Posted on 07/29/2005 7:06:04 PM PDT by Judith Anne
This thread is for specific questions and answers about preparing for Avian Flu in the US. News articles and discussion about the Avian Flu can be found here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1399613/posts
Everyone who was on the Avian Flu Surveillance Project ping list will be on this ping list. If you want on or off this list, please let me or Dog Gone know. Thanks.
Pinging everyone to the new thread.
Thanks for the new thread. I can hear the CDC and WHO now saying.. "China, we have a problem".
Sometimes human nature seems to work against our own well being. Take the subject of disaster. When it looms, we pay heed. When it seems far off, we are, to put it charitably, less attentive.
In recent days scientists have warned about a possible avian flu pandemic so deadly that the future of the civilization is at stake. The journals Foreign Affairs and Nature devoted large sections of their publications to warning the world about it.
Such an outbreak could make the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak look small. Somewhere between 20 and 100 million people died in that disaster. If a strain of avian flu known as H5N1 jumps from birds to humans, then from human to human, no one knows how many might die. There too many "ifs" involved.
But we now know that migratory birds are spreading the disease out of China, where it apparently originated. The virus has jumped from chickens to waterfowl to pigs to humans. At least 54 people contracted the virus from animals and died. So far, it has not jumped from human to human.
Viruses are unpredictable. Cry wolf too often and legitimate warnings go unnoticed. Inattention could lead to an even more deadly outbreak.
Prudence, a rare virtue, is what we should be after. Public officials and citizens alike should press for contingency plans to deal with food and medical shortages and other emergencies. We should do it even without the scare headlines.
I'm posting my elderberry recipe, because Sambucol, an elderberry tonic, has been shown by research to be effective in preventing and treating flu. I make no claims for my recipe. I take no responsibility for anyone finding and using elderberries properly. This is just what I do--I don't even recommend it, just decide for yourself if you want to do this or not.
Sambucol is a commercial elderberry preparation available online. You may prefer to use it instead of making it. No problem.
My recipe is for fresh elderberries. They are getting ripe right about now, and can be found in many parts of the US.
Gather as many elderberries as you can. Remove them from their stems with a fork (fingers will mash them). Use only ripe (black) elderberries, the green ones will give you a bad bad bellyache. Do NOT use leaves or stems. Use only ripe berries removed from the stems.
Mash the berries and strain them through a cheesecloth to extract the juice.
Make the tonic:
Take 2 cups elderberry juice.
Add 1 cup water.
Add 1 cup 100 proof alcohol--use ONLY the kind you can drink. Do NOT use rubbing (or isopropyl) alcohol.
Add 1-5 tablespoons lemon juice (adds to the taste and adds vit. C.
Add enough sugar to make it palatable to you.
Store in the refrigerator.
Directions: Take 1 tablespoon each morning and each evening to help prevent flu. If we have a cold or flu, we take 2 tablespoons every 6 hours.
This is a home remedy. Assess it's usefulness for yourself. Again, I make no claims except that my family uses it.
Public officials and citizens alike should press for contingency plans to deal with food and medical shortages and other emergencies.
Additionally, picked and sorted elderberries can be frozen and stored for several months.
Judith Ane,
please add me to your ping list
Regards,
Lurking'
I am going to repost my reply to 2ndmarine about N95 masks.
Here is a sight to buy some of the N95 rated masks (we use them in hog barns back home)
http://www.gemplers.com/a/shop/list.asp?UID=200507292118338285991451&SKW=2S5RESPN
My father buys them by the gross. Gemplers has good prices.
Don't get them from the big sites that cater to pharma, the mark up is more.
N95 is a NIOSH test if I remember right, it means it filters 95% of the particulate matter. Most of the masks are of the two strap kind. This type of mask will not protect against any type of toxic fumes, but will filter out dust and such very well. I grew up wearing the things.
Some basic things to remember. Do not have any facial hair while wearing them. Also, make sure to test the fit before hand. As I posted earlier, there are some faces that just don't fit any size of mask. Realize that if the flu hits the outside of the mask will be very "hot" if you are around any suspected cases. When disposing of the mask, make sure you don't touch the outside or accidentally get anything on your face. That is pretty easy to do, but it takes a few times to figure out how.
If you are buying for the whole family get a few different sizes. Unfortunately, they don't work that well for young kids (faces are to small). This type of mask is a once use type of thing. Don't try to reuse them (if at all possible), as they get harder to breath through the longer they are worn.
If you are sweating alot, the mask will get we and be harder to breath through. This will cause some people to panic and/or get dizzy.
One last thing. If you get the type with the exhale valve, check the valve before going anyplace suspect. Sometimes the little rubber flapper will get stuck open.
I noticed various elderberry products listed on ebay at some very reasonable prices.
Will do.
Thanks for starting this thread. It could prove to be very helpful.
Thanks. Actually, it's late getting started. People have wanted this thread to get started for about a month now. Sorry it's so late.
Thanks, red. 2ndreconmarine, post 9 has the info on N95 masks.
I'd like to be added to the list please and thank you.
And thank you for putting all of this in one place.
This is the part I just don't get:
Remove them from their stems with a fork
How do you remove stems with a fork?
Blam--what a great page! I didn't know a lot of that history, and I've been making elderberry pies, jellies, wines, and tonic for YEARS!
I found it very interesting that various elderberry preparations have been used for colds and inflenza for quite a few years. Thanks again. ;-D
Will do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.