If NK gets Bird Flu

I was just wondering what would happen if a country like North Korea got infected with Bird Flu, due too the secrecy of the nation, it will most likely not announce it too the outside world, also does this country have the resources or bother to do it?

Originally posted by Galiega
I was just wondering what would happen if a country like North Korea got infected with Bird Flu, due too the secrecy of the nation, it will most likely not announce it too the outside world, also does this country have the resources or bother to do it?

Good questions.

Most developing nations do not have adequate resources for monitoring or responding to pandemics.

Few will be open, for fear of destroying their industries and livelihoods, and because they cannot afford to eat the costs of stopping a pandemic on their own.

So yeah, the writing's on the wall. Not just in North Korea but in most African nations too.

But hey - everyone knew 10 years ago that industrial agriculture was gonna create a super-flu and nothing was done because responsible action would have cut into profits.

So let's not blame the little guys, kay?


.
wd

[edit on 11-12-2006 by soficrow]

Im not blaming them, but with a outbreak in Africa the nations would help them, as its a risk too the whole world, but with a country like North Korea as they are so secret, i doubt they would dare ask for help or even reveal they have it!

Originally posted by Galiega

...with a outbreak in Africa the nations would help them, as its a risk too the whole world,

Not happening. Commitments have been made on paper - but the money is not being released. And it's not enough anyway.

Also, while you are right that NK is secret, everyone is secretive about bird flu. The threat of sanctions to local and national economies is real everywhere, waayyy too high for any economy to absorb easily - and there is NO money to cover these costs. So small farmers don't report problems - they hide their dead birds to protect their flocks and incomes, and their ability to feed their families. Local governments hide problems to protect their tourist trade.

I won't even talk about the poultry industry's shenanigans.

Not that it matters much anyway - bird flu never was easy to diagnose, and with the new strains, it's even harder to identify.

A letter published in Nature Biotechnology in March 2004 explained the necessity of using molecular diagnostics for bird flu, and practically begged authorities to get on it - to no avail. We could have a bird flu epidemic happening in the USA and not know it - because the right tests are not being used.

At this point, we probably won't know anything until "deniability" is absolutely not an option any more, and bodies are piling up in the streets.