JonesersRX7
Registered User
Just curious... I heard 89 people have died and closest has now been reported in Canada.
Bird Flu - is anyone concerned about eating chicken?
- Thread starter JonesersRX7
- Start date
rhinochaser48
Board Supporter
I wasn't concerned about eating chicken until you mentioned it.......
Good question, but if it's cooked well, why should we be concerned about a virus?
Good question, but if it's cooked well, why should we be concerned about a virus?
mab904
Registered User
Some info I found...
Outbreak Notice
Update: Guidelines and Recommendations
Interim Guidance about Avian Influenza A (H5N1) for U.S. Citizens Living Abroad
This information is current as of today, November 3, 2005, 04:23:46 PM Updated: October 26, August 15 and July 27, 2005
Released: March 24, 2005
Background
Avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses usually affect wild birds but have infected and caused serious disease among poultry, such as chickens, in Asia and Europe. Human infections with H5N1 viruses are rare, but have occurred during 2003 - 2005 in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Most cases of H5N1 infection in humans are thought to have occurred from direct contact with infected poultry in the affected countries in Asia. When possible, care should be taken to avoid contact with poultry that has no apparent symptoms, as well as with sick or dead poultry and any surfaces that may have been contaminated by poultry or their feces or secretions. Transmission of H5N1 viruses to two persons through consumption of uncooked duck blood may also have occurred in Vietnam in 2005. Therefore, uncooked poultry or poultry products, including blood, should not be consumed.
The threat of novel influenza subtypes such as influenza A (H5N1) will be greatly increased if the virus gains the ability for sustained spread from one human to another. Such transmission has not yet been observed. However, a few cases of probable person-to-person spread of H5N1 viruses have been reported, with no instances of transmission continuing beyond one person. For example, one case of probable person-to-person transmission associated with close contact between an ill child and her mother is thought to have occurred in Thailand in September 2004.
H5N1 infections in humans can cause serious disease and death. There currently is no commercially available vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. However, vaccine development efforts are taking place. Research studies to test a vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus began in April 2005, and a series of clinical trials is under way. For more information about vaccine development, visit the Invalid Link Removed website. The H5N1 viruses currently infecting birds in Asia and Europe and some humans in Asia are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, two antiviral medications commonly used for influenza. The H5N1 viruses are susceptible in a laboratory setting to the antiviral medications oseltamavir and zanamavir, although the effectiveness of these drugs when used for treatment of H5N1 virus infection is unknown. For more information about influenza antiviral drugs, see Invalid Link Removed.
Situation Update
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains Invalid Link Removed and Invalid Link Removed of avian influenza A (H5N1). Please visit the WHO links for additional information, as well as links to previous situation updates and cumulative reports.
On August 3, 2005, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement on its decision to provide the drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) at its embassies and consulates for eligible U.S. government employees and their families serving in the Southeast Asia region. For more information about this policy, see Invalid Link Removed. Other Americans living in affected areas or planning long-term travel to these areas may wish to discuss antiviral medication with their health-care providers.
CDC Recommendations
Surveillance and Travel: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend surveillance, diagnostic evaluation, and infection control guidance for suspected H5N1 cases in travelers to the United States, as detailed in a health advisory update on February 4, 2005 (Invalid Link Removed). CDC remains in communication with WHO and continues to closely monitor the H5N1 situation. Situational updates can be found on CDC’s avian influenza (Invalid Link Removed) and Travelers’ Health websites (Invalid Link Removed). Information also is available on the WHO website (Invalid Link Removed).
