CMan0 writes "The BBC reports that a deadly version of the bird flu has been found in Romania. Several ducks and chickens have died on a farm in Romania this month of the disease, it has been confirmed. It's mentioned that the disease is spreading very rapidly, as the last known location of the disease was Siberia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan in August and the 1st of October in Turkey." From the article: "People appear dazed by what is happening, but since it was confirmed that this is the strain of the bird flu virus found in Asia, they have begun co-operating closely with officials sent to collect their birds, our correspondent says. Turkey has already reported the discovery of the lethal strain of the virus among birds in the west of the country. The EU has banned imports of live birds and poultry products from Romania and Turkey. EU veterinary experts said on Friday that the bird flu outbreak did not represent a risk to the general public 'at present'." Deadly Version of Bird Flu Found in Romania Log in/Create an Account | Top | 336 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 336 comments 0: 324 comments 1: 238 comments 2: 172 comments 3: 46 comments 4: 19 comments 5: 10 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Uh oh.. (Score:1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, @10:17AM (#13803036) First famine.Then Tsunami.Then Flood and earthquake.Now a plauge.Which part of the bible is this again? [ Reply to ThisRe:Uh oh.. by ZippyKitty (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @10:24AMRe:Uh oh.. by Vihai (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:25AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Every part! (Score:5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 16, @10:31AM (#13803126) There have always been famines, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes in any given year. Very convenient for those that think the end is near. They always think the end is near. The end has never been near. The Bible is just an early example of a news outlet that wants eyeballs. And if you want eyeballs, if it bleeds it leads. The bird flu is a big problem, but I think the threat to humans is over-hyped by the media. Remember all those stories last year during the vaccine shortage that had all those geezers in long lines? How did that hype-fest turn out? [ Reply to This | Parent Re:Every part! (Score:4, Funny) by Average_Joe_Sixpack (534373) on Sunday October 16, @10:49AM (#13803233) Very convenient for those that think the end is near. They always think the end is near. The end has never been near. You just wait another 4 billion years pal! The sun is going to go ape shit and swallow the earth in a blaze of superheated plasma ... then we doom and gloomers will be right there to say "told you so!" [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Every part! by Lussarn (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:02AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Media Hype-fest by jim_v2000 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:41AMRe:Media Hype-fest by antifoidulus (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:08PMRe:Media Hype-fest by justins (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:59PMRe:Media Hype-fest by Znork (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:02PMRe:Media Hype-fest by Cili (Score:1) Monday October 17, @12:06AMRe:Media Hype-fest by Schemat1c (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:57PMRe:Media Hype-fest by Schemat1c (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @08:10PMRight wing loons said the same thing about Clinton by ccmay (Score:2) Monday October 17, @12:11AMRe:Right wing loons said the same thing about Clin by Schemat1c (Score:2) Monday October 17, @12:25AMRe:Right wing loons said the same about Clinton by ccmay (Score:2) Monday October 17, @12:47AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Every part! by megarich (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @02:17PM2 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:Every part! by roguenine2000 (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @02:48PMRe:Every part! by bigberk (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @05:34PMRe:Every part! by Cro Magnon (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @07:48PMRe:Every part! by uncoveror (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:03PMWhoa! Easy champ! by rinkjustice (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @06:58PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.2 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:Uh oh.. by marsperson (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:48AMRe:Uh oh.. by Alomex (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:49AM Nothing new under the sun (Score:5, Informative) by euthman (209060) <uthman@airmail.net> on Sunday October 16, @11:03AM (#13803295) (http://web2.airmail.net/uthman/) Millennialsists love to fixate on the natural ebb and flow of disasters to give credence to their nutty prophecies of the End of the World. In fact, what we are seeing now is nothing new, and much worse plagues have occurred in post-Biblical times:The Plague of Justinian was possibly the most devastating pestilence of the ancient world. Lasting fifty years, it arrived in the Imperial capital, Constantinople, in 542 A.D. Mortality in the city reached as high as 10,000 per day. Ships were loaded with the dead, towed out to sea, and