Bird Flu

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4344448.stm

Worried? Discuss.

(sorry if this is in the wrong place...)

I don't know what it is, but I don't seem to be scared, I feel like it is never going to come to Scotland so I feel like I am safe and have nothing to worry about. God, now I need to touch wood, don't I?

I can't really see bird flu coming to Cornwall anytime soon. It's seems kinda hyped out of proportion. 60 people have died. They are all Chinese. Might I just say that in the kind of places where people in China die of bird-flu THEY ARE SO POOR THEY SHARE THEIR HOUSES WITH THE CHICKENS!! If you are poor and deprived and stuff, and you share a bed with a sick bird... you should kind of expect this sorta thing. Not being harsh on the Chinese but seriously. It's a different way of living - their immune systems might be s**t compared to ours in Britain. You never know.
Besides. 12,000 people in the UK die of normal flu every year anyway. We're overpopulated...

Ehhhh... since the most important medical officer in the UK said "it will come, and at least 50,000 people will die....'

well. I'm a wee bit freaked, I'll tell you that for free.

aparently it isn't likely to kill many people plus the governtment has mad emillions of pills "before" it's even got here.

My little sister freaked out when she first heard about bird 'flu and started crying.
I'm more worried about the farmers having to kill all thier animals. It nearly happened to my aunt with foot and mouth, but she was okay in the end, and she has no chickens so she'll just have to kill her guinea fowl (She hates them anyway...)

I'm not worried about it affecting my health. I have a supa good imune system.

A swan found dead in Scotland has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4882946.stm

Well I am a wee bit scared...what do you think, UK people?

Yeah, I'm not really worried either. Poppi is right about the fact that one of the reasons people are getting it in China is because farm conditions allow the spread of disease from animals to humans better than they do in North America and the UK. I believe there is a good chance of it coming to Sounthern Ontario and Vancouver because of the high Asian population in those parts of the country. But will enough humans get it to be concerned about it? Not likely. I think most of it is scare tactics. Remember SARS? It was a serious problem in Asia, but not in North America. In Toronto, where I was living at the time, a city where five million people live and work, only about three hundred people got it, and even fewer people died from it, and most of them already had compromised immune systems. Yet people were terrified to come to Toronto, and Chinese businesses lost so much money because people didn't want to go to Chinatown. It's rediculous how scared people are of getting the flu.

Im scared. My cousins live in fife. I fed a swan bread yesterday too! I know they say you cant get it from feeding birds..but what if it jumped up and bit you? Then you'd be sorry you gave it that bread. Thankfully fife is quite far away from me, but not REALLY. Since birds can fly. Stupid birds.

i think it says in the news thatits in scotland now but they don't know yet if it is or if its not i really hope not it will proberly be england next AHHHHHHHH help it run away peg it AHHH

"They are all Chinese. Might I just say that in the kind of places where people in China die of bird-flu THEY ARE SO POOR THEY SHARE THEIR HOUSES WITH THE CHICKENS!! If you are poor and deprived and stuff, and you share a bed with a sick bird... you should kind of expect this sorta thing. Not being harsh on the Chinese but seriously. It's a different way of living - their immune systems might be s**t compared to ours in Britain."

I find that highly offensive, considering I am Chinese.
And I came from a poor family.
And the only reason we lived with the chickens was because we had farms to be able to LIVE! Though the chickens had cages and such, we didn't really live bed in bed, it was more of this neighborhood thing.
I dont' care if you say you're not being harsh, THAT WAS HARSH!

[The way Reichieru put it... wasn't... as mean, but I'm not into all this illness blah blah as everybody else it....]

Anyway, Vernon told me about the last night... the logged out... I don't know what's up.... but this thing is getting out of control. (Though I don't personally and physically live in the UK)

Well I thankfully I live an ocean away from the flu, however my hopes aren't high as spring is upon us, and the birds are returning. This whole bird flu episode seems like the 'quiet before the storm', or a vaccum, just waiting to burst! The best thing we can do is continue our normal lives, albeit take extra care in performing daily acts of cleanliness!

Yeah, it's in Britain now. My friend suggested blowing up the border between Scotland and England, and pushing them into the Arctic. I kindly reminded him the birds could still fly to England. He said he had his shotgun ready. Be scared.

Boyfriend's two cents: Poppi, your comments regarding immune systems is, to me, a comment made by someone who sounds like they have no idea what they are talking about. A regular exposure to bacteria can be, as is shown by the massive population of college/university students (let's face it, we're all pigs) quite benefial to one's immune system. By constantly being in contact with said bacteria (or virus), the body builds up a greater immunity to that strain of sickness. Think about that before making un-founded assumptions about the human body OR another culture.

And that's me, Rei's UniPuppy.

Not particularly worried. You need to be in direct contact with birds to catch H5N1. I have chickens, so the biggest problem would be having to cover them up.

Apparently H5N1 is something that we may have to become used to.