good question, i would tend to think, and this may just be wishful thinking, that the virus would not be able to survive the processing ---but what do I know? it would be worth checking out some more official sources
Im more concerned with all these bird migratory routes that I am unfamiliar with. I ( just me again) would think that is only a matter of time before some seabird jumps across the Bering straits and starts infecting birds in North America, unless some importer brings an infected bird here first.
The virus won't be in your fish. They call it "Chicken of the Sea" as an advertisement jingle, that's all. Last I heard tuna wasn't "avian".
Seriously, your stuff is safe. It's person to person transmission which will cause a pandemic, and so far, there is no evidence that the virus can move from one person to another.
Okay, I may be showing my ignorance here, but I have to ask anyway. . . what makes this particular virus scarier, more potentially dangerous, or more likely to cause a pandemic than numerous other viruses?
For example - West Niles virus, which is already in the U.S. and is transmitted through mosquetos. It kills birds, makes people sick, and has already caused the death of a number of people whose immune systems were already compromised somehow. Couldn't that virus just as easily mutate and cause a pandemic?
There is also now a "dog flu" which thus far is not transmittable to people, but what's to say it won't mutate and become deadly to us?
Or even a simple cold virus that mutates?
Why this particular bug, why now? How is it different?
Also - isn't messing with tamaflu potentially increasing the likelihood that a virus will mutate and become resistant or stronger? More virulent?
I read the news stories and it seems we are boardering on panic/hysteria over this one particular virus. I am not trying to "downplay" the potential seriousness of it, I am simply trying to understand why this particular virus has us more concerned than some of the many other viruses.
It's really hard to make sense out of this! Bacteria and viruses have their own ways of making a living, and they all do it differently.
For example - West Niles virus, which is already in the U.S. and is transmitted through mosquito's. It kills birds, makes people sick, and has already caused the death of a number of people whose immune systems were already compromised somehow. Couldn't that virus just as easily mutate and cause a pandemic?
No, Morgan, not this one. Mosquito's do infect humans with this virus, but in order to cause a pandemic, this virus would have to active during the entire year. It dies off in mosquito's during the winter. The birds still have it, but mosquito's don't survive the winter as adults, so each spring and summer, a new crop of mosquito's collects the virus from the crows is draws blood from, and we start again. Of course the number of crows infected grows, but that won't cause west nile to travel from person to person.
Some viruses don't seem to ever become able to pass from human to human. Malaria is transported by mosquitoes too, but so far, the only known humans who have ever gotten malaria have gotten in trough a mosquito. Part of the life cycle of the malaria virus takes place in the mosquito and part takes place in the human. Both mosquitoes and warm blood creatures are needed for malaria to continue to exist.
So far as I've been able to determine, it is most reasonable that another pandemic of some type of flue is most likely to come from Asia, probably China. The reason for this is cultural. People live in close proximity to birds, especially chickens and ducks. It is believed that when a particular fowl, most generally history indicates it's a duck, has both a human flu virus and an avian flu virus at the same time in it's body, there may be some exchanges of viral info which would allow the virus to now infect humans by means of another human.
That is when a pandemic will begin. If and when a virus is able to spread from human to human. Over the long course of what we know of of the history of these pathogens, this kind of "crossing over" is quite rare. There have been several times where I did occur, but in terms of the number of bird -bird and bird-human contacts, the ability to acquire this ability to spread from human to human is rare.
I don't know if this addresses your concerns or not, but I hope so.
Although the conditions seem ripe for this virus to mutate so that it can spread from human to human, it hasn't yet and it might not.
I'm all in favor of preparing for the worst, but I still believe in the power of prayer. I'm sure I'm not the only one prayin' that this sucker doesn't mutate.
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mstar1
New look Tom?-the tux suits you well--
good question, i would tend to think, and this may just be wishful thinking, that the virus would not be able to survive the processing ---but what do I know? it would be worth checking out some more official sources
Im more concerned with all these bird migratory routes that I am unfamiliar with. I ( just me again) would think that is only a matter of time before some seabird jumps across the Bering straits and starts infecting birds in North America, unless some importer brings an infected bird here first.
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krys
The virus won't be in your fish. They call it "Chicken of the Sea" as an advertisement jingle, that's all. Last I heard tuna wasn't "avian".
