I don't know about you guys, but I've been finding myself getting worked up about the avian flu lately. It's one thing to be "oh man, who knows it might turn out bad", like the normal person probobly reading the news, then kinda flick it off their shoulder. I on the other hand, it's become a big thing that I'm researching and looking for in the news. I'm finding myself looking up buying Tamiflu over the internet, being stunned by the 30 million killed last time, it's really getting to me. I'm really genuinely concerned about it, I believe more than the average person.

Is anyone else sharing these feelings about it? Am I just insane? Toys in the attic?

Can anyone tell me any comforting, reliable information about the flu?

"Normal Paranoia everyone in the universe gets it"
-Hitchhikers

STAY AWAY FROM BIRDS!

Shoot them! Shoot them!

I have no idea what this is. I'm not worried, and neither should you.

OMFG A SPARROW!

You're what...13? I'll be all over europe for a year in 7 months :P.

That is probably why I've never heard of it. That, and I don't live in Europe.

It's more likely to kill those who have a very strong immune system. When it detects the infection, the immune system ends up inflaming the lungs and basically suffocating you. So if you want to survive you should probably take immunosuppressants. And of course, you should probably live inside a bubble then.

No, it's not nearly that big of a deal. We'll be looking at the same number of deaths as the last one, which - as you mentioned - killed 30 million people. The fear mongering mass media chose to word it that way because... well, because they're a bunch of filthy fear mongerers. Our population is much, much higher now, so if it kills 30 million people we'll be looking at a much lower mortality rate (by percentage). I'm guessing that, if anything actually happens, you'll have as much chance catching this as you did SARS or West Nile.

But no, don't let me stop you from buying newspapers and miracle cures. After all, I'm sure those companies just exist to provide useful products and/or services to people and would never profit from spreading wild and unfounded rumors about mass death on the scale of the black plague.

Who's up for some fried chicken?

I love how the media makes this a huge deal.

I'm actually worried about it too. I was going to buy a bird last month and then I thought about the avian flu and got iffy on it. The thing is, we get shots for everything now and do just brush things like this off. But really...it's not healthy to worry about it either. There are people at our Wal-Mart here that go around wearing gloves and masks. See...now they're crazy.

Oh, and my grandfather was one of the first people in NJ to get West Nile. He was in his late 70s and lived (and he's completely normal...you wouldn't have guessed he had it.) So it's not all too far fetched to say it could happen to you. :p

(I ramble too much )

I seriously doubt a bird you bought from a pet store would carry a human-transmissable form of avian flu. I'd be more worried about catching it from a pet ferret, since ferrets and humans have the same influenza strains. And I'm not worried at all.

doesnt a bird need to sneeze in your eyeball before you get bird flu?

Why don we jus kill all the birds guys??????? then der won be no disease!!!!!


HAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, it really is silly. It's probably best I didn't get a bird though. I don't need any more pets.

I don't know about the bird flu, but I got pretty worked up when I started studying the end of the world. The fact the five completely unrelated sources came up with the year 2011 made me really screwed up for about a week. Kinda like your feeling with the bird flu, I think.

You just have to accept that whatever happens will happen. Maybe you can't stop a global event, but you can be ready for it in you mind/heart/emergency readiness kit.

[QUOTE=Mr. Stafford]doesnt a bird need to sneeze in your eyeball before you get bird flu?[/QUOTE]<3

because this is supposed to be the last 13 year cycle that the mayan calendar goes too. But it ends sometime late 2012.. not really sure what you mean by 2011 though.

for god's sake it isnt even transmissable between humans yet. dont worry about catching the captain trips/super flu. it just ain't gonna happen.

I don't know why anybody living in a western country would worry about that. Unless you plan on travelling to somewhere in southern China to check out local chicken farms. Then worry a little bit.

Poor poor bird lady from home alone 2.

At this point, the flu is not transmissible to humans I believe. So you could be around birds and be fine. The problem is that the virus can mutate, which is what happened in the 1918 flu epidemic apparently. Once the virus mutates, then it becomes a problem.

Everything about 30 million dead is worst-case scenario. There's a chance it won't leap directly to humans and mutate.

Apathy towards doom is the win.

Not worried yet.

I hear that if you get the bird flu, your eyes start bleeding, you begin to grow black postules in your armpits and rectum, the skin begins to become discolored, and one begins to develop spontaneous spats of controllable urination and defication. Also, there is massive internal hemorraging due to the the weakening of the bladder and intestinal walls from the massive diahrea that soon begins. Th result it bloody messy defication, both within and without of the victim. In the latter stages, one begins to convulse uncontrollably, then a cold, freezing sensation takes over your body. The sweat pores become agitated and you begin to sweat profusely as you lose your vision and ability speak, leaving you to die of spinal injuries cold, blind, wet, and alone. But that's just what I hear, I'm no doctor.

Most sources say that the bird flu strains have not reached a level where it can progress from human to human, thus evolving into a human-oriented flu as opposed to a flu that primarily affects birds. Meesa not worried at all for now.

Meh, BSE isn't that great of a problem. It will be the same with avian flu. If you're worried, don't eat any chicken.
And there's already an inoculation available.

Were all going to die!


...tomorrow


/procrastinating prophet of doom

They are coming!

You know, I heard that too...oh snap, I'm sweating red around my eyes again. BRB guys. *Never comes back*

You'd be better off cutting poultry out of your diet and avoiding direct contact with birds than wasting your money buying some crap over the internet.

It's really not a big deal; the media just sensationalizes everything.

He does not have the bird flu.

if anyone has any questions as to how the avian flu was first transmitted to humans i have found the culprit!!!!

Chiiiiiill Winston.

The odds are more likely that you'll die in a car accident or from hepatitis than the avian flu. The huge amounts of hype will just make the pharmaceutical company that discovers a vaccine incredibly successful while there are far more threatening and pressing diseases at hand in developed western countries.

We must have to kill Harvey Birdman before this bird flu gets too out of hand.

WHOOOOOO IS THE CAT WITH THE BEEEEAAAAKKKK.