Posted on 03/13/2006 7:45:57 AM PST by xrp
March 13, 2006 — - In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Today our food and water supplies are 1000 times better than they were in 1918, not to mention sanitation, medical care and prevention.
In summary, wash your hands frequently (get some of that needs-no-water bacteria killing lotion) and don't step in bird crap!
If it can get rid of all those year-round geese in my area I say bring it on.
I'm all set! I still have that stuff from the last emergency-Y2K!
I'm with you...we're not the same country we were in 1918. I don't see this as being the great pandemic of the century as it's being hyped. At least not in the developed world. Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia could have a rough row to hoe though...
"Duck" tape? :-D
LOL! Now if it could be spread by Freeping, we'd have a real catastrophe on our hands.
I've still got my Swine Flu emergency supplies.
That won't help against a virus like the flu.
what the little kiddies use to sing in 1918.
"I HAD A little bird, and its name was Enza,
I opened the window, and in-flew-Enza.”
stock up on the canned or jar sauerkraut....it is a PROVEN preventative by the vietnamese........
I tend to agree. If it didn't kill thousands in Chinese villages and towns, where they are exposed to birds being slaughtered, and the living conditions are crowded and unsanitary...it won't kill thousands here. At least not in its present form.
Whatever happened to Sars? I thought we'd all be dead by now from it!
One potentially important difference between 1918 and now is that in 1918 quickly traveling over long distances was impossible and,for that matter,international travel was almost unheard of. Today,1000 people a day (or more) can travel from,say,Bangkok to the US in less than 24 hours.Those people can all be infected but asymptomatic both when they leave Thailand *and* when they arrive in the US.
Animals dont belong in the house.I grew up on a farm and chickens are a nasty creature.[unless they are southern fried in flour and buttermilk]!
If one wants to see how America will react the first time a bird is confirmed with H5N1, just watch eastern and central Europe now. They're wetting in their pants over there. IMHO I predict America will do the same. - OB1
The MSM won't care . . . they'll hype this into another Bush Admn. failure. Wait!!! I know, the Admn. should immediately name Bill Clinton the avian flu preparedness czar. /sarc.
We spent a few months in China, and you can't believe the unsanitary conditions in the marketplaces (where most Chinese go to get their food.)
Chickens, dogs, cats, rats, snakes, (you name it, they eat it)...all being held in cages, waiting to be slaughtered and then their "guts" just get washed into the street and down into the sewage system.
Smelly and messy...I was paranoid about us cleaning our hands after we touched put on or took off our shoes, LOL.
I'm doomed. There's no storage space under my bed.
Your point is well made. So why have we not shutdown international flights if it's so inevitable?
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