Is anyone nervous about Bird Flu.....??

[carole]

There is an awful lot of media coverage right now on the TV and local paper about bird flu, I am not sure if anyone else has posted or not, but wondered how everyone feels about it all, personally I feel quite frightened , even though they are saying NZ is one of the safest countries to be in with regard to Bird Flu, something to do with the migration of the birds along the shorelines.

They are also talking about a pandemic of flu like the spanish flue in 1918, this does not seem just simple scaremongering tactics, but in all honesty a real threat to the human species.

I really do feel worried about it all, am I just a worry wart, or do I really have something to worry about, what do you all think?

[Flatcoatluver]

I am so nervous about my ducks, but i am getting rid of them anyway but still.

[sammy101]

I'm actually not worried about it. I dont come in contact with birds very often.They never come in the yard because of the dogs,and there are some at the ponds we walk at but we stay away because those geese are vicious

[Corinna]

I'm a talk show junkie and most of them are having guests on that are so angry at the governments and the media for doing the scaremongering. Several have had the scientest working on it and they are frustrated also . They claim its not going to get so bad. And even if so they should have a vaccine in time.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Not yet, but I will definitley be when the virus finds a way to transfer from human to human, rather the just bird to human. I heard on the news that scientists are estimating that at least 50 million people will die before they find a cure or a vaccine for us.....

[catnapper]

Yikes, I never even heard of it til this thread! Maybe they don't worry about it in my region?

[k9krazee]

I have been worried, but will become really worried when it starts passing from human to human...

[G535]

I don't think a lot of people really know what a pandemic can do. If it happens human stupidity is going to kill many people, I think you all know some of the people who go visiting when they have flu or cold symptoms and spread all the germs around as many people as they can. As for being worried, I guess I'm too old and it'll probably be quicker and less painful than hanging on for years with chronic arthritis.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I am VERY MUCH worried! Next to our garden, there is a huge natural pond; Evey year there are hundreds of wild ducks there. Yesterday I saw the last ones leave, flying in "V" formation. They always fly south for the Winter. But they come back next Spring..... , I hope they don't bring this birdflu with them

[Rachel]

Yes, I am. Seems like there is a new location added every day to the list of countries where it has been detected. I never even thought about the wild birds being infected, but that certainly could be the case. I was more worried about the food supply since poultry is my main source of protein.

In Illinois, and specifically in my county and even my city, there have been cases of West Nile Virus. It has made me aware that one can't assume that these illnesses won't touch us because they started somewhere else.

[moosmom]

As for being worried, I guess I'm too old and it'll probably be quicker and less painful than hanging on for years with chronic arthritis

G535,

ROFLMAO!!! I feel the same way you do. Remember years ago when they had the "swine flu"??? People RUSHED out to get the vaccine. Where did THAT go???

The media has a bad habit of setting panic in motion with some of their stories. Their take on things makes people want to live in germ-free bubbles. Most of the time I just have a "wait and see" attitude. This is one of them, since I don't have birds and my cats never go outside.

[carole]

Well I can only hope it is scaremongering, but the NZ government is preparing itself as best it can, I think we are more concerned with the pandemic than the bird flue as our risk is very low for that, but still one cannot be too complacent IMO.

The media says it is not trying to panic people but prepare them, well I cannot say I am panicked but I do feel rather scared about it all,as it is going to be the very young, old and those with illness that will be affected most as always with all viruses.

People have been buying up large surgical masks in my City ,infact the pharmacy's have run out and some are trying to get the pills Tamiflue, which is not a cure but is supposed to help people from actually dying from it, so I guess a lot of people are taking it very seriously here it appears.

I do keep in mind though ,that often this happens and we all come out of it right in the end, like the Sars epidemic, people got worried about that here too and their was media hype and we never got it to my knowledge.

I think the pandemic is more of a threat to the world myself,if it really does happen NZ will close its borders down completely,as I am sure other countries will too, imagine the chaos it will cause, they reckon it will be way worse than a natural disaster like an earthquake.

I am glad some of you feel positive about it and are not worried like me, because half the time these things never come to anything much and you save yourself alot of un-necessary worry, signed Carole AKA as worry wart bigtime. P.S Gosh Kim I was shocked to hear you have never even heard of it,like here in NZ it is in the paper everyday almost, large articles about both, and on the TV all the time, amazing.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Nope! If I get it, I get it and if I don't, I don't. Frankly I think the whole issue is being used to take our minds off other things.....

[prechrswife]

I am, and I have to admit it is for selfish reasons. China has announced that if there is a human-to-human transfer that they will close their borders. This could delay our adoption plans. This happened when SARS came through several years ago. However, as someone pointed out, SARS was human-to-human from the beginning. There have, to this point, been no cases of human-to-human transmission with the bird flu.

[.powerful]

You are certainly not alone carole. I am also *very* concered about this. It is so scary.