BB FANS

The bird flu threat to people in Britain is "very, very, very low", according to a government spokeswoman.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt also said that this information had come from the World Health Organisation.

Her comments were made as a top government scientist confirmed that Britain's plans to tackle bird flu were among the best in the world.

Professor Roy Anderson said that drugs to combat the disease had been ordered and that Britain had excellent doctors.

Prof Anderson said a human version of bird flu was most likely to happen in China because lots of people work closely with ducks, geese and chickens in that country.

But he reassured people by saying that the virus has been around since 1996 and a human version had not yet come about.


CBBC NEWSROUND
Published: 2005/10/29 15:43:36 GMT

I have little interest in another food scare until people en masse start dying of it. I'm not even talking about a few hundred nationally. Until there are corpses lying around the streets of my town, it ain't a 'significant' problem.

*noting that the winter 'may' be a cold one. Hmm.

Cal: needing a personal fuel reserve.

The sad fact is that this 'Media Hype' is going to really screw-up the poultry industry and it looks as if the scare is here to stay

SUN
By TONY BONNICI

SUPERMARKETS are to slash orders for Christmas turkeys — in case worried shoppers boycott them because of bird flu.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s revealed last night that they will stock up on beef and lamb instead.

Sainsbury's said: "As a precaution, we’re considering alternative meat available should customers prefer something different."

Tesco and Asda say they have seen a "slight dip" in poultry and game sales this month, amid fears of the killer disease taking hold in Britain.

People who do want Christmas turkey might be disappointed if UK producers have to cull birds under emergency Government measures.

Around half of annual 22million turkey sales are sold in December.

British Poultry Council chief Peter Bradnock sought to calm fears.

He said: 'The main route for bird flu to enter this country would be from migrating wild fowl. The migration season is nearly over.

"Even then, it still has to move from wild water fowl to poultry flocks."

The price of chicken could fall by a fifth as sales slump in Europe.

Consumption is down 70 per cent in Greece, 40 per cent in Italy and 20 per cent in France.

aye. Damn media.

I hereby declare Martial Law, all mainstream news outlets are closed forthwith...starting with the Tabloids.

Regulation 34b. Anyone saying anything remotely against BB is 'dealt with', and taken away to 'the hole'.
--
Cal: wondering how much spicy chicken will cost next summer, assuming its still available

China, Vietnam and Japan Report New Bird-Flu Outbreaks

BEIJING Nov 4, 2005 — China reported its fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks, saying Friday that 8,940 chickens died in a northeastern village despite a nationwide effort to contain the virus. The discovery prompted authorities to destroy about 370,000 birds.

Authorities in Japan have detected signs of bird flu at a northern farm and plan to kill 180,000 chickens after they detected antibodies in some for the H5 family of bird flu virus. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, which is the only one that has spread to humans, has not yet been detected in Japan but the less virulent H5N2 strain hit the country last year.

Japan's Agriculture Ministry said it ordered 30 farms in eight prefectures across the country to undergo testing because previous tests at these farms had been carried out by private veterinarians. This called the results into question, said ministry spokesman Hirofumi Kugita.

Full Story ABC News

The Times November 05, 2005
By Valerie Elliott

Officials have spent a year planning their response to an outbreak in Britain

UNTOLD numbers of sufferers will be confined to their own homes in the event of a flu pandemic taking grip in Britain, The Times has learnt.
Patients with serious breathing problems will be treated in hospital but the Government’s strategy for the vast majority of the sick is enforced home quarantine.

In a further drastic measure, anyone caught exposing others to the risk of infection will face summary prosecution under emergency regulations in the Public Health Act.

Armed troops would be used on the streets only as a last resort as ministers have made clear that they do not want afflicted communities treated in the same way as the 17th-century villages gripped by the Great Plague.

Police, however, would have a key public order role and would guard supplies of anti- viral drugs and vaccines.


Full Epic Story The TIMES

The government yesterday denied that it is overreacting to the bird flu crisis by banning the sale of Cadbury's crème eggs, closing the online bank egg.com, postponing fertility treatments and ordering the Royal Air Force to intercept and shoot down migratory birds heading into UK airspace.

"The government has a responsibility to protect the health of the nation, and is right to take any action it perceives necessary to stop the spread of this virus," said Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. "Even if it's against chocolate eggs."

British Medical Association spokesman Doctor Douglas Ramsbottom commented: "I can confirm that we are researching a variety of areas including suggesting broadcasters remove all Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn and Woody Woodpecker cartoons from their schedules. Without doubt, children watching Daffy Duck are 43.51% more likely to want to eat a boiled egg for tea, which could have serious consequences for the spread of this virus. We have also identified that 'Passive Daffy Duck viewing' affects other people in the same vicinity and makes them 23.17% more likely to be hit by a meteorite. In layman's terms, this means that either 13,506 people could die, have each of their lives cut short by 611 years, or be perfectly OK."

