How do you prepare for a Pandemic?

[Omegaman]

Ok this seems a little surreal, that just this morning I saw news reports that the army bio lab in Maryland is missing 3 vials of a strain of flue that has a 10% mortality rate and they have no idea what happened to them. Now in the news the CDC has issued a travel warrning for mexico that there is an unknown swine flu out break that has killed 137 people in mexico and is starting to show up in Texas and California.
So what do you do?
When do you stop going to work?
When do you stop going out in public?
Is there any thing other then normal preparing that should be done?
I just thought I dont have gas masks:confused:.

[Lostinoz]

Ok this seems a little surreal, that just this morning I saw news reports that the army bio lab in Maryland is missing 3 vials of a strain of flue that has a 10% mortality rate and they have no idea what happened to them. Now in the news the CDC has issued a travel warrning for mexico that there is an unknown swine flu out break that has killed 137 people in mexico and is starting to show up in Texas and California.
So what do you do?
When do you stop going to work?
When do you stop going out in public?
Is there any thing other then normal preparing that should be done?
I just thought I dont have gas masks:confused:.

I have no clue. :( It is the age range that is being affected the most (dying) that bothers me, 25-44. Usually it is the very young, very old or bad immune system warnings you hear. Of course, I don't know the health status of those who have died in Mexico.

Here is a link.. Not that it helps a whole lot..

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2009/04/youve_got_swine.html

Here is information about the 1918 Swine Flu Pandemic..

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no01/05-0979.htm

[Lostinoz]

Omegaman, here is another site that has a bit more information about protecting yourself during a pandemic.

http://www.secretsofsurvival.com/survival/pandemic_flu.html

I am steady printing out information.

[Omegaman]

I now have gas masks for my family on the way with spare NBC filters.:) Boy the stuff you some times over look is the stuff that will get you dead.:(

[Skyowl's Wife]

I have no clue. :( It is the age range that is being affected the most (dying) that bothers me, 25-44. Usually it is the very young, very old or bad immune system warnings you hear.

The "Spanish Flu" of 1918 affected the same age range. They have decided that it killed them because they had the strongest immune systems and that particular flu cause a HUGE response by the immune system. So, effectively, their own bodies killed them.

It's interesting that the missing bugs cause a 10% mortality rate and so does whatever is loose in Mexico. That is HUGE, BTW. The 1918 flu had a 2.5-3% mortality rate and killed millions because half the bloody population of the world caught it. A re-occurance of this flu has been the nightmare scenario of the CDC world world for years.

[Skyowl's Wife]

So what do you do?
When do you stop going to work?
When do you stop going out in public?
Is there any thing other then normal preparing that should be done?
I just thought I dont have gas masks:confused:.

If you have ANY symptons, you should go to the doctor, NOT to work.

If this continues to EXPLODE the way it is, it won't be long before we stop going out in public. Suspect they will enforce that.

Not sure a gas mask would help you. It can spread with hand-to-hand contact. So you go home, take off your gas mask and your hand just brushed your face. About the only way to not get it is to avoid all contact with anyone and/or have had a vaccine.

The easiest way to get it in public is off of a keyboard or mouse, or doorknob or railing or shopping cart that someone infected just touched before you.

This may be a flash in the pan with people running around screaming and wailing. It may be something real. Suggest you watch, read, and for a while, stay home as much as possible.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Ok this seems a little surreal, that just this morning I saw news reports that the army bio lab in Maryland is missing 3 vials of a strain of flue that has a 10% mortality rate and they have no idea what happened to them.

Have you got a link for that?

[Lostinoz]

If you have ANY symptons, you should go to the doctor, NOT to work.

If this continues to EXPLODE the way it is, it won't be long before we stop going out in public. Suspect they will enforce that.

Not sure a gas mask would help you. It can spread with hand-to-hand contact. So you go home, take off your gas mask and your hand just brushed your face. About the only way to not get it is to avoid all contact with anyone and/or have had a vaccine.

The easiest way to get it in public is off of a keyboard or mouse, or doorknob or railing or shopping cart that someone infected just touched before you.

This may be a flash in the pan with people running around screaming and wailing. It may be something real. Suggest you watch, read, and for a while, stay home as much as possible.

Is there a vaccine currently available Wife? Thanks for the information. I haven't had time to sit down and read all of the stuff I have printed out. I started my new job this past Tuesday and I am, thankfully, working at this very moment.

[Lostinoz]

Have you got a link for that?

This may be what was read..

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/22/missing.virus.sample/index.html

The vials contained samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, a virus that sickens horses and can be spread to humans by mosquitoes. In 97 percent of cases, humans with the virus suffer flu-like symptoms, but it can be deadly in about 1 out of 100 cases, according to Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. There is an effective vaccine for the disease and there hasn't been an outbreak in the United States since 1971.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Is there a vaccine currently available Wife? Thanks for the information. I haven't had time to sit down and read all of the stuff I have printed out. I started my new job this past Tuesday and I am, thankfully, working at this very moment.

Congrats on the new job! :)

There is a swine flu vaccine, but it takes about 3 weeks for a vaccine to be effective, that's why they are talking about tamiflu and other similar drugs.

Tamiflu is like Zicam - you start to take it at the first sign and it shortens the course of the disease, but doesn't cure or prevent it. I've read reports that say Tamiflu isn't effective for this one, AND reports that it is. So not sure what the real story is.

Also, this has components of swine, avian AND human flu DNA. Not sure there is a vaccine for this one.

CDC has said that containment is probably not possible, but because Americans are healthier than Mexicans, the disease will be milder here.

Remember our gun show this weekend in Phoenix? We drove up this afternoon. The Owl and I had a buffet at the truckstop for dinner :eek:

[Skyowl's Wife]

Also, Vitamin D3, 2000 units Walmart about $5. Might want to read this and the links within: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929828/posts

I've been stuffing Vit D down the Owl and myself for over a year now, since I first read that post.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Another link with good info:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24452859.htm

[Omegaman]

Swine, avian and human flu just got together all by them selves in the wild on their own, I find that hard to belive.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Swine, avian and human flu just got together all by them selves in the wild on their own, I find that hard to belive.

My first thought was the same, so have spelunked around. Apparently, it's not unusual for such things to occur when you have people who live with their livestock (like poor parts of China and Mexico).

Living with the livestock sounds horrid, but Olde England used to do it, too, with the animals living on the ground floor and the people living upstairs. The livestock (pigs in particular) could represent most of a years wealth to the uber-poor, so they were protected like we protect our guns and ammo ;). Don't remember reading of people in the US doing it, although they probably have.

[kenno]

swine, fowl and humans together is the problem, lots of gene jumping going on in the virus