The Bird Flu is Coming to the States!

I read this article today.

link

The fear is this: One day in the next few weeks, flocks of wild birds from Asia will wing northeast across the Bering Strait to Alaska, where they'll join other birds heading north from their winter homes in the United States and points south.

As they embark on their annual spring migration, Asian ducks and geese may be carrying unwelcome baggage - the highly virulent H5N1 avian flu virus - that they could pass on to their American neighbors.

"It is only a matter of time before we discover H5N1 birds in America," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said in a report last week.

It doesn't look so good.

Also take a look at the Q and A at the bottom of the link. It answers questions that we have all been asking.


Mod Edit: Posting work written by others from outside of ATS -- Please read this link.

[edit on 3/21/06/21 by junglejake]

Ok ok maybe i'm just dumb, but I have to ask this question. How long do the birds live once they contract the flu? Do you feel it will be possible for them to make the long overseas journey with this flu?

www.npr.org...

edited to add link I found

[edit on 20-3-2006 by zenlover28]

From what I have read, it seems that the birds will infect other birds before they die.

So it is not like one bird flies across the entire Beiring Straight and infects a bird in America.

You have to consider this too. Not all wild birds die from this strain of flu some are just carriers. So then can migrate for long distances and not subcumb to the virus thus passing it along and taking it with them.

The only ones who think or want it to transmit to humans are the same ones who are trying to scare the hell out of the world's population. It's all a crock of crap and if you follow the money you will find out who is purping the act, called american drug companies and their lobbyists.

It is kinda funny how every scare we have had for the last several years, comes complete with an administration official making bucks off said scare...

masking tape- cheney
stock food- cheney
tamiflu- rumsfeld (or was that one ashcroft?)
I would bet that if you look at the investments of our leaders, all the money is tied up in business that profit in war/sickness...

isn't that insider trading on a murderous scale? didn't Martha go to prison for a particle of that same crime?

[edit on 20-3-2006 by LazarusTheLong]

Originally posted by GrndLkNatv

The only ones who think or want it to transmit to humans are the same ones who are trying to scare the hell out of the world's population.

Wait, if bird flu is just a scare to keep the American public in fear, then is it happening everywhere but America at the moment? Are you telling me the cases of H5N1 that had already been transmited from birds to humans are all fabrications?

I can't argue about the 'companies making profit' angle -- there's always someone making profit out of another's misery -- but to say it's all a lie is to live in denial.

I didn't read the full article in the OP (because it required registration, and I hate doing that just to read one article) but from the quotes the article is saying that H5N1 will eventually reach America's bird population. Whether it will become a human infection is an altogether different topic.

[edit: missed a tag, italicized the whole text... duh]

[edit on 20-3-2006 by Beachcoma]

People just a reminder, do not sleep with wild birds, do not pet them, and do not kiss them.

That out to keep you safe.

Oh, don't forget to take your tamiflu.

Blame 'Big Chicken'

I ran into this today- i dont know if it has been discussed or not, but here it is!

pittsburghlive.com... guests/s_434378.html

The truly great ruse is that industrial poultry farms are the best way to produce chickens -- that they are keeping the world safe from backyard poultry and migratory birds. But what's going to be on our tables isn't the biggest problem.

The real tragedy is what's happened in Asia to people who can't afford cheap, industrial chicken. And the real victims of industrially produced, lethal H5N1 have been wild birds, an ancient way of life and the poor of the Earth, for whom a backyard flock has always represented a measure of autonomy and a bulwark against starvation.

I tend to agree with this theory.

Originally posted by marg6043
People just a reminder, do not sleep with wild birds, do not pet them, and do not kiss them.

That out to keep you safe.

Oh, don't forget to take your tamiflu.

Marg, are you trying to spoil my romantic evenings with my chickens?

You are right. Its the wild birds,imo

Just a tidbit for thought: Three US government officials have already stated that the government won't be able to bail them out. And that the people should start planning for themselves....

Article and discussion Here

Just thought I would add that to the discussion....

Originally posted by dgtempe

pittsburghlive.com... guests/s_434378.html

The truly great ruse is that industrial poultry farms are the best way to produce chickens -- that they are keeping the world safe from backyard poultry and migratory birds. But what's going to be on our tables isn't the biggest problem.

The real tragedy is what's happened in Asia to people who can't afford cheap, industrial chicken. And the real victims of industrially produced, lethal H5N1 have been wild birds, an ancient way of life and the poor of the Earth, for whom a backyard flock has always represented a measure of autonomy and a bulwark against starvation.

I tend to agree with this theory.

EXCELLENT find!

True too.

Monoculture, drugs, bad feed... It all adds up, gets compounded and creates monsters.

But hey. Just blame the ignorant savages in the undeveloped third world. They can't defend themselves and they'll all be dead soon anyway.

.

Looks like I need to cook my birds better!