To reduce the risk of infection, Americans living in areas where outbreaks of H5N1 among poultry or human H5N1 cases have been reported should observe the following measures to help avoid illness:
Precautions: The following recommendations are directed to U.S. embassies and consulates, their personnel, and U.S. citizens living abroad in areas where avian influenza A (H5N1) outbreaks among poultry or human H5N1 cases have been reported. These recommendations may be revised as more information becomes available. Embassies and consulates should recommend the following precautions to U.S. expatriates living in an area with avian influenza:
When Preparing Food
Outbreak Notice
Update: Guidelines and Recommendations
Interim Guidance about Avian Influenza A (H5N1) for U.S. Citizens Living Abroad
This information is current as of today, November 3, 2005, 04:23:46 PM Updated: October 26, August 15 and July 27, 2005
Released: March 24, 2005
Background
Avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses usually affect wild birds but have infected and caused serious disease among poultry, such as chickens, in Asia and Europe. Human infections with H5N1 viruses are rare, but have occurred during 2003 - 2005 in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Most cases of H5N1 infection in humans are thought to have occurred from direct contact with infected poultry in the affected countries in Asia. When possible, care should be taken to avoid contact with poultry that has no apparent symptoms, as well as with sick or dead poultry and any surfaces that may have been contaminated by poultry or their feces or secretions. Transmission of H5N1 viruses to two persons through consumption of uncooked duck blood may also have occurred in Vietnam in 2005. Therefore, uncooked poultry or poultry products, including blood, should not be consumed.
The threat of novel influenza subtypes such as influenza A (H5N1) will be greatly increased if the virus gains the ability for sustained spread from one human to another. Such transmission has not yet been observed. However, a few cases of probable person-to-person spread of H5N1 viruses have been reported, with no instances of transmission continuing beyond one person. For example, one case of probable person-to-person transmission associated with close contact between an ill child and her mother is thought to have occurred in Thailand in September 2004.
H5N1 infections in humans can cause serious disease and death. There currently is no commercially available vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus that is being seen in Asia and Europe. However, vaccine development efforts are taking place. Research studies to test a vaccine to protect people against the H5N1 virus began in April 2005, and a series of clinical trials is under way. For more information about vaccine development, visit the Invalid Link Removed website. The H5N1 viruses currently infecting birds in Asia and Europe and some humans in Asia are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, two antiviral medications commonly used for influenza. The H5N1 viruses are susceptible in a laboratory setting to the antiviral medications oseltamavir and zanamavir, although the effectiveness of these drugs when used for treatment of H5N1 virus infection is unknown. For more information about influenza antiviral drugs, see Invalid Link Removed.
Situation Update
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains Invalid Link Removed and Invalid Link Removed of avian influenza A (H5N1). Please visit the WHO links for additional information, as well as links to previous situation updates and cumulative reports.
On August 3, 2005, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement on its decision to provide the drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) at its embassies and consulates for eligible U.S. government employees and their families serving in the Southeast Asia region. For more information about this policy, see Invalid Link Removed. Other Americans living in affected areas or planning long-term travel to these areas may wish to discuss antiviral medication with their health-care providers.
CDC Recommendations
Surveillance and Travel: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend surveillance, diagnostic evaluation, and infection control guidance for suspected H5N1 cases in travelers to the United States, as detailed in a health advisory update on February 4, 2005 (Invalid Link Removed). CDC remains in communication with WHO and continues to closely monitor the H5N1 situation. Situational updates can be found on CDC’s avian influenza (Invalid Link Removed) and Travelers’ Health websites (Invalid Link Removed). Information also is available on the WHO website (Invalid Link Removed).
To reduce the risk of infection, Americans living in areas where outbreaks of H5N1 among poultry or human H5N1 cases have been reported should observe the following measures to help avoid illness:
Precautions: The following recommendations are directed to U.S. embassies and consulates, their personnel, and U.S. citizens living abroad in areas where avian influenza A (H5N1) outbreaks among poultry or human H5N1 cases have been reported. These recommendations may be revised as more information becomes available. Embassies and consulates should recommend the following precautions to U.S. expatriates living in an area with avian influenza:
- Travelers should avoid all contact with poultry (e.g., chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, turkeys, and quail) or any wild birds, and avoid settings where H5N1-infected poultry may be present, such as commercial or backyard poultry farms and live poultry markets. Do not eat uncooked or undercooked poultry or poultry products, including dishes made with uncooked poultry blood.
- As with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive practices is careful and frequent handwashing. Clean your hands often, using either soap and water (or waterless, alcohol-based hand gels when soap is not available and hands are not visibly soiled) to remove potentially infectious materials from your skin and help prevent disease transmission.
- CDC does not recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas.