abandoned. Fortification towers were unroofed, filled with corpses, then re-roofed.The most famous pandemic was the Black Death, which, like a lot of the perturbations that perennially rattled the cage of Western Civilization (Aryans, Mongols, Huns, Turks, gunpowder, etc) originated in Asia. From 1346 to 1361, the epidemic killed up to one-third of the population of Europe.The last pandemic ravaged Europe in the seventeenth century and is best known to us as the Plague of London, 1665-66. This is the one chronicled by Samuel Pepys in his diary (which most of us didn't mind reading in high school because of all the sexual content). Since the printing press was now available, this was the first epidemic in which the populace was kept thoroughly informed of the latest in cutting-edge medical knowledge. One pamphlet informed its readers that the plague was caused by "eating radishes, a cat catter wouling, immoderate eating of caviare and anchovies, tame pigeons that flew up and down an alley, and drinking strong heady beer." Rumors that syphilis prevented the disease caused the gentlemen of London to storm local houses of ill-repute. English physicians apparently knew better; many just left the country. [ Reply to This | Parent Re:Nothing new under the sun (Score:4, Informative) by DingerX (847589) on Sunday October 16, @11:55AM (#13803577) (Last Journal: Saturday September 10, @08:26AM) Heh. Funny, somewhere on my harddrive I have my old transcription a sermon by Pope Clement VI in the fall of 1348. His message was much the same, although his historical list of plagues was somewhat longer (and, oddly enough, his accounts were slightly less fictitious than the parent): "remember the plague of justinian and all the others before that; this isn't the end of the world folks." Pandemics like the plague are quite commonly preceded by epizootics. The virus or bacillus multiplies itself over and over again. All it needs to kill lots of humans is a vector. It's one mutation away, and each day that it spreads through the bird/pig/human population, is one more day it gets that chance to find it. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Nothing new under the sun by patternjuggler (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:14PMRe:Nothing new under the sun by arron_nz (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:08PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Faith the Fear by Doc Ruby (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:49AMRe:Faith the Fear by Doc Ruby (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @08:23PMRe:Uh oh.. by FidelCatsro (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:51AMRe:Uh oh.. by wealthychef (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @12:13PMRe:Uh oh.. by ozmanjusri (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:36PMRe:Uh oh.. by slashdotmsiriv (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @01:44PM Re:Uh oh.. (Score:4, Insightful) by CAIMLAS (41445) on Sunday October 16, @05:08PM (#13805386) (http://benjamin.hodgens.net/ | Last Journal: Friday February 21, @02:08PM) Well, Biblical "end times" are supposed to be rife with anarchy, disease, famine, and natural disasters. Looks like we -might- be on the pinacle of such events, if indeed things start getting worse.On the other hand, there's a group of people that thinks the book of Revelations in the Bible is merely a very insightful template for the eb and flow of government: a very dramatic example of how a typical government falls appart and a new one comes into its place, including the political/social impressions of the events as well. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Hehehe... yer green young'un by FidelCatsro (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:10PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.5 replies beneath your current threshold. The locals aren't helping (Score:5, Insightful) by confusion (14388) on Sunday October 16, @10:18AM (#13803037) (http://www.syslog.org/) Having the farmers hiding their birds from the government isn't helping. They're trying to protect their property, but in the end they'll end up causing many more to die.Also, with migratory ducks and swallows (of the laden variety), we're going to see this all over europe in the coming weeks.Jerryhttp://www.cyvin.org/ [cyvin.org] [ Reply to ThisRe:The locals aren't helping by Alex P Keaton in da (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:25AMRe:The locals aren't helping by WindBourne (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:49AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:The locals aren't helping by Crayon Kid (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:42AMRe:The locals aren't helping by krewemaynard (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:32AMYou got it wrong by andersh (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:46PMRe:You got it wrong by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @03:55PMOf course, you wouldn't by andersh (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @05:55PMRe:The locals aren't helping by afd8856 (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:08AMRe:The locals aren't helping by drgonzo59 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:21PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold.Don't Panic by goombah99 (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @10:56AMRe:Don't Panic by AmigaAvenger (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:18AM Re:Don't