If you live in a city of any size, you may well have a government structure that is at least thinking about what actions to take when the Bird Flu (H5N1) Pandemic sweeps the world. If you live in a small town, or rural area, you may be up the proverbial creek.
The Center for Disease Control has sent Anthony Faucci to testify before Congressional Committees several times in the past year. On each occasion he has pleaded for community preparedness. In his most recent appearance he emphasized that "the question is not if, but when" the pandemic will strike.
Unfortunately, small communities with widely scattered populations may think themselves immune to the outbreak. They lack the resources to plan for a major epidemic, and frequently see the warnings as far to distant to distract them from the daily demands of poverty, crime, limited budgets and problems in the local school.
The majority of communities are NOTprepared.
But even in large towns and cities, the general awareness of the impact that a global pandemic would have is not given the attention it deserves. What will happen as millions, or hundreds of thousands of people begin to realize that they are out of food and medicine, there is no place to go, and they may die?
But we still have time. How much time is unknown, but if you start to prepare now, the transition to a degree of self sufficiency that may save your live will be relatively painless.
Here are some questions to ponder as you await the kickoff:
Have you personally, made provisions to secure a 6 week food and water supply for your housemates and pets? Do you have sufficient medications if pharmacies are closed and shipments delayed? If you are in critical industry, have you discussed with your boss what provisions will be made to get your work done?
When the pandemic developes the first thing that governments must do, according to the CDC, will be to prohibit congregating in public spaces. Food stores will be closed as deliveries are interrupted, and suppliers can not process supplies. How can you deal with this? We have had multiple examples of what can happen when individuals are not prepared for disasters.
If you live on a very limited budget, consider buying 3 extra cans of food each week until you have created a stock pile for emergency use. Concentrate on things you eat regularily, protein rich options, and variety. Save those bleach bottles and fill them with water for cooking, cleaning and drinking. Recycle the contents every month or so.
This site will give you some ideas as to what you might consider, although it is intended to feed a large family for 1 year, and the pandemic will not require that extensive a stock pile. Dare to Prepare
There are a number of blogs devoted to following the spread of Avian Flu. Two which are particularily helpful, if you do a bit of digging are:
Bird Flu
The Center for Disease Control
Most of us are vaguely aware of the increasing spread of this disease, but in an effort to avoid panic, and economic dislocation, the seriousness of the pending crisis has been given little attention since the MSM lost interest last year. Anthony Faucci, in testamony before the Senate last week, was displaying a level of controlled urgency that impressed the Members. He was firm in expressing the need for government entities, and individuals to take measures to prepare. He pointed out quite forcefully that there will be no outside help when the epidemic hits.
Recent hearing, combined with reports from Europe and the Mid-east, may get the Heathers attentions. In today's New York Times,Alan Cowell reports that Bird Flu has been confirmed in British Turkeys. (No turkey jokes please - this is serious stuff! ;-}
LONDON, Feb. 3 — British authorities confirmed Saturday that an outbreak of bird flu discovered among turkeys at a poultry farm in eastern Britain had been caused by the deadly A(H5N1) strain, which has killed humans in other parts of the world.
The disease has killed 2,500 turkeys near Lowestoft since Thursday, making it the biggest outbreak of the strain reported in Britain since concern about its global spread began to take root in 2003.
Denial of the pending epidemic is still rife however, as public health officials place government fear of panic over preparedness.
Fred Landeg, a senior government veterinarian, said there was no public health concern. "Avian influenza is a disease of birds," he said, "and whilst it can pass very rarely and with difficulty to humans, this requires extremely
close contact with infected birds, particularly feces."
Britain’s last brush with the virus was last April, when a dead swan that washed up in Scotland tested positive for the strain. Government scientists said it had probably carried the infection from Germany and posed no threat to humans.
Bureaucrats are notorious for acting with more concern for economic and governmental control of populations, than in the best interests of preparedness.
Later that month, chickens in another part of eastern England — a center of poultry farming — died of a different strain of avian influenza, H7, which can cause mild symptoms in humans. At that time, a poultry farm worker fell ill with conjunctivitis, which was attributed to the virus.
Therefore, we have evidence of one strain of the virus that is capable of infecting humans - different, but related.
But since 2003, 164 people, most of them in Asia, have died of the A(H5N1) strain, and authorities worry that the virus could easily become transmissible among humans to create a global pandemic. About 200 million birds have either died or been killed in the same period.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization confirmed that the strain had killed a 22-year-old Nigerian woman, making her the first known human fatality in sub-Saharan Africa, Reuters reported.
The World Health Organization has some not so good news for us, too. Cases of moderate resistance to the treatment drug of choice have also been reported.
Viruses with a genetic mutation, linked in laboratory testing to moderately reduced susceptibility to Oseltamivir, have been discovered in two persons previously reported with H5N1 infections in Egypt.
There is no vaccine, and it will take approximately 6 months to develop one after the mutation to humans is confirmed.
Existing treatments are proving less effective as the disease mutates to adapt to treatments currently available.
Mechanisms to deal with a global pandemic are not in place.
The spread of H5N1 is following the dispersal patterns that WHO and CDC projected 3 years ago.
This is most definately a political issue. The responsibility for asserting leadership within your community, work place, and the organizations to which you belong, is one to be taken vary seriously. Planning for the Avian Flu Pandemic should be front, and center, on your action calendar.
Get this discussion front and center. If enough of us are educated about the potential effects, we can provide a formidable force in support of the scientific and public health community.
And you might just live to talk about it.
www.pandemicflu.gov/