When Preparing Food
- Separate raw meat from cooked or ready-to-eat foods. Do not use the same chopping board or the same knife for preparing raw meat and cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
- Do not handle either raw or cooked foods without washing your hands in between.
- Do not place cooked meat back on the same plate or surface it was on before it was cooked.
- All foods from poultry, including eggs and poultry blood, should be cooked thoroughly. Egg yolks should not be runny or liquid. Because influenza viruses are destroyed by heat, the cooking temperature for poultry meat should reach 70°C (158°F).
- Wash egg shells in soapy water before handling and cooking, and wash your hands afterwards.
- Do not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be cooked.
- After handling raw poultry or eggs, wash your hands and all surfaces and utensils thoroughly with soap and water.
- Monitor your health for 10 days.
- If you become ill with fever and develop a cough , sore throat, or difficulty breathing or if you develop any illness with fever during this 10-day period, consult a health-care provider. Before you visit a health-care setting, tell the provider the following: 1) your symptoms, 2) where you traveled, and 3) if you have had direct poultry contact with poultry. The U.S. embassy or consulate also can provide names and addresses of local physicians.
- Do not travel while ill, unless you are seeking medical care. Limiting contact with others as much as possible can help prevent the spread of an infectious illness.
The Paper Route
Member
Experts dismiss scare over bird flu
At a time when headlines trumpet the potential dangers of "bird flu," Gary Butcher is the man of the hour.
Butcher has been an extension veterinarian at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1988. He was trained as a veterinarian specializing in avian diseases, and has a Ph.D. in poultry virology.
As the only poultry veterinarian in the state, Butcher fields phone calls and e-mails about avian flu every day.
Lately, he's been traveling the world, speaking to alarmed government officials and industry groups dispelling the myths and reinforcing the realities of avian influenza or so-called "bird flu."
Gary Butcher begins his presentation with a slide that shows a "news flash" from the British press agency Reuters reporting that avian flu "poses the single biggest threat to the world right now."
The H5N1 avian flu virus has led to the death of 150 million birds, either through infection or culling to prevent the virus from spreading. So far, however, the number of people who have become infected remains small, with 121 confirmed illnesses and 62 reported fatalities as of Monday. No one has yet been proven to have given avian influenza to someone else.
The World Health Organization continues to warn that a human pandemic may occur and has advised national governments to make contingency plans. President Bush is expected to announce today the White House strategy for handling a potential pandemic during a visit to the National Institutes of Health.
"The emphasis of all my work has changed to dealing with this madness," Butcher said Friday, while briefly back at his office on the UF campus in Gainesville. "Realistically, avian influenza is not a threat to people, but everywhere you go, it has turned into a circus."
He's been to Indonesia and Thailand, Hong Kong and Mexico, and a few days from now, he will be in Russia.
The poultry industries in those countries have been greatly disrupted because of the public's flu fear. In countries where poultry consumption has dropped by 75 percent, it's a real crisis, Butcher said. So from an economic perspective, bird flu is a big issue.
Millions of chickens and waterfowl have been slaughtered in Asia in an attempt to halt the spread of the bird virus known as H5N1, but Butcher said that of the billions of people who have probably been exposed, only about 120 have been reported to have fallen ill with avian flu. They were people who worked closely with chickens and came into contact with the birds' blood and feces.
Butcher also said that there has yet to be a proven case in which one person is known to have passed the illness on to another.
Bird flu viruses have been around throughout history, he said. What is unique about the H5N1 strain is that, on rare occasions, it has shown the ability to infect humans.
"It is very inefficient, but it does manage," Butcher said.
That same inefficiency makes it much more likely that the virus can't replicate itself rapidly enough to spread from that first infected human to another, he said. Could happen, but not likely. That's his view.
But the virus can go from poultry to the wild bird population, which will carry it to other locales along their migration routes.
If and when it comes to this part of the world, Butcher predicts, it will get here via migratory shorebirds or waterfowl coming from Russia, through Siberia, across the Bering Strait, down through Alaska and Canada.
"That's how it is probably going to come in, and it is of very little relevance," he said, because the poultry industry in this part of the world is so different than in the parts of the world that have been affected so far.