Panic ( not yet anyway... ) (Score:4, Insightful) by Macka (9388) on Sunday October 16, @11:25AM (#13803400) Unless you are a poultry worker or otherwise handle wild fowl you are not at risk. This disease is spread bird to man but not man to man.Not yet. But what's keeping the scientists and politicians across Europe awake at night is the possibility that someone already infected with human influenza will contract H5N1 and it will mutate. The message we're getting from the scientific community over here in Europe is that it's not a case of if, but when. Its being taken so seriously that here in the UK plans are already being explored by Government on what to do when the first cases of human to human transmitted H5N1 arrives. Depending on how fast the virus spreads and how fast we do or don't react to it, the death toll could be anywhere between 50,000 to 750,000 people. Here's another BBC Article [bbc.co.uk] on the subject, published just today !! [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Don't Panic ( not yet anyway... ) by h4rm0ny (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @03:23PMRe:Don't Panic by curious.corn (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:27AMNot a big fan of hunting, but... by benhocking (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:23PMRe:Not a big fan of hunting, but... by curious.corn (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @12:35PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Don't Panic by The Cookie Monster (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:41AMRe:Don't Panic by Angostura (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:25PMRe:Don't Panic by doktor-hladnjak (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:32PMRe:Don't Panic by The Cookie Monster (Score:2) Monday October 17, @12:44AMRe:Don't Panic by m50d (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:28PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Don't Panic by ptbarnett (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:29PMRe:Don't Panic by ptbarnett (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:33PMone case only by garyrich (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:57PMRe:one case only by ptbarnett (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @05:48PMRe:Don't Panic by JerkyBoy (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @01:20PMRe:Don't Panic by bookhappy (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @06:26PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:The locals aren't helping by jayminer (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:44AMRe:The locals aren't helping by hvatum (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @02:11PMRe:The locals aren't helping by gaspyy (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @05:00PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Delta of Danube (Score:5, Informative) by swatthatfly (808033) on Sunday October 16, @10:19AM (#13803040) (http://alexiancu.com/) It should be noted that the dead birds are from an area next to the Danube's Delta, which is the biggest delta of Europe, and where millions of wild birds from many species live or pass through on their migration route. It is therefore little surprise that such a busy nexus was touched by the virus. As far as I know, this particular virus was not thought to be dangerous to humans as such, but the possibility if it combining with the human version was the concern. [ Reply to ThisWhat I want to know is by CiXeL (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:25AMRe:What I want to know is by Iphtashu Fitz (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @10:45AMRe:Delta of Danube by alphan (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:37AMRe:Delta of Danube by ShyGuy91284 (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @10:37AMRe:Delta of Danube by Rocketship Underpant (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:02AMRe:Delta of Danube by giorgiofr (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @12:19PMGoogle on "plague aids immunity caucasian" by benhocking (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @12:30PMRe:Delta of Danube by Crayon Kid (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @03:03PMRe:Delta of Danube by Paradise Pete (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:28AM Re:Delta of Danube (Score:5, Informative) by JJP (26494) <.ln.tendnaleez. .ta. .pjj.> on Sunday October 16, @10:41AM (#13803178) The virus is dangerous to humans! It is the same H5N1 string of flu virus that has infected humans in South East Asia, claiming 60 lives. For now the virus can not spread from human to human. It could pose a serious threat if this virus infects someone who is also infected with a 'normal' flu virus. Exchange of genetic material between the human flu virus and the bird flu virus could form a new pathogenic flu virus and cause a pandemic. More info on the WHO web site: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2005_10_13/en/index.htm l [who.int]. