Good info but much of it hype. I'm puzzled about all the talk
of pandemics lately. There's got to be some ulterior motive
government has up its sleeve. Ask yourself a couple of questions?

1) Why the scare tactics?
2) Why the concern?
3) Why the misinformation?

I think it's an attempt to get people used to the idea that
the taking away of Constitutional rights is necessary for
your own protection. It's also an attempt to make people
believe government is in control when they clearly are
not and do not understand natural selection.

It is a well-known fact that the bird flu virus, if it
mutates - and it will, make no mistake about it, to a strain
that will propagate from human to human will be rather
deadly at first but then will attenuate so it is less deadly.
It will do so not intentionally because it cannot think but
it will do so because natural selection will wipe out the
more virulent forms of the virus because the people who
are infected by that strain will die and deny that strain of
virus the ability to spread further. Remember, a living
host is the only vector the virus has. A dead host kills the
strain. It is to the virus' benefit to not kill it's host.

Interfering with natural selection with drugs and the
like only slows the natural attenuation process. It makes
the pandemic last longer and remain more deadly.

Intelligent folks know this. Is it that there are no intelligent
folks in the government or is it the government is pulling
the wool over our eyes intentionally for some ulterior
motive. I believe the latter to be the case.

Get your boats ready to sail away from a government that
wishes to take away all your rights . . .

CN


"Joe" wrote in message oups.com...
| Check it out..Dire predictions. Is someone else in the room with you?
| If the pendemic reaches yourneck of the woods, either you, or they will
| be dead. Out of the 100 cases discovered half have died.
|
| Ten things you need to know form the US GOVT pendemicflu.gov
|
| Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza
|
| 14 October 2005
|
| 1. Pandemic influenza is different from avian influenza.
|
| Avian influenza refers to a large group of different influenza viruses
| that primarily affect birds. On rare occasions, these bird viruses can
| infect other species, including pigs and humans. The vast majority of
| avian influenza viruses do not infect humans. An influenza pandemic
| happens when a new subtype emerges that has not previously circulated
| in humans.
|
| For this reason, avian H5N1 is a strain with pandemic potential, since
| it might ultimately adapt into a strain that is contagious among
| humans. Once this adaptation occurs, it will no longer be a bird
| virus--it will be a human influenza virus. Influenza pandemics are
| caused by new influenza viruses that have adapted to humans.
|
| 2. Influenza pandemics are recurring events.
|
| An influenza pandemic is a rare but recurrent event. Three pandemics
| occurred in the previous century: "Spanish influenza" in 1918,
| "Asian influenza" in 1957, and "Hong Kong influenza" in 1968.
| The 1918 pandemic killed an estimated 40-50 million people worldwide.
| That pandemic, which was exceptional, is considered one of the
| deadliest disease events in human history. Subsequent pandemics were
| much milder, with an estimated 2 million deaths in 1957 and 1 million
| deaths in 1968.
|
| A pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and starts
| spreading as easily as normal influenza - by coughing and sneezing.
| Because the virus is new, the human immune system will have no
| pre-existing immunity. This makes it likely that people who contract
| pandemic influenza will experience more serious disease than that
| caused by normal influenza.
|
| 3. The world may be on the brink of another pandemic.
|
| Health experts have been monitoring a new and extremely severe
| influenza virus - the H5N1 strain - for almost eight years. The
| H5N1 strain first infected humans in Hong Kong in 1997, causing 18
| cases, including six deaths. Since mid-2003, this virus has caused the
| largest and most severe outbreaks in poultry on record. In December
| 2003, infections in people exposed to sick birds were identified.
|
| Since then, over 100 human cases have been laboratory confirmed in four
| Asian countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam), and more
| than half of these people have died. Most cases have occurred in
| previously healthy children and young adults. Fortunately, the virus
| does not jump easily from birds to humans or spread readily and
| sustainably among humans. Should H5N1 evolve to a form as contagious as
| normal influenza, a pandemic could begin.
|
| 4. All countries will be affected.
|
| Once a fully contagious virus emerges, its global spread is considered
| inevitable. Countries might, through measures such as border closures
| and travel restrictions, delay arrival of the virus, but cannot stop
| it. The pandemics of the previous century encircled the globe in 6 to 9
| months, even when most international travel was by ship. Given the
| speed and volume of international air travel today, the virus could
| spread more rapidly, possibly reaching all continents in less than 3
| months.
|
| 5. Widespread illness will occur.
|
| Because most people will have no immunity to the pandemic virus,
| infection and illness rates are expected to be higher than during
| seasonal epidemics of normal influenza. Current projections for the
| next pandemic estimate that a substantial percentage of the world's
| population will require some form of medical care. Few countries have
| the staff, facilities, equipment, and hospital beds needed to cope with
| large numbers of people who suddenly fall ill.
|
| 6. Medical supplies will be inadequate.
|
| Supplies of vaccines and antiviral drugs - the two most important
| medical interventions for reducing illness and deaths during a pandemic
| - will be inadequate in all countries at the start of a pandemic and
| for many months thereafter. Inadequate supplies of vaccines are of
| particular concern, as vaccines are considered the first line of
| defence for protecting populations. On present trends, many developing
| countries will have no access to vaccines throughout the duration of a
| pandemic.
|
| 7. Large numbers of deaths will occur.
|
| Historically, the number of deaths during a pandemic has varied
| greatly. Death rates are largely determined by four factors: the number
| of people who become infected, the virulence of the virus, the
| underlying characteristics and vulnerability of affected populations,
| and the effectiveness of preventive measures. Accurate predictions of
| mortality cannot be made before the pandemic virus emerges and begins
| to spread. All estimates of the number of deaths are purely
| speculative.
|
| WHO has used a relatively conservative estimate - from 2 million to
| 7.4 million deaths - because it provides a useful and plausible
| planning target. This estimate is based on the comparatively mild 1957
| pandemic. Estimates based on a more virulent virus, closer to the one
| seen in 1918, have been made and are much higher. However, the 1918
| pandemic was considered exceptional.
|
| 8. Economic and social disruption will be great.
|
| High rates of illness and worker absenteeism are expected, and these
| will contribute to social and economic disruption. Past pandemics have
| spread globally in two and sometimes three waves. Not all parts of the
| world or of a single country are expected to be severely affected at
| the same time. Social and economic disruptions could be temporary, but
| may be amplified in today's closely interrelated and interdependent
| systems of trade and commerce. Social disruption may be greatest when
| rates of absenteeism impair essential services, such as power,
| transportation, and communications.
|
| 9. Every country must be prepared.
|
| WHO has issued a series of recommended strategic actions for responding
| to the influenza pandemic threat. The actions are designed to provide
| different layers of defence that reflect the complexity of the evolving
| situation. Recommended actions are different for the present phase of
| pandemic alert, the emergence of a pandemic virus, and the declaration
| of a pandemic and its subsequent international spread.
|
| 10. WHO will alert the world when the pandemic threat increases.
|
| WHO works closely with ministries of health and various public health
| organizations to support countries' surveillance of circulating
| influenza strains. A sensitive surveillance system that can detect
| emerging influenza strains is essential for the rapid detection of a
| pandemic virus.
|
| Six distinct phases have been defined to facilitate pandemic
| preparedness planning, with roles defined for governments, industry,
| and WHO. The present situation is categorized as phase 3: a virus new
| to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one
| person to another.
|