Asked whether shooting down migrating birds was cost effective, Defence Secretary John Reid, said: "It is critical that we defend our shores against this approaching menace. Even though a sidewinder missile costs £1 million, it is the only effective method we have of detecting Duck sneezes at altitudes above 2000 feet, and ensuring that each Duck is completely obliterated. Any birds that do manage to get through have to face the army, which have so far shot down over 300 starlings and 96 geese, and issued thousands of our resident birds with small tin hats and RAF markings on their wings to avoid them being shot at by mistake."

The fight against bird flu is turning into a large NATO operation involving several air forces, according to DeadBrain's military correspondent, Greg Mullet. "However, all is not going to plan, as so far the Americans have only hit three geese but shot down 11 RAF Hawk aircraft and 63 of their own F-15 strike Eagles."

A US Air Force spokesman said that despite some "minor mishaps", it would be maintaining its special relationship with the British people, "who every day remind us of our mission by asking us to get the flock out of here."

From DeadBrain

let there be no doubt, if something real nasty happens...

1. you'll be stuck at home, 99% of all companies/business will cease.
2. travel will be banned.
3. basic utilities will probably go offline within a month.

----
Anyone who fails to have 2-3 months of basic provisions...would experience a real bad few weeks of no food, no anything.
--

The irony is that despite all the warnings...Mr average is doing jack to prepare for even a minor '7 days of closure' event.

Calrissian: the only thing he lacks are high grade weapons

at Jim. I read that seriously for a moment. hehe

In the whole 'bird flu scheme' of things, are we considering the real threat? The real threat is to birds, not to humans. The response to any wild or farmed birds having the disease will be the culling of the majority of birds. The media is concentrating on how many humans have died from the disease, which so far is quite a 'low' number. But what about if it were to really hit our bird population? The real question we should be asking is how we will manage without chicken meat or eggs on the shelves. We should also perhaps prepare for another 'foot & mouth' type reaction.

The greater threat is to the eggs on our shelves not human beings... for the moment.

50 Birds Die Of Avian Flu


More than 50 birds have died at a UK quarantine centre hit by an outbreak of avian flu.

A new report says a consignment of Taiwanese mesia birds was the most likely source of the outbreak.

An investigation was launched last month after samples from dead birds from the Essex facility tested positive for the H5N1 strain.

Some 53 of the 101 Taiwanese birds died, though the report was unable to say how many were killed by the flu.

The report said "on the balance of probabilities" the infection was introduced to the facility by a consignment of mesias, but did not appear to have been passed on to other species held there.

Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said: "This report contains significant epidemiological findings and helps to further our understanding of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

"In particular the apparent lack of transmission of H5N1 between species in the facility will be of interest to the international community."

In a written Parliamentary statement, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett said: "This report will be fed into the independent review of avian quarantine procedures I announced on October 31 led by Professor Nigel Dimmock and to Essex County Council who are conducting an investigation into events at the quarantine facility."

The virus detected is most closely associated with Chinese ducks.
Sky

Fri Nov 25, 2005 5:30 PM GMT

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City has begun poisoning pigeons and other wild birds as it moves to prevent avian flu from spreading into the crowded city, an official said on Friday.

The H5N1 bird flu virus has flared in 19 of the country's 64 provinces, the most recent cases being in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Nghe An, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report on Friday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said another human case was confirmed in the northern Hai Phong province. The infected 15-year-old boy had recovered and been discharged from hospital, the WHO said in a statement from its headquarters in Geneva.

The H5N1 virus has killed 68 people in Asia, including 42 in Vietnam, since late 2003. Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among people, triggering a global pandemic of killer flu.

The virus has this week also surfaced in the south where Ho Chi Minh City, a centre of 10 million people, is located.

"We will make sure that no birds are left in the city to minimise the risk of bird flu," Huynh Huu Loi, Director of Ho Chi Minh City's Animal Health Department, told Reuters.

Some international experts have said that pigeons appear to be resistant to the deadly H5N1 virus, but the city authorities are taking no chances.

Loi said beside the poisoning campaign, authorities would also move pet birds outside the city until Vietnam is free of bird flu.

The southern city, the country's largest, has banned poultry farming even though it has had no human cases since December 2004.

Most of the outbreaks in recent weeks have been in the cooler north. But the virus has spread to the south with the province of Long An reporting its first flu outbreak in poultry this week.