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Delta of Danube by jim_v2000 (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:45AMRe:Delta of Danube by Qzukk (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:50AMRe:Delta of Danube by jim_v2000 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:53AMRe:Delta of Danube by Qzukk (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:17PMRe:Delta of Danube by david.given (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:16PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. What hype? Happens all the time. (Score:5, Informative) by tehanu (682528) on Sunday October 16, @11:56AM (#13803585) This exchange of genetic material between viruses is known as the "antigenic shift" and is believed to be the cause of influenza pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish Flu:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigenic_shift [wikipedia.org]"Antigenic shift is the process by which two different strains of influenza combine to form a new subtype having a mixture of the surface antigens of the two original strains. The term antigenic shift is specific to the influenza literature; in other viral systems, the same process is called reassortment or viral shift.Antigenic shift is contrasted with antigenic drift, which is the natural mutation over time of known strains of influenza (or other things, in a more general sense) to evade the immune system. Antigenic drift occurs in all types of influenza including influenza A, B and C. Antigenic shift, however, occurs only in influenza A because it infects more than just humans. Affected species include other mammals and birds, giving influenza A the opportunity for a major reorganization of surface antigens. Influenza B and C only infect humans, minimizing the chance to mutate drastically.Flu strains are named after their types of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase surface proteins, so they will be called, for example, H3N2 for type-3 hemagglutinin and type-2 neuraminidase. If two different strains of influenza infect the same cell simultaneously, their protein capsids and lipid envelopes are removed, exposing their RNA, which is then transcribed to DNA. The host cell then forms new viruses that combine antigens; for example, H3N2 and H5N1 can form H5N2 this way. Because the human immune system has difficulty recognizing the new influenza strain, it may be highly dangerous. Such combinations caused, for instance, the infamous Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918 which killed 40 million people worldwide. Influenza virus which have undergone antigenic shift have also gone on to cause the Asian Flu pandemic of 1957, the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968, and the Swine Flu scare of 1976."  [ Reply to This | ParentRe:What hype? Happens all the time. by jim_v2000 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:57AMRe:What hype? Happens all the time. by RingDev (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:33PMRe:What hype? Happens all the time. by Crayon Kid (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:56PMRe:What hype? Happens all the time. by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @03:32PMRe:What hype? Happens all the time. by lahvak (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @07:24PMEDITORS by WindBourne (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:30PMRe:EDITORS by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @12:53PMRe:EDITORS by RingDev (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:22PMRe:EDITORS by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:06PMRe:Delta of Danube by Trailwalker (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:47AMRe:Delta of Danube by patternjuggler (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:50PMRe:Delta of Danube by theCoder (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @02:40PMRe:Delta of Danube - So? by Peachy (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:03PMRe:Delta of Danube - So? by Tibor the Hun (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @06:39PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.2 replies beneath your current threshold. Newsflash (Score:5, Funny) by mordors9 (665662) on Sunday October 16, @10:21AM (#13803054) Ladies and gentlemen, we are awaiting the appearance of Chicken Little for her weekly news statement...... hold on..... word has just been released..... Chicken Little has been destroyed to prevent the spread of the avian flu after her recent visit to Romania. Perhaps this time the sky really is falling. [ Reply to This Oh no,,, (Score:3, Funny) by Destroyed (638744) on Sunday October 16, @10:22AM (#13803063) As much as I hate to hear about these things, I cant help but think "Oh no I just had a BIRD FLU over my house..." ah.. ahaha.. hehe... argh.. OK! I'll shut up! But it was funny last night when I was at the bar. [ Reply to This Service Degradation and Outages (Score:4, Funny) by RealBorg (549538) <thomasz@hostm[ ]er.org ['ast' in gap]> on Sunday October 16, @10:22AM (#13803065) (http://www.hostmaster.org/) I guess that will heavily affect RFC2549 services - IP over avian carrier. [ Reply to ThisDamn! by Winckle (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @10:50AMRe:Service Degradation and Outages by TheRaven64 (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @11:48AM Don't take BBC/CNN by real in this (Score:2, Offtopic) by stm2 (141831) <sbassi.asalup@org> on Sunday October 16, @10:23AM (#13803072) (http://www.bioinformatica.info/ | Last Journal: Thursday September 25, @09:04AM) Do you remember when CNN alerted about the super-computer virus that seems to be the end of the world?This could be the same, I suggest to follow specific sources instead of general news-media. With computer security, you now AV companies, Secunia, CERT and so on.For this, my bet is: http://www.fas.org/promed/ [fas.org] [ Reply to This Yes bet on the web page