WHO warns against bird flu ’scaremongering’

Those are the headlines, I didn’t make them up. Apparently, the WHO thinks that the media and politicians are creating a crisis which doesn’t exist, and that may never happen. And creating an artificial crisis can easily lead to panic, when there really is no need to panic.

The World Health Organisation today warned against ’scaremongering’ as avian influenza gained a toehold in Europe.

As authorities in Turkey and Romania fight to contain the spread of the H5N1 virus among flocks, and other European governments grow increasingly jumpy, fears have risen that the bird disease could spark a human outbreak here.

But Michael Ryan, the UN health agency’s pandemic alert chief, sought to calm public concern about the role of migratory birds, after the virus spread from its Asian hotbed across Russia and into the rest of Europe.

‘Clearly migratory birds may be implicated in spreading this disease and we may see avian influenza in other countries because of that,’ Ryan said.

‘But there are many, many other reasons for bird die-offs in populations, be it infectious or toxic,’ he said when asked about probes into wild bird deaths elsewhere in southeastern Europe.

I suppose that there are some who advocate killing off all of the migratory birds, “just in case.” And maybe kill off all of the water fowl, chickens–basically, kill anything with wings and feathers. Maybe even the flightless Kiwi bird down in New Zealand. That’ll take care of the problem.

At any rate, the fear factor is getting out of control, and even the WHO is seeing that. The news reports stuff like, “and over 60 people have died it from it so far!” like that’s something to worry about. A little over 60, between 1997 and now, out of how many hundreds of millions who have been exposed? Overall, about 120 cases in total. So let’s do the math. Over the course of 8 years, and probably 1 billion or more people exposed to it, the bird flu has infected 120 people and killed 60–with most deaths being due to a delay in seeking help, or a lack of adequate medical care.

The WHO should be working with local governments to clean up their barnyards. If chickens weren’t kept in such filthy conditions, then they might be healthier and not so vulnerable to the flu in the first place. I know that the local markets are quaint and picturesque, but they also treat live animals and birds horrendously, are dirty, and are great breeding grounds for disease.

Ditto for the factory farmed poultry. Birds crammed in cages so small that they can’t even open their wings, sitting under bright lights, pumped up full of hormones and antibiotics–and to say nothing of less than sanitary conditions in many of these factories. And then people wonder why they get sick.

You want to prevent bird flu? Try preventing it among the birds as a first line.

Forbes

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season has officially tied the previous record–in 72 years of hurricane record keeping, 1933 held the honor of being the busiest season on record, with a recorded 21 tropical storms. Until now.

Hurricane Wilma is making her way in the northwestern Caribbean, and while at the moment, she is more of a threat to Honduras and the Yukatan Pennisula in Mexico, the possibility exists that she could enter the Gulf. So of course, oil prices are rising just in case. Cool, I really like that logic.

Wilma may reach hurricane status by tomorrow. But even if she does crash into the any of the Gulf states, it’s a small consolation to know that at least Michael Brown is no longer in charge of FEMA. One dork less is always a plus.