to human cases confirmed there?

[grey_whiskers]

Not yet...but they have their hands full trying to keep up with the culling. They do not have enough personnel to check. And it is complicated by several factors:

1) India is still a Third World country, lots of people are dying of lots of other things

2) Many of the poorest can now afford chicken (every day vs. once a month) and they aren't picky about eating possibly contaminated chicken

3) STRONG pressure not to cause panic or curtail foreign investment -- just a couple of weeks ago India had decreed itself "bird-flu free".

There are sporadic reports of people with symptoms (e.g. drudge had a report of 2000 people with fevers, see my point 1) but nothing specific and credible yet.

[steve86]

Good posts and good analysis.

Were you in on the earlier H5N1 discussions?

[bleach]

Bengal Flu. We catch that every August in South Western Ohio. Symptoms include anger and depression followed by the bleak resignation anything with the last name of Brown is out to get you. The cure is staying home and getting plenty of rest watching other teams in the post season and hoping the Reds finally field a team.

[Judith Anne]

Pinging to some others. Thanks for posting.

[Travis McGee]

Just what the world needs about now.....a global pandemic. I sure hope we dodge this bullet.

[steve86]

The Hooghly outbreak was of particular concern because it is just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Calcutta, a city of 14 million people.

[Judith Anne]

*sigh*

I just don’t know what to think anymore. Of course I am very interested and following it as it becomes prevalent in more and more countries, and of course it is still a threat, I just don’t know if/when it will become pandemic in humans.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It could, of course, begin a pandemic tomorrow.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping....(Thanks, grey_whiskers!)

[grey_whiskers]

Feh. Try being in the *Upper* Midwest and having to root for the Vikings and Packers.

How does the top-producing passer of all time keep going three-and-out, then throw an interception in overtime to lose, just to avoid the Super Bowl?

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

This might comfort you, Judith.

Key To Avian Flu In Humans Discovered

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

OK, I *owe* you one. (Off-topic).

Look real close after David Bowie.

Coffee Achievers

[zerosix]

Gee, I didn't get the bird flu just like I barely survived after NOT getting the swine flu, what's the world coming to?

All these "pandemic" diseases and all I get is the occasional cold or worse yet the "regular" flu..

To quote Rodney Dangerfield, "I just can't get any respect."

[grey_whiskers]

Don't mock it.

High pathology H5N1 bears strong resemblances to the Pandemic Flu of 1918, in which young people (ages 20 - 40) were hardest hit. It had a fatality rate of 2%.

H5N1 has a fatality rate of 60 - 90%.

It kills by hyperstimulating the immune system ("cytokine storm") so that you drown in your own body fluids; often in as little as 12 hours.

It all depends on if the virus can mutate to adapt from the high-temperature bird gut to the cooler upper respiratory tract of humans (to be infections) yet still evoke the immune response in the deeper pulmonary tissue (for fatality).

Look up the article I posted to Judith Anne; it discusses the morphology of the targeted cellular receptors which the virus hooks onto when infecting a cell.

No cheers, unfortunately.

[grey_whiskers]

Please send me links to the threads?

Cheers!

[Myrddin]

Thanks for the ping. Aside from the personal prospect of death by H5N1, I'm concerned about the total lack of preparation on the part of cities, states and businesses if/when a pandemic strikes.