Asia holds its collective breath over bird flu threat for 2005

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/122182/1/.html

BANGKOK: Chilling warnings about an inevitable global influenza pandemic that could kill millions signal more turmoil to come after a grim year in Asia when nations weary from fighting SARS faced a new foe in bird flu.

Countries and their governments from Thailand to Korea are holding their collective breath to see if the infectious diseases would throttle 2005 much as they shook the region this year, when 32 people died of bird flu in Thailand and Vietnam and Asian poultry industries were sent into a tailspin.

Experts say avian influenza, the health world's unwanted carpet-bagger for 2004, has entrenched itself in much of Asia and is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

"I think bird flu is going to continue to be a concern, and by all approaches it looks like it has become endemic in eight or nine countries in the region and the chances it will be eradicated are slim," Scott Dowell of the US Centres for Disease Control told AFP.

This year saw two major outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, which slammed Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with less virulent strains also hitting parts of the United States, Canada, Pakistan and Taiwan.

Believed to be transmitted through contact with bird droppings, the speed of the virus's spread and its adaptation to a form that can be carried by pigs and cats had shown conditions were ripe for a devastating pandemic........

The article (it is quite a bit long than the initial posted paragraphs) gives an overview of reasons why a devastating pandemic is expected. The overview was sparked in part by new H5N1 isolates from

Thailand

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_Wild_Birds_Thailand.html

Indonesia

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5N1_Indonesia.html

and Hong Kong

http://www.recombinomics.com/H5_Hong_Kong.html

all reported in the past couple of days and all indicating 2005 will be a VERY bad year.

with a human flu virus that can be caught by the pigs at the same time the pigs have the bird flu. Then it can be transmitted to humans and from human to human.

Let's hope for the best
:scared:

You just keep starting new threads, but don't directly respond to ANY questions? The more you do this, the more you make me wonder what your gig is - why not give it a try? Why do you wander the internet posting all these pronouncements of doom w/links pumping your website & nothing else? Curious minds would like to know.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

pandemic_1918 - Just out of curiosity, why do you only seem to post here & at freeperland only @ flu? It's kinda odd, are you Niman? Do you have some kind of financial interest in Recombinomics marketing plan?


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1290201/posts

http://www.recombinomics.com/patents.html

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?mode ...

http://finance.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&action=m&b ...


googled - http://www.google.com/search?q=pandemic_1918&num=100&hl ...

I didn't write the article, I am commenting on it and other flu pandemic stories. What would you expect from pandemic_1918? Why do you keep following me around, copying and pasting the same post?

The lack of info at this site is quite remarkable. I'm providing answers for lost souls :-).

I thought it would be better to do it now, than when people are hiding under the beds asking if it is safe to come out now.

I thought it was useful to post new stories rather than argue with those who just aren't paying attention and don't want anyone else to either.