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View Full Version : Mad Cow, Bird/Swine Flu, Foot and Mouth, E.coli, Salmonella, Ebola, Marburg...



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Johnstuff
Dec 10th, 2008, 03:13 PM
In a way I think its a good thing because it highlights human stupidity - like BSE.

It might put some people off meat.

Feed animals sh!t and then you get sick from eating them. Well what did they think was gonna happen?

Sarabi
Dec 11th, 2008, 02:16 PM
In a way I think its a good thing because it highlights human stupidity - like BSE.
I don't think it highlights human stupidity, which is beside the point. Human stupidity is everywhere, yet people only see it when they feel like seeing it. Everything has a good side. You could say that agribusiness is good because it's cheap. So I don't see any point in say it's a good thing.

And I doubt anyone's going to stop consuming meat over this. Anyone using Irish pork is just going to order pork from some other country. Austria has a ban on skinning animals, I believe, but that didn't stop the sell of animal skins there in the least.

bringsMore
Apr 27th, 2009, 04:04 PM
Swine flu is really big news here in Russia. Although there has been no confirmed (or even suspected) cases in our country, it seems like all the media are constantly reporting about it with a sort of panicky attitude.
Is it the same in your countries?

Buddha Belly
Apr 27th, 2009, 04:08 PM
It is starting too. We are expecting the backlash against pigs and a lot of piggy murders. I am waiting for the first British case as that is when it will be be blown out of all proportion.

kriz
Apr 27th, 2009, 05:45 PM
So what's the difference between the symptoms and development between the swine flu and the regular types of flu (that can also be potentially dangerous BTW)?... just curious. I haven't been able to get any info if this type is more dangerous or not....

missbettie
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:26 PM
i'm pretty sure there is no difference in the symtoms, and they have to do a culture to figure out what you have...the big problem is we don't have a vaccine for this particular strain...Not to undermine the severity of the swine flu...but thousands of people a year die from the regular flu, and obviously thats a big deal, i mean its an epidemic, but ... it happens every year...

kriz
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:32 PM
Millions of people (like myself) are not vaccinated against the common flu either so why should I freak out about the swine flu???....

missbettie
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:35 PM
i don't think, from what i've gathered from the news that people should be more or less concerned...i mean try to avoid people that are obviously sick, wash your hands constantly, don't share drinks, stay out of crowed areas...these are things that people should do when the normal flu is going at an epidemic level...but then again i'm definately not a doctor...but i am pretty sure that as long as your careful you should be fine...

kriz
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:47 PM
That's what I've gathered so far too miss bettie, and I haven't found any more info about it being more dangerous (yet) than the regular flu.... I guess the biggest fear is that it can mutate into something nastier, but that hasn't happened yet... so why the full fledged panic. If people knew how many die from the common flu each year (or due to complications from it such as pneumonia), one would think that would encourage strong common sense behaviour on an everyday basis such as avoiding exposure to infected people, staying home when sick etc. No person's immune system is above frequent hand washing - it's something we should always, always practice... and not worry too much.

missbettie
Apr 27th, 2009, 06:52 PM
ya that it can mutate and that we don't have a vaccine yet.

beanstew
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:22 PM
xkcd [ http://xkcd.com (http://xkcd.com/) ] cover the 'flu scare:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/swine_flu.png

mariana
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:23 PM
ya that it can mutate and that we don't have a vaccine yet.
Also, swine flu is apparently normally treatable with four antivirals, but this strain is resistant to two of those.

kriz
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:27 PM
But Tamaflu is effective against it, right?

leedsveg
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:29 PM
I wouldn't worry. It's a well known fact that you don't go before your time is up.

:eek:

missbettie
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:30 PM
thats what i heard. about the Tamaflu.

kriz
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:35 PM
One benefit from being a constant worrier is that I'm not more worried about this one than other catastrophies that might happen to me.:umm_ani:;)

Guate_Vegan
Apr 27th, 2009, 11:18 PM
lol! Good thing that I don't really care much for sickness/dying!

CrunchyMomma
Apr 27th, 2009, 11:33 PM
New confirmed cases keep creeping up here in the States. It's not surprising because the timing of this flu outbreak in Mexico coincided with Spring break for many high school and college students here who find Mexico to be a tourist hot spot. Lots of Spring breakers go to Mexico every year. So far I believe it's been stated that every single person who has been confirmed with the swine flu outside of Mexico had traveled to the country recently, or live in close quarters with someone who has.

