bird flu? a load of rubbish!?

Question

my english teacher told me that it is scientifically proven that u cannot get birdflu unless u sleep with the chickens and birds for a week. was bird flu trying to scare everyone? or was it true?

Answer 1

oh yeah we were all supposed to be dead by now.

maybe the russian winter will kill us all off instead.

its the newspapers blowing everything out of proportion

Answer 2

Firstly your english teacher is an idiot :)

Bird flu has so far been contracted in lower class countries, such as Indonesia (as an Australian I hear about the deaths in Indo more often than elsewhere). So far I think the Avian Flu has killed at least 200+ people.

Bird Flu has so far been contracted by people who don't have santitary systems in place like the developed countries, thus chickens are sold on the street or eaten straight out of the backyard. A few suspicious deaths have been linked between family members that have NOT both eaten the chickens, yet contracted Avian Flu (Bird Flu) which has prompted theories on human-to-human transmission, although no such confirmation as yet.

Avian Flu is a real threat....it may not happen in the next year but scientists around the globe are reporting it'll come....just don't know when. The danger is in the Bird Flu (which can so far only be transmitted directly to humans from birds) will mutate (as many forms of Flu do often) and become human-to-human transmittable like any other flu we already have around.

No - it's not a scare. Deaths are still being reported. General Media doesn't report it but if you look for it you'll find it. Note that if human-to-human does occur, vaccines will not be readily available and it will take a minimum of 3 months to die off.

Answer 3

Bird flu is definitely real. Your teacher is right in that so far, all cases have been caused by close contact with infected birds---mainly their droppings and so on.
I live in Thailand, where many people have died from bird flu. The people who have died have been people who actually live with the birds in their houses, yards, etc., or people who have cleaned out chicken coops (droppings, again.) Other human cases in Thailand have been in men who raise fighting cocks. This sounds gross, but when the roosters fight and get all bloody and such, the men pick up the birds and actually suck out the blood and mucus from the bird's beak. Disgusting, yes, but that is what they do. No big surpirse they get bird flu from that.
The danger is when/if the flu virus mutates. ALL flus in existence originally came from either birds or pigs. The flu that killed MILLIONS of people in 1918-1919 was a mutated form of bird flu.
So, yes, people unduly panic in a way (for instance, there have been absolutely no cases of anyone getting bird flu from cooked chicken meat or eggs, EVEN IF the bird did have bird flu...). However, the real worry is the mutation of the current H5N1 virus into a form that is easier for people to get, and then to go to a human-to-human transmission form---THATS what the scientific community is worried about.

Answer 4

Hello,

The problem here is that its hard to seperate real facts & reality from media scare stories.

**The facts are clear, a) Bird flu is a real condition BUT at this point in time ONLY affects birds as a species. b) In poultry bird flu is infectious so is capable of being spread large and wide. c) Bird flu does kill birds.

**Other points a) Scientists & vets have known about bird flu for a very long time, its not new at all. b) preventative measures can easily be taken to avoid bird flu being spread.

**Fact, only about 60-70 people have died from bird flu world wide in the last 3-4 years.

**The people who have died from catching bird flu, only caute it because they were in especially close daily contact with poultary. Such as picking up the birds, or breathing in the flu organism from intimate contact. Or where conditions are especially dirty i.e. unhygenic.

**The press & media have wipped up a huge amount of fear about the bird flu infection humans & causing a world wide pandemic. By the flu jumping the species barrier.

Whilst there remains a VERY small chance for avian flu to jump the species gap to humans its NOT very likley as far as I can see. The fear is based on a what if scenario!!

IR

Answer 5

Maybe. The politicians made a complete **** up of mad cow disease and the last foot and mouth outbreak and i think that they panicked and over re-acted about avian flu.

You will have noticed also that the press are more interested in how bad Tony Blair is performing and whether he will go to jail for offering bribes.

Answer 6

first how and why would you want to sleep with chickens and birds ?.and second the bird flu is real a couple thousand people died from it . do believe your teacher believe what you see and what is real

Answer 7

a load of rubbish

Answer 8

media hype