with Last Updated April 05 (Score:4, Interesting) by shis-ka-bob (595298) on Sunday October 16, @10:37AM (#13803158) This is a REAL virus, not a computer virus. Influenza can actually mutate (very fast because it uses RNA rather than DNA to encode its genome.) It may well be, and we must certainly hope, that this is not going to make the jump to our specie and also become highly contagious, in which case it becomes another pandemic. But, even if the odds are 100:1 against this happening, spending resources addressing this are well spent. In the last century, there have been multiple infuenza outbreaks. The largest of this in 1918 dwarfed the First World War as the leading cause of death in 1918. This is very high stakes.So forgive me if I am underwhelmed by a web site that quotes ten year old research papers and where the emerging deseases pages don't list (any strain) of influenza and hasn't been updated since April. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:Yes bet on the web page with Last Updated April by alx.slashdot (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @05:01PMRe:Yes bet on the web page with Last Updated April by shis-ka-bob (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:55PM3 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:Don't take BBC/CNN by real in this by StrawberryFrog (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:54AM Pathetic... (Score:3, Insightful) by Armadni General (869957) on Sunday October 16, @10:23AM (#13803073) This response in Europe can be eqated to the little dance that boxers and wrestlers always do before a fight, just circling around, testing each other, somewhat afraid to hit the other.So, if we don't hit the opponent, to the tune of billions of dollars of fast-track pharmaceutical research, and immediate and strict quarantines, we are going to get hit first, and it will cost us dearly.These bloody poultry farmers, solely financially motivated, need to be brought down off their high horses, and realize that this isn't Mad Cow. [ Reply to ThisRe:Pathetic... by afd8856 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @10:58AM1 reply beneath your current threshold. They're not on their "high horses". (Score:5, Interesting) by CyricZ (887944) on Sunday October 16, @11:23AM (#13803391) The poultry farmers aren't just motivated by money. Poultry to them, especially in some of these poorer nations, is what provides them their ability to live.I don't think you would like it much if your nation's government came along, proceeding to confiscate and destroy your computers, even those running Linux or OS X, to prevent the spread of a computer worm. Now remember, you most likely could get by without your computers, unlike many of the poultry farmers.Perhaps the richer countries should purchase these birds at market prices, and then proceed to destroy them. It gives the farmers incentive to get rid of the birds, and helps ensure a greater number are destroyed. It costs a bit of money, but probably far less than if the flu were to spread. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:They're not on their "high horses". by kv9 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @12:39PM It's even worse than that... (Score:5, Insightful) by benjamindees (441808) <slashdot@@@deesconsulting...com> on Sunday October 16, @12:49PM (#13803909) (http://slashdot.org/) Not only can't many of these farmers survive without their livestock, they probably can't be replaced. At best, they'll be replaced with the genetic freaks that are common in commercial agriculture in the industrialized world. At worst, most of the farmers will go out of business and be forced into cities and factories, to be replaced by a large agribusiness concern.So-called "heirloom" breeds, animals well-suited for small farms because of their survival instincts and ability to reproduce, are quickly becoming a thing of the past. And it's more than just economics that is the cause.The developed world is waging agricultural warfare on the developing world. One of the first targets in Iraq (accidentally of course) was a seed bank, containing thousands of species of irreplacabale genetic material, the lifeblood of agricultural progress and a threat to the manufactured livestock of agribusiness and rising biotech companies. Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me if the "bird flu" crisis were as manufactured as the reasons for the Iraq war.Of course, it's not that these unique agricultural products can't be re-discovered, with the help of big genetics corporations of course. But those corporations certainly won't recover a genetic trait or a unique species without a licensing agreement, and yearly fees. Thus, the small farm is destroyed, by hook or by crook, and its operators forced either into urban life or having their profits perpetually taxed away by agribusiness. