Bird Flu

[Trunky]

Has anyone thought of the impact bird flu could have on low carb WOE.
Eggs a staple for locarbers could be a no no and so could chicken.

There maybe shortages or the price will rocket.

Hope it doesn't come to this but it's worth a thought.

Anyone else concerned.

[kevinpa]

I bought some extra nyquil to use in my chicken recipes.:lol:


Sorry i couldn't resist, you can smack me now.:bash:

[tie_guy]

I thought the bird flu (in un-mutated form) doesn't spread very well to humans. In fact I thought it was mainly passed from bird to bird through the bird droppings. So as long as you eat the eggs and not the bird poop then you should be ok. Also I would imagine that if you cook the eggs all the way through (as you should -- or at least use pasterized eggs) then the chances of anything remaining alive would be small.

The bird flu scare comes from the virus mutating so it is spread through humans the same way the common cold is (as per the 1918 bird flu that killed millions) and not from eating poultry and eggs as part of a low carb diet.

Of course I am no expert so I could be wrong. However I would imagine that we are more likely to die from an airplane falling on us then we from bird flu passed by food that we ate.

[dreamseeds]

It sounds liek they still are not sure about it. This last outbreak in Turkey has them stumped really. The feces are defiantely an issue and a pigeon even flying overhead and doing its duty could cause a problem.

My dh and I said the person that creates the vaccine for this will get a nobel prize I am sure.

Anyway, I have thought about how this could effect me in the future. Chicken is my fave low carb animal product.
Lets hope it is not food related! But it is true that I woudl be less interested in eating meat if I knew of sick animals nearby.

[Nancy LC]

I think the problem wouldn't be so much bird contamination in the US, since we raise most of our birds indoors, it'd be person to person contamination.

[MyJourney]

There was an article in national geographic a couple of months ago that mentioned that someone got it from eating some kind of duck pudding.

If the virus mutates and spreads from person to person I think the last thing we would probably have to worry about is what we can or cannot eat. They speculate that it could travel the world and infect over a million people in 3 days.

Assuming it can't be spread from human to human but we still have to be concerned about meat, eggs and pork, I read that free range chickens and chickens on small farms have a higher chance of getting infected since they tend to mingle more with migratory birds while animals that are cooped up in a pen never see the light of day and are less likely to come into contact with an infected animal.

Mandatory testing for bird flu is going to be required in the US starting in march (I am not totally certian on the date) and I think they said that the major producers must test at least 11 chickens from every flock. They also said that it would be pretty obvious if our chickens started getting sick because the entire flock would die.

[CindySue48]

OK....I talked to my niece a few weeks ago about this....she works as a First Responder for the CDC in MA.

The reason why they are so concerned about the "bird flu" is because it's mutating so fast. They've already developed a couple of vaccines for it, but it mutated before they can get it out. Another issue with the vaccine production, at least initially, is that almost all flu vaccines are made in eggs, but this particlular strain kills the eggs too fast. They've overcome that, they just need to overcome the fast mutating. (not likely I'm afraid)

Here are the 2 things they are watching for with "bird flu", H5N1 virus.

1. That it mutates so it is easily transmitted to humans. At this point, while it can be transmitted to humans, it doesn't do so readily. It appears at this point that repeated, heavy exposure is needed.

2. That it mutates so it is easily transmitted human to human. At this time there are a couple of suspect cases of human to human transmission, but they are highly questionable, since the second person infected has also been directly exposed to either infected birds or the virus. Even if it does mutate to being able to spread human to human, unless it can do so readily, the danger isn't as great, although it is still a threat.

A few notes. Recently they have discovered that many more people have become infected, but have not become sick! I saw one report that in one area over 300 people tested positive, but haven't become ill, other than mild flu-like symptoms! Of course, many are arguing these numbers, saying it's probably not H5N1, but the authors of the study clearly state they are testing for H5N1 only.

For the most part, the people who have become infected have had close, repeated contact with birds, mainly chickens and other edible fowl. In many cases these birds share the home of the owners! Two of the kids in turkey who were infected were playing with dead birds!

Now....you may wonder why I keep putting "bird flu" in quotes. This is because many of the "regular" influenzas that go around every year are also bird influenzas! This year in the states one of the strains going around is H3N2 flu strain, also a virus originating in birds. Most, if not all, influenza originate in animals. (anyone remember "swine flu"???)

Also....while the CDC, WHO et all are recomending stockpiling Tamilflu and the other anti-viral, be aware that more people have died from Tamiflu than from H5N1!!!! It has also been found to be resistant in many of those infected. Personally, since this is available OTC, I think Tamiflu will do us no good....people use it for cold symptoms, which increases the likelihood of resistance if and when H5N1 hit us. Some are even saying that the prescribing of anti-virals are making the infection worse, not better.

Now.....last point. If we do end up getting a pandemic of H5N1 or not....eventually we WILL have another pandemic....and the results will be devastating. The initial wave will likely kill at least hundreds of thousands of people world-wide....and it's likely that it will return year after year for several years. Pleasant thought, huh? Scary thought!

In the event of a pandemic, it's likely that those that are already sick or otherwise compromised will be the sickest and the most likely to die. Cities, especially poorer cities, will be hit hard. Our economy is at risk. Even if the mortality rates aren't what they're predicting, the number of people sickened and unable to work will be devastating.