The sore spot is that you are most contagious when you are asymptomatic, so someone may be spreading the flu virus around to people who obviously are not immune to this strain (because it's completely new) because they feel great and are out and about. It makes it incredibly difficult to track and contain.

There is a part of me (being a total germaphobe) that is a bit frightened, but I also realize a lot of this may also be media hype. They use scary terminology such as "pandemic" and "international health crisis". We live in a large house. It's myself, my husband, my son, my mother, father, brother and grandmother. My sister and her fiance come over to visit frequently. A flu bug would run rampant in this house. My husband would be the likeliest carrier, as he works in a huge building with hundreds of people where visitors frequently fly in from other states and countries to tour the manufacturing plant. I have a weak heart and my son has a compromised immune system. My brother and sister both have asthma and my grandmother is in her seventies. A flu that cannot be vaccinated against running through this family would be horrible.

I can't help but feel this is a consequence of factory farming. When you have hogs in crowded, unsanitary conditions they become unhealthy and they are incredibly susceptible to diseases that can be passed onto humans who are in close contact with them.

cobweb
Apr 27th, 2009, 11:36 PM
It is starting too. We are expecting the backlash against pigs and a lot of piggy murders. I am waiting for the first British case as that is when it will be be blown out of all proportion.


so now we have the first British cases :(
its all we'll hear about for months :rolleyes:
i believe that God is trying to tell humans something but they are (mostly) way too stupid to listen :mad:

veganwitch
Apr 28th, 2009, 03:05 AM
One benefit from being a constant worrier is that I'm not more worried about this one than other catastrophies that might happen to me.:umm_ani:;)

^ditto on the constant worrying. what with all the worries I have consuming me, I don't have room to worry about the swine flu.

kriz
Apr 28th, 2009, 05:23 AM
^ditto on the constant worrying. what with all the worries I have consuming me, I don't have room to worry about the swine flu.

The brain can't make room for all the worries in the world, it just can't store THAT much at once, you know.;)

CrunchyMomma
Apr 28th, 2009, 07:19 AM
Over the weekend, the news did nothing but panic the world with speculations of a "global pandemic that would rival the Spanish flu". Now they're saying unless you've traveled to Mexico or taken care of a sick person who recently returned from Mexico it is "highly unlikely" you will contract this swine flu. What in the world? I guess we just have to wait it out and see what unfolds over the next few weeks. That will be the true test, especially since the incubation period for this particular flu is very short in comparison to seasonal flu. My hope is that the measures that have been taken to contain this illness will prove helpful, people will stop taking vacations to Mexico until it fizzles out there and this will all blow over very soon without any more deaths.

Ruby Rose
Apr 28th, 2009, 08:06 AM
The sore spot is that you are most contagious when you are asymptomatic, so someone may be spreading the flu virus around to people who obviously are not immune to this strain (because it's completely new) because they feel great and are out and about.

I have to say I find this really unlikely - it sounds like media frenzy to me. Influenza is spread through droplet infection - like colds - if you were asymptomatic, I think your likelihood of being contagious would be minimal. And it's a mutation on a well-known strain of influenza - it's not a new virus - and so we are likely to have some level of immunity to it, and this would seem to be confirmed by the relatively mild illness of most people who have contracted it.

Don't panic - it's not that bad. The numbers of those who died seem scary until you put them in the context of numbers of deaths from (1) other strains of flu which are around all the time and (2) numbers of deaths from things like road accidents.

CrunchyMomma
Apr 28th, 2009, 08:10 AM
That's very true, Ruby Rose, about putting the number of deaths into the perspective of the immense population in Mexico - particularly Mexico City. The news has just been great about whipping the world into a panicked frenzy. They prophesy ominously that "many people outside of Mexico who get it will likely die" and "we're in Stage 4 pandemic alert" and "people should be very concerned, but not panicked". Gee, with such positive news coming from the media, it's a miracle anyone is leaving their house.

Ruby Rose
Apr 28th, 2009, 08:23 AM
Blimey, the media are really outdoing themselves over there to create panic, aren't they?! :) What does your government health department say about it? Ours says "This means there are small clusters of outbreaks with limited person-to-person transmission. Spread is highly localised, suggesting that the virus is not well adapted to humans." - in other words, keep your wig on!