People should be concerned and governments should be taking actions. And people in US should be concerned their government is lagging in preparation. Let me give some facts.
The flu from 1918 (the Spanish Influenza) had a mortality rate b/w 2.5% and 5%. It killed over 20 mil people and virtually all people on earth had had it at one point. It circled the globe in less than 6 months. Thats in 1918. It is determined that it was an avian flu strain as well. All the flu viruses that we get each year are thought to be a variant of the spanish Influenza virus, to which we have some immunity and therefore the body's immune system reacts faster. The H5N1 (avian flu) has a mortality rate of over 50% so far! I dont know if you realize what that means. 50% combined with the way flu viruses spread. In a matter of 3-4 weeks we could have a third of the US population getting sick with half of that third dying! You do the math. And the hospitals and the medicine stockpiles will last you for about nothing. The vaccine being developed for it is promissing but there is no guarantee it will work on the strain that will cause the pandemic. Here is a twist. To mass-produce a flu vaccine, companies use chicken eggs. But its an avian flu and kills chickens. So that doesnt go smoothly. Other methods of producing vacines are years away and still in research. There are 2 drugs that can help you fight it - Tamiflu and Relenza. Latest reports are that H1N5 is showing resitence to Tamiflu. In Japan, where Tamiflu is wildly used for fighting regular flu, reistence rate is also high and raising. Government estimates we have enough stockpiles of Tamiflu to threat only 2 million people with another 800k on the way and 2.5 on order. You want more bad news? They all work fine and dandy if you are already taking them as preventive measure *before* you get sick. If you get sick and start taking them, their effectiveness drops becuase the multiplication rate of the virus is so high (Tamiflu works by blocking a key protein of the virus (neuraminidase) which is involved in the spreading of the virus).
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this become a law. The effects would be so disasterous it will set a precedent for years to come and will prevent similiar attempts to tax storage in other countries.
Slashdot Mirror
if it moves, it's biology. If it doesn't work, it's physics.
And if it does neither, its time for some viagra
It applies in Iraq. Oh you meant outside of US territories. My bad.
Ah no! I do not want to see my long-forgotten food stand up and walk around the fridge. Its pupulish color give me enough chills.
People should be concerned and governments should be taking actions. And people in US should be concerned their government is lagging in preparation. Let me give some facts. The flu from 1918 (the Spanish Influenza) had a mortality rate b/w 2.5% and 5%. It killed over 20 mil people and virtually all people on earth had had it at one point. It circled the globe in less than 6 months. Thats in 1918. It is determined that it was an avian flu strain as well. All the flu viruses that we get each year are thought to be a variant of the spanish Influenza virus, to which we have some immunity and therefore the body's immune system reacts faster. The H5N1 (avian flu) has a mortality rate of over 50% so far! I dont know if you realize what that means. 50% combined with the way flu viruses spread. In a matter of 3-4 weeks we could have a third of the US population getting sick with half of that third dying! You do the math. And the hospitals and the medicine stockpiles will last you for about nothing. The vaccine being developed for it is promissing but there is no guarantee it will work on the strain that will cause the pandemic. Here is a twist. To mass-produce a flu vaccine, companies use chicken eggs. But its an avian flu and kills chickens. So that doesnt go smoothly. Other methods of producing vacines are years away and still in research. There are 2 drugs that can help you fight it - Tamiflu and Relenza. Latest reports are that H1N5 is showing resitence to Tamiflu. In Japan, where Tamiflu is wildly used for fighting regular flu, reistence rate is also high and raising. Government estimates we have enough stockpiles of Tamiflu to threat only 2 million people with another 800k on the way and 2.5 on order. You want more bad news? They all work fine and dandy if you are already taking them as preventive measure *before* you get sick. If you get sick and start taking them, their effectiveness drops becuase the multiplication rate of the virus is so high (Tamiflu works by blocking a key protein of the virus (neuraminidase) which is involved in the spreading of the virus).
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this become a law. The effects would be so disasterous it will set a precedent for years to come and will prevent similiar attempts to tax storage in other countries.
What?