The main thing that scares me is that I strongly feel a good percentage of our population (at least here in the US) are immune compromised....mainly because of diet. Another reason to stick with a natural, whole foods diet!!!!

[LiveWell]

I dont worry about it at all really. Not that it couldnt/wont happen..I just dont worry about it. I dont worry about things that I can not change. If it happens it happens.

[potatofree]

I thought they were advising AGAINST stockpiling of antivirals?

Anyhoo... I always figure there's not much we can do about these health scares except practice common-sense illness prevention. Handwashing, avoiding contact with people who seem to be ill if they don't have the decency to stay home themselves, that kind of thing.

I personally think there will be even less impact on our food supply then mad cow disease.

[kevinpa]

I dont worry about it at all really. Not that it couldnt/wont happen..I just dont worry about it. I dont worry about things that I can not change. If it happens it happens.

I agree. If the birds don't get you the anxiety attack you have from worrying about it will.

[tie_guy]

You can't talk about the flu without talking about the 1918 flu. It killed between 20-40 million peole (and the population was smaller then.) That is more than died during WWI.
Check out:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/
and PBS did a film about it a while back
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/
No one knows the odds of it happening again. But it happened once so it is possible -- which is why some people are so worried about it. As far as I know noone really knows the odds of it happening again and if 1918 was just extremely bad luck or not. Oh and your yearly flu shot will be useless against it if the killer bird flu isn't one of the viruses that your flu shot was designed to protect you from.

Personally I think it is something the government needs to keep in the back of its mind but I don't stay up at night worrying about it (I have even bigger things to worry about.) My guess is that the public is more scared about it now because we keep seeing film of birds getting killed in asia on the news. I am actually more worried about global warming. No one knows what is really going to happen their either but it does seem more likely than bird flu. You thought Katrina was bad? What if the temperature of the Earth rises even more than it has already risen. Katrina could end up being a walk in the park.

[zedgirl]

This website is put together by one of the columnists on the Red Flags website.

http://www.birdfluhype.com/

http://www.redflagsdaily.com/index.php

[Fialka]

As far as I know, from the research I've done 'bird flu' is not like mad cow disease, cooking destroys the virus, whereas mad cow disease survives cooking.

So I'm not sure if we need to worry about the meat that makes it to market.

Almost all our flus have their orgins in birds. Humans, pigs, and birds are the perfect flu generating combination. Pigs and humans cross infect, birds and pigs cross infect and then the virus mutates between the species. According to one article I read from Yale they think that all our flus for like the last several thousand years have originated in Asia.

There's no need to worry now, worry when Asia (because that's where it's going to start) starts reporting large scale human to human transmission. At that point it's a matter of weeks/months before bird flu hits worldwide. And then, you won't just want to stock up on food, but medications, water, and vitamins.

F

[Trunky]

I thought the bird flu (in un-mutated form) doesn't spread very well to humans. In fact I thought it was mainly passed from bird to bird through the bird droppings. So as long as you eat the eggs and not the bird poop then you should be ok. Also I would imagine that if you cook the eggs all the way through (as you should -- or at least use pasterized eggs) then the chances of anything remaining alive would be small.

The bird flu scare comes from the virus mutating so it is spread through humans the same way the common cold is (as per the 1918 bird flu that killed millions) and not from eating poultry and eggs as part of a low carb diet.

Of course I am no expert so I could be wrong. However I would imagine that we are more likely to die from an airplane falling on us then we from bird flu passed by food that we ate.

I think you may have misunderstood my post. I was talking hyperthetically,
Scientists have reported that a case has been passed from a human to a human in the last week in Turkey. I don't for one minute think that you can catch it from eating eggs or chicken but if things got worse they would cull the chickens which in turn would lead to chicken shortages and egg shortages.

[Fialka]

Zedgirl:

Do you think you could copy that Bird Flu article from Red Flag? They require paid membership to read it.

Thanks

F

[zedgirl]

Zedgirl:

Do you think you could copy that Bird Flu article from Red Flag? They require paid membership to read it.

Thanks

F

Sorry, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that for copyright reasons. I only posted the Red Flags link so people would know who they were.
www.birdfluhype.com doesn’t require registration though.

There is a link under the Red Flags bird flu article for non-members to click on if you are interested.

[CindySue48]

I really don't worry about it either! I figure I'm more likely to die in an auto accident than bird flu.

WHO is recomending stockpiling....and most countries are stockpiling themselves....here in the US the goal is doses for 50million people....guess the other 250 million of us are going to have to fend for ourselves. I've also read reports, atributed to the CDC that tell people to stock up on canned goods, water and medications "in case you have to stay home for a while" (it is not on their site, however).

Culling birds definitly can cause food shortages....guess we'll have to rely more on "healthy grains" to get us thru it! And yea, cooking should kill the virus....most viruses can't stand temps much higher than the human body can produce (hence the reason for fever!) And yes, most flus do originate in the East.

Good hygiene is a great start....but unfortunately, flu can spread even after it's dried (some anyway), so touching things can infect you. The biggest concern is people coughing. You can shed virus for a day or two before you show any symptoms....and those are the people who will infect the most.

But again....just because it's a pandemic, it doesn't mean it will cause millions to die. We've had pandemics since 1918 (two I think) that didn't kill any where close to these numbers!

To me a lot of the hype is similar to all the hype about terrorists in our country....but I won't get into politics here. ;)