Not all health officials are sounding a warning about avian influenza, either.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist and associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, is one physician who isn't buying into the scare scenario.
"If anything is contagious right now, it's judgment clouded by fear," Siegel said.
And if Americans are scared of avian flu now, Siegel continues, "imagine what will happen if a single scrawny, flu-ridden migratory bird somehow manages to reach our shores."
That, he maintains, is how the fear epidemic - as opposed to a flu pandemic - spreads.
Back to the unlikely scenario of those migratory birds carrying avian flu to a poultry house somewhere in Kansas.
"Only once in every blue moon do you get infection in a poultry house, and the government has a system of monitoring and eradication that means it is quickly wiped out," Butcher said. "So it can happen, but it is rare and it is not allowed to spread."
Because the United States exports about one-third of the 9 billion poultry produced, if potentially dangerous disease turns up, there is a policy of zero tolerance.
"Other countries would not accept poultry from anywhere in the United States if there was any question of infection," Butcher said.
He said that although there is a potential that the virus could mutate, as it exists, it could not become an important disease in humans.
"For it to become dangerous to humans, it has to go through a pretty significant genetic change. If you put this in perspective, it's not going to happen. For a person to be infected now, it appears that the exposure level has to be astronomical," Butcher said.
"While we are putting all our attention on this avian influenza, another virus is going to come up and bite us in the bottom," he said.
Invalid Link Removed
At a time when headlines trumpet the potential dangers of "bird flu," Gary Butcher is the man of the hour.
Butcher has been an extension veterinarian at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1988. He was trained as a veterinarian specializing in avian diseases, and has a Ph.D. in poultry virology.
As the only poultry veterinarian in the state, Butcher fields phone calls and e-mails about avian flu every day.
Lately, he's been traveling the world, speaking to alarmed government officials and industry groups dispelling the myths and reinforcing the realities of avian influenza or so-called "bird flu."
Gary Butcher begins his presentation with a slide that shows a "news flash" from the British press agency Reuters reporting that avian flu "poses the single biggest threat to the world right now."
The H5N1 avian flu virus has led to the death of 150 million birds, either through infection or culling to prevent the virus from spreading. So far, however, the number of people who have become infected remains small, with 121 confirmed illnesses and 62 reported fatalities as of Monday. No one has yet been proven to have given avian influenza to someone else.
The World Health Organization continues to warn that a human pandemic may occur and has advised national governments to make contingency plans. President Bush is expected to announce today the White House strategy for handling a potential pandemic during a visit to the National Institutes of Health.
"The emphasis of all my work has changed to dealing with this madness," Butcher said Friday, while briefly back at his office on the UF campus in Gainesville. "Realistically, avian influenza is not a threat to people, but everywhere you go, it has turned into a circus."
He's been to Indonesia and Thailand, Hong Kong and Mexico, and a few days from now, he will be in Russia.
The poultry industries in those countries have been greatly disrupted because of the public's flu fear. In countries where poultry consumption has dropped by 75 percent, it's a real crisis, Butcher said. So from an economic perspective, bird flu is a big issue.
Millions of chickens and waterfowl have been slaughtered in Asia in an attempt to halt the spread of the bird virus known as H5N1, but Butcher said that of the billions of people who have probably been exposed, only about 120 have been reported to have fallen ill with avian flu. They were people who worked closely with chickens and came into contact with the birds' blood and feces.
Butcher also said that there has yet to be a proven case in which one person is known to have passed the illness on to another.
Bird flu viruses have been around throughout history, he said. What is unique about the H5N1 strain is that, on rare occasions, it has shown the ability to infect humans.
"It is very inefficient, but it does manage," Butcher said.
That same inefficiency makes it much more likely that the virus can't replicate itself rapidly enough to spread from that first infected human to another, he said. Could happen, but not likely. That's his view.
But the virus can go from poultry to the wild bird population, which will carry it to other locales along their migration routes.
If and when it comes to this part of the world, Butcher predicts, it will get here via migratory shorebirds or waterfowl coming from Russia, through Siberia, across the Bering Strait, down through Alaska and Canada.