Seriously, your stuff is safe. It's person to person transmission which will cause a pandemic, and so far, there is no evidence that the virus can move from one person to another.
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Belle
I dunno, Krys. Didn't Jessica Simpson say that was "chicken" of the sea? Shouldn't we be concerned? It must be true! She's too pretty to lie to us. ;)
Seriously, what about the factory workers over there? Someone comes to work with the flu and starts canning my chicken of the sea?
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Morgan
Okay, I may be showing my ignorance here, but I have to ask anyway. . . what makes this particular virus scarier, more potentially dangerous, or more likely to cause a pandemic than numerous other viruses?
For example - West Niles virus, which is already in the U.S. and is transmitted through mosquetos. It kills birds, makes people sick, and has already caused the death of a number of people whose immune systems were already compromised somehow. Couldn't that virus just as easily mutate and cause a pandemic?
There is also now a "dog flu" which thus far is not transmittable to people, but what's to say it won't mutate and become deadly to us?
Or even a simple cold virus that mutates?
Why this particular bug, why now? How is it different?
Also - isn't messing with tamaflu potentially increasing the likelihood that a virus will mutate and become resistant or stronger? More virulent?
I read the news stories and it seems we are boardering on panic/hysteria over this one particular virus. I am not trying to "downplay" the potential seriousness of it, I am simply trying to understand why this particular virus has us more concerned than some of the many other viruses.
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Sushi
I just KNEW it!!!!
The strange one and Raf are one and the SAME !!!
;)
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Goey
This virus is particularly bad because it the death rate in humans is about 50 percent.
As of Oct 21, there were 118 documented cases and of these, there have been 61 deaths.
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excathedra
goey, where did these deaths occur ?
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Tom Strange
I think they've only been in Asia so far myseestorEx...
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Belle
Dang, Tom, You are HOT!!!!
Love the avatar! Where'd you get a picture of such a hot dude for your avatar?
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krys
It's really hard to make sense out of this! Bacteria and viruses have their own ways of making a living, and they all do it differently.
No, Morgan, not this one. Mosquito's do infect humans with this virus, but in order to cause a pandemic, this virus would have to active during the entire year. It dies off in mosquito's during the winter. The birds still have it, but mosquito's don't survive the winter as adults, so each spring and summer, a new crop of mosquito's collects the virus from the crows is draws blood from, and we start again. Of course the number of crows infected grows, but that won't cause west nile to travel from person to person.
Some viruses don't seem to ever become able to pass from human to human. Malaria is transported by mosquitoes too, but so far, the only known humans who have ever gotten malaria have gotten in trough a mosquito. Part of the life cycle of the malaria virus takes place in the mosquito and part takes place in the human. Both mosquitoes and warm blood creatures are needed for malaria to continue to exist.
So far as I've been able to determine, it is most reasonable that another pandemic of some type of flue is most likely to come from Asia, probably China. The reason for this is cultural. People live in close proximity to birds, especially chickens and ducks. It is believed that when a particular fowl, most generally history indicates it's a duck, has both a human flu virus and an avian flu virus at the same time in it's body, there may be some exchanges of viral info which would allow the virus to now infect humans by means of another human.
That is when a pandemic will begin. If and when a virus is able to spread from human to human. Over the long course of what we know of of the history of these pathogens, this kind of "crossing over" is quite rare. There have been several times where I did occur, but in terms of the number of bird -bird and bird-human contacts, the ability to acquire this ability to spread from human to human is rare.
I don't know if this addresses your concerns or not, but I hope so.
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Tom Strange
aw shucks Belle... I was 'dressing' as our friend Raf for halloween... now I'm back to my normal self...
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Linda Z
Although the conditions seem ripe for this virus to mutate so that it can spread from human to human, it hasn't yet and it might not.
I'm all in favor of preparing for the worst, but I still believe in the power of prayer. I'm sure I'm not the only one prayin' that this sucker doesn't mutate.
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Belle
Whom I absolutely adore!! Welcome back "normal" Tom Strange. :D
Krys, thanks for all the information! You truly are a wonderful wealth of knowledge. I'm so glad you take time to post and enlighten us on here. :)
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