From Sars to the Bird Flu

[Pagan]

Why are there so many new deises coming out of Asia? Is someone over there making these viruses? I mean this is getting ridiculous.

Last years Sars killed thousands in many asian countries, and now they have another super mutated virus that they are trying to control. I don't think Sars made it into Europe, and I definetly know it never hit America, but we are going to have to check everything coming into America from Asia, which will probably greatly reduce trade. Weaking our already struggling economy.

The reason I think these deises are running rampid is because there are to mant people living to close to each other. I mean if I were a virus in Japan I'd be in heaven because on an average day I'd be passed from one person atleast a million times.

What does everyone else think?

[Corey]

[size=1]I'd say, in the specific case of the Bird Flu, it's probably due to the fact of humans moving into areas that the local wildlife lives in, destroying their habitats, and then eating the diseased deceased animals because they live in poverty.

If I was a hobo, roadkill would look like a 25oz Porterhouse.[/size]

[Guest AlexisVex]

Hrm. I think this happens because of the overpopulation over there. I mean, if you have a lot of people crammed together in a small country, you're bound to viruses and infections. There's also problem with sanitation, where there's garbage there's bacteria and viruses, and rats will carry things that get transferred to mosquitoes that bite them, then they bite birds or people and this is just one of the many ways stuff like this gets carried around.

So, it's overpopulation and problems with sanitation in my opinion. I'm sure other things can compile it, but it normally deals with environmental issues.

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]America's struggling economy is a big worry to many countries I'd imagine.

And the Avian Bird flu has been around for a fair while, the problem is that it could quite possibly mutate into a species that can readily pass from human to human. The bird flu itself is not really related to over-population, and it spreads due to migratory birds which pass it among the local populace.[/size]

[Delta]

[COLOR=#656448][SIZE=1]Oh yeah, but between SARS and bird flu, I think I'd go for the former. Bird flu's fatality rate is somewhere above the 50% mark, glaringly higher than SARS's 5-12%.

[quote][size=1]The 1918 Spanish flu, which caused 50 million deaths, appears to have been a bird flu that became a human virus with just a few key mutations. Pandemic flus in 1957 and 1968, which caused serious human illness, were launched when human strains picked up genes from bird strains.[/size][/quote][url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/17/MNGRHF9FID1.DTL]source[/url]

Them scientist may sound like Chicken Little but there really is a looming possibility that this particular strain may mutate into something else in the near future. Add to that the reports of a strain which has developed resistance to [url=http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2005/1015/2726789672HM1BIRDFLU.html]Tamiflu[/url] and we may see a fatality rate way beyond anyone dared to predict.

Then again, the avian flu virus may just mutate into a more successful strain, one that won't kill its host off. Another strain to join the ranks of the cold virus, yeah?[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Derald]

[FONT=Lucida Console][SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]I honestly believe that due to the fact that the human race is overpopulating the earth that nature has sent feedback in the form of genetic variations and mutations of viruses and diseases in order to control the "problem." I know that this may sound absurd to many of you, but I really do think this is a possibility.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Godelsensei]

A lot of disease come out of Asia because many areas there are basically third world and also because, to quote a Shanghainese buddy of mine, "Chi-a-nese people can eat anything."
Nothing against Chinese people, of course, but when it comes to food, there is a big problem with sanitation there. Add that to the huge population and you've got problems.

Also, if it makes any one feel any better the whole SARS situation, though, sadly, it did take lives, was just a [i]tad[/i] overblown by CNN. Go through the VG Cats archives and read that one comic on the subject, because Scott Ramsoomair was right.

[IceRose]

All viruses once fought will come back, being able to kill the viruses is not completely successful as the left over bacteria, virus, etc mutates and becomes ineffective to past cures. People might be able to control the virus for a while but is not gonna be enough to keep people from getting contaminated. The Bird Flu and all those have wiped out millions of people back in history, there have always been diseases like that, and Asians contract those viruses for their living conditions, Europeans and Americans get them because they rely too much on Asian made products.

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]I agree with everyone that sanitation is a big problem in many Asian countries, so yes, viruses are going to start there.

My mom says you really have to go to those countries to understand how this could happen. The sanitation conditions are nothing like they are in America. I hear from her that the Chinese (at least in Hong Kong) have no sense of what "personal space" means, and that cows and chickens and all sorts of animals roam the streets of Bangkok in Thailand - where many incidents of bird flu have occurred. I'm going there next June, and she's already forbidden me from eating ANYTHING off of a street vendor, and from eating any chicken, beef, or pork. I'm allowed fish, rice, and veggies, according to her. Or I can have beef from McDonalds, because supposedly they import from America? So... lol.

Thank you, Baron (any anyone else who said this), but Bird Flu has been around for a long while. I mean, this is getting really old to my Dad, who first talked to me about it like... ten months ago. Really. lol. It's only now that the American media decides to make something of it. (Hey, we are an egocentric country, right? XD)

I do know that Thailand is trying to stop the spread of bird flu by killing hundreds of chickens. However, it is my own, personal, biased belief, that because they're such a poor nation, it's a little hard to effectively kill off the flu with the amount of money they have, and also, because they're quite rightly, destracted by utterly retarded and rediculous Muslim radical groups in the most southern province that claim the rest of Thailand has shunned them for so long. Bunch of ******** those radicals are, I tell you. I mean, Thailand is so "bend like a willow to the times" so "wishy-washy" (neg. connotation that my biased mum uses) that they will accept anyone as Thai, no matter their creed, or original nationality.

But now I'm just ranting about my Dad's country of residency, so I do believe I will shut up before I get to make myself into even more of a prat. ^^;;;;;; [/color]