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Warning, the H1N1 and H5N1 viruses could rule the world at the same time. Because the Swine flu H1N1 is hogging the Headlines, no one thinks about the H5N1 bird flu anymore. I hate to be the bearer of bad news; however, some strains of the H5N1 are getting milder creating a dangerous scenario. That scenario has the H1N1 and the H5N1 infecting people worldwide at the same time. |
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I am not aware of two major pandemic flu strains terrorizing the planet at the same time in the past. I hope that this will not be the first time. Many people say the phrase “it is what it is” whenever an unpleasant scenario comes along. I think we should hope for the best but prepare for the worse. The bird flu H5N1 virus will continue to evolve no matter what the H1N1 swine flu does. Believe me the World Health Organization is watching the situation in Egypt and Indonesia very closely. All viruses’ main goal is to spread to the largest number of people as it can. The challenge for everyone today is to be ready for the H1N1 swine flu and the H5N1 bird flu if this scenario does occur. There are strains of the virus in some areas that could start the problem. In China 2009 for example, people got the virus it seemed without contact from birds. Experts thought that the vaccines to fight the germ hid the symptoms. Sick birds with no symptoms could carry the virus. In addition, maintain it while it changed. A major way to fight the H5N1 germ is to kill all poultry that show signs of the germ. With no signs of the disease, a major weapon we use to contain it is lost. Its spread would become much easier. People would eat the bad meat. Control of the disease would be much harder. Infected birds would fly to other areas infecting other birds. In an article April 8, 2009 (Reuters) In Egypt,
WHO (The World Health Organization) was concerned about people carrying
the virus without symptoms. They are testing to see if it exists. Human
carriers that do not have symptoms would be a nightmare and would help the
virus spread. "The emergence of symptom less human carriers of the virus would be a
worrisome development because it could allow the virus, undetected and
untreated, more time to mutate inside the human body, Jabbour
said." "If there is any sub clinical case in Egypt, the aim is to treat immediately to stop the reproduction of the virus. Because whether (through) mutation or reassortment, this will lead to the pandemic strain," he said. Two out of 11 cases of bird flu this year were adults all of them lived. Last year there were 7 cases’ mostly adult. And three of them died. The cases to death ratios are important. Why are the adults in Egypt now living more than last year? These numbers show WHO CASE DEATH rates on March 30, 2009. Total number of cases includes
number of deaths. The WHO reports only laboratory-confirmed cases. These numbers are worldwide.
I reported a story of interest on my blog at flustop.blogspot.com on March 28, 2009: KNOCK, KNOCK who’s there. A pandemic. Could be at our Doorstep? Health experts in Garut, West Java Province reported 46 cases of bird flu in humans up to March 23. Four people passed away. And 36 people lived. Suddenly you have four die out of 40 a death rate of 10%. By far this is the lowest death rate in the world for the H5N1 virus. That is except the recent report in Egypt. The numbers in Garut were by sources in Indonesia and were not confirmed WHO cases. The 11.1% death rate in Egypt shows that their flu strain is clearly different from Viet Nam's flu strain, which has a death of 100% this year. Most people would think that a higher survival rate is a good thing.
However, it shows that the virus is getting more dangerous. In the 1918,
Spanish Flu Pandemic the H1N1 germ killed 2.5% of those who caught it.
A pandemic virus spreads easily. It is hard to detect. A mild virus that is less deadly can hide not killing its host. A dead host cannot pass the germ. A live host without symptoms can spread it for a longer period. The mild virus infects more because people keep doing what they normally do. In a report on Mar 31, 2009 (CIDRAP News’) "H5N1 Virus may be adapting to pigs in Indonesia" tells the story of the virus becoming more mild to humans. Experts think the flu germs from Indonesian pigs are milder to mice than from chickens. They believe the germ may be less hostile to humans. Their test means the virus has made a jump closer to causing a pandemic. They report their findings in the Archives of Virology. Pigs can be good middle man host helping the bird flu adjusts to humans. Pigs do not show signs of having the bird flu. They can pass a strain of the germ to those who have contact with them. People have gotten a virus from pigs in the past. The flu pandemics of 1957-58 and 1968-69 were caused by bird flu-human hybrid viruses. We do not know if it came from pigs or not. The bottom line is the H5N1 flu virus is now more
mild. But it is more DANGEROUS! Free H1N1 Manual. 165 pages Interactive and
Multimedia. Helps you Learn Quick and Easy How to protect Yourself from
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