"That's how it is probably going to come in, and it is of very little relevance," he said, because the poultry industry in this part of the world is so different than in the parts of the world that have been affected so far.
Not all health officials are sounding a warning about avian influenza, either.
Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist and associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, is one physician who isn't buying into the scare scenario.
"If anything is contagious right now, it's judgment clouded by fear," Siegel said.
And if Americans are scared of avian flu now, Siegel continues, "imagine what will happen if a single scrawny, flu-ridden migratory bird somehow manages to reach our shores."
That, he maintains, is how the fear epidemic - as opposed to a flu pandemic - spreads.
Back to the unlikely scenario of those migratory birds carrying avian flu to a poultry house somewhere in Kansas.
"Only once in every blue moon do you get infection in a poultry house, and the government has a system of monitoring and eradication that means it is quickly wiped out," Butcher said. "So it can happen, but it is rare and it is not allowed to spread."
Because the United States exports about one-third of the 9 billion poultry produced, if potentially dangerous disease turns up, there is a policy of zero tolerance.
"Other countries would not accept poultry from anywhere in the United States if there was any question of infection," Butcher said.
He said that although there is a potential that the virus could mutate, as it exists, it could not become an important disease in humans.
"For it to become dangerous to humans, it has to go through a pretty significant genetic change. If you put this in perspective, it's not going to happen. For a person to be infected now, it appears that the exposure level has to be astronomical," Butcher said.
"While we are putting all our attention on this avian influenza, another virus is going to come up and bite us in the bottom," he said.
Invalid Link Removed
QUICKRYDE
Member
I'm kind of freak out because the media keep talking about it. I wake up to the news every morning and the bird flu is always on the news. The president mention about closing cities down if it get out of hand.
Hmmm, we had a problem with mad cow disease and now it's the bird flu...Hmmm, what's next??? Disease fish.
I guess we all going to be reduce to being vegetarian. {mmmm veggie burgers :burger: }
Hmmm, we had a problem with mad cow disease and now it's the bird flu...Hmmm, what's next??? Disease fish.
I guess we all going to be reduce to being vegetarian. {mmmm veggie burgers :burger: }
JonesersRX7 said:
Achilles13
:::6'4 240lbs EndoMorph:::
This Influenza is pretty big, but I it won't stop me from eating chicken. If I stop eating chicken, my diet would consist of nothing but oats, steak, and veggies.
Rogue Drone
Well-known member
Sooner or later, a pandemic is inevitable but by then the news will be covering the latest missing child in Aruba or celebrity trial irrelevance and few will remember that the government's critical protection plan is to have partial protection, not specific to the current strain, for a whopping 5% of the US population sometime after 2009, same old story, protect yourself cause the authorities help will be too little, too late.
I keep wondering if the american people are ever going to get rebellious enough to stop paying so much for so little in return from their governments but they are too tired from serving their corporate masters for that.
I keep wondering if the american people are ever going to get rebellious enough to stop paying so much for so little in return from their governments but they are too tired from serving their corporate masters for that.
Matthew D
Well-known member
kinda reminds me of 1976 with the swine flu outbreak.. which didn't end up come to pass but 1918-1919 swine flu outbreak killed an estimated 40-50 million people world wide. This virus has a 50% morality rate which is IF it because as easily passed as regular flu could spell a thinning of the world population
imichael
Board Supporter
Nothing to worry about, yet.... But the only poultry based food you should worry about currently is raw eggs, and the advice there is - if you were happy eating raw eggs 3 months ago and haven't got pregnant since, then no reason to stop. Obviously, if you live in Thailand, China etc then eating raw eggs or undercooked bird meat is not a great idea. Cooking kills the virus. The apparent most likely cause of bird to human cross contamination is a spontaneous exposure to both traditional 'human flu' and HN51. The Flu germs could POSSIBLY then mutate and start the much discussed pandemic. It is a case of when, not if, but we are going to be very unlucky if it reaches crisis this winter. Until then, watch out for dead birds with no sign of injury and report them. Keep eating the chickens.
JonesersRX7
Registered User
Achilles13 said:
Who is that in your avatar bro?
n/m....
Invalid Link Removed