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:It's even worse than that... by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:14PMCan we PLEASE stop with the conspiracy theories??? by calculadoru (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @09:05PMRe:It's even worse than that... by deglr6328 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:45PMRe:They're not on their "high horses". by Armadni General (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @01:19PMRe:They're not on their "high horses". by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:31PMRe:They're not on their "high horses". by h4rm0ny (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @04:35PM2 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:Pathetic... by TedCheshireAcad (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:31AM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Pathetic... by symbolic (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:47PM Very good pun! (Score:3, Funny) by XXIstCenturyBoy (617054) on Sunday October 16, @10:25AM (#13803087) Turkey has the bird flu? /thats all I have. Not very good after all. [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold. Oh No. (Score:1, Insightful) by ObsessiveMathsFreak (773371) <obsessivemathsfreak@@@eircom...net> on Sunday October 16, @10:26AM (#13803096) (Last Journal: Wednesday March 30, @12:38PM) Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!!! There's a slight possibilty that this virus could mutate to pass from a bird to a human. And if that happens there's a slight possibilty that the virus could then mutate to pass from human to human. And if that happens there's a slight chance of a pandemic along the lines of the 1918 spanish influenza occuring, which had nothing to do with Spain, and the fact that it achieved such a high death count in the very year WWI ended was entirely coincidental. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN JUST AS DEADLY REGARDLESS!!I call bull on the bird flu hype. It's likely this disease has been around for a much longer time that it has been fashionable to run frantic news reports on it.You know the hype is overblown just a wee bit when the government has to tell people to calm down. [bbc.co.uk]Take a Lemsip, chicken soup(no pun intended), some antibiotics, get a lot of rest and you'll be fine. I'm 99.9% certain. Remember SARS? Yeah, it's kind of hard to trust the doomsayers after that paticular fiasco.Bird Flu. Give me a break. Fatal Traffic Accidentitus. Now THERE'S a killer. 40,000 every year in the US alone. Are you scared to sit into your car every morning? You aren't!?! [ Reply to This Re:Oh No. (Score:4, Informative) by elleomea (749084) on Sunday October 16, @10:44AM (#13803202) (http://linux.mikeasoft.com/) H5N1 the strain of avian flu that has people so worried has been infecting humans since 1997 and has a mortality rate of over 50% (after having infected a total of around 120 people). Since 1997 it's been combatted by massive cullings in all areas where outbreaks have been found (among birds). Currently it can only infect humans directly from birds through eating undercooked poultry. What people are worrying about is a strain that can be transmitted directly between humans, this has yet to happen. [ Reply to This | ParentActually... it has seen Human-Human transmission by Genady (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @10:59AMRe:Actually... it has seen Human-Human transmissio by elleomea (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:44AMRe:Oh No. by jim_v2000 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:49AMRe:Oh No. by justins (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:46PMRe:Oh No. by Sven Tuerpe (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:59AMRe:Oh No. by bergeron76 (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @03:53PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Oh No. by justins (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:37PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Oh No. by Crayon Kid (Score:3) Sunday October 16, @10:49AMRe:Oh No. by halleluja (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:09AMRe:Oh No. by LeFaux (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:38AMRe:Oh No. by tinytim (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @12:43PMRe:Oh No. by justins (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:49PMRe:Oh No. by fbjon (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @08:01PMRe:Oh No. by Bonhamme Richard (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:30AMRe:Oh No. by photon317 (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:25PMRe:Oh No. by justins (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:31PMRe:Oh No. by patternjuggler (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:48PMRe:Oh No. by GoofyBoy (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @01:54PMAntibiotics? by StefanJ (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:03PMRe:Oh No. by Tibor the Hun (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @02:47PMRe:Oh No - Antibiotics by hexdcml (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @06:25PMRe:Oh No. by isorox (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @10:53AMRe:Oh No. by wang33 (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @11:59AMRe:Oh No. by MarkTina (Score:1) Sunday October 16, @08:43PM6 replies beneath your current threshold. Flu Wiki (Score:3, Informative) by PIPBoy3000 (619296) on Sunday October 16, @10:29AM (#13803114) There's a Flu Wiki [fluwikie.com] that's a good starting point for information about avian influenza. For people who want to follow the news more closely, they can wander over to this discussion board [curevents.com]. [ Reply to This Double "huh"? (Score:4, Insightful) by jpellino (202698) on Sunday October 16, @10:30AM (#13803124) (a) no surprises yet - you can't stop migrating birds - especially during migration season;(b) if /. is the place you're finally hearing about this - we need to talk. [ Reply to ThisRe:Double "huh"? by Ironsides (Score:2) Sunday October 16, @11:59AM First create a scare (Score:1)