Bird Flu in Iraq - Something for our GIs to bring home along with PTSD.

[FormerRepublican]

"Erbil, 28 Oct. (AKI) - Veterinary authorities in Erbil have confirmed the first case of avian flu in Iraqi Kurdistan, near the border with Turkey. The head of the Erbil veterinary laboratory, Ilham Butros, told journalists that preliminary positive analysis done locally on suspect birds had been confirmed by a dedicated bird-flu testing lab in Egypt. Iraq on Thursday announced a ban on poultry imports from 20 countries, amid fears that the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, found in neighbouring Turkey, might endanger the country.

Regarding the suspect bird deaths, Butros said. "When we received news of deaths of chickens in a poultry farm near Khabat <30 kilometres west of Erbil> a team of experts visited the property to collect samples, and the preliminary analyses gave a positive result to the virus.

"Given the lack of specific labs for bird flu diagnosis in the region we sent the samples to Cairo for further testing which confirmed definitively the initial results" she added.

The local Kurdish language paper, Aso, on Thursday broke the story of the discovery of the virus in the region."

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.223901148&par=0

If you're one of those worried about this, the US just got first hand exposure to the virus through 161,000 US service people (and who knows how many American civilians) currently wandering around Iraq.

So much for Bush's ideas for dealing with the pandemic by using the military to enforce quarantines. He'll have to quarantine the military first!

[Lost-in-FL]

1. Great... now car bombs full of chicken??

:mad:

[valerief]

4. Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because she was a terrorist!

[FormerRepublican]

6. I guess Bush was right....

...Iraq DOES have WMD - bird flu infected chickens!

You're either with us, or you're with the chickens!

What our GIs need to fear most now are suicide chickens who don't care how many innocent civilians they take with them.

Cheney will be working hard to get Halliburton the no-bid contract to innocualate every suicide chicken in Iraq with new vaccine (which will probably be replaced with saline to reduce costs and increase profits). Our national security depends on the awarding of this new no-bid contract worth billions.

And Bush will quickly reduce protective gear for our soldiers in Iraq to pass a new tax cut for the ultra-rich.

Bush AND Cheney will be considering nuclear weapons as a solution to the suicide chickens.

Anything else?

[valerief]

7. Yeah, Brownie will still be working for FEMA

assisting with ice and MRE deliveries to quarantined communities.

[FormerRepublican]

9. MREs put together by illegal aliens....

And I suppose the ice could come in handy in Maine (when the pandemic is somewhere else).

Of course, with Brownie in charge, the quarantine will actually occur 3 months after the pandemic starts when Americans are laying dead all over the streets of America. But no worries, Halliburton will be given the no-bid contract to rebuild what's left of the country. And Bush will go on TV to make sure we know Brownie is "doing a heck of a job" protecting us from the suicide chickens.

[valerief]

13. And Kenyon's will be hired to dispose of the dead bodies, both

human and chicken.

You're cracking me up!

[OnionPatch]

2. Well this is scary but remember

it hasn't mutated to a form that passes easily from human to human. As long as the troops aren't coming in direct contact with chickens (or their poop) they should be ok.

[FormerRepublican]

3. Except according to the article...

...Americans are assisting with Bird Flu control.

""Our personnel, along with American hygiene squads, are making every effort to inspect poultry farms in the region" Butros added, "to check out many reported deaths establish the cause and draw up health plans to deal with possible future cases.""

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.223901148&par=0

I guess our GIs will need those WMD protective suits in Iraq after all.

:evilgrin:

[pinto]

5. Just to review, the virus was found in chickens in Erbil, not humans, and

Iraq has moved to quarantine/slaughter the infected birds and has suspended poultry imports from Turkey among a number of other countries. Wild bird exposure remains a threat for other poultry stocks in Iraq during migration.

From the article:

On Thursday, the Baghdad government announced the "banning of poultry imports, live or slaughtered," from some 20 countries.

These include Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Russia, Turkey, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Greece, Ukraine, Romania and Croatia.

It's a jump of sorts to say that

"If you're one of those worried about this, the US just got first hand exposure to the virus through 161,000 US service people (and who knows how many American civilians) currently wandering around Iraq."

The article, again, is a little more circumspect:

The H5N1 strain of avian flu has killed more than 60 people in four countries in Asia and has been detected among birds in Croatia, Romania, Turkey and Russia. No human cases have been reported in Europe, though there is growing concern that the virus may merge with a human influenza virus and be transmitted between humans.

I agree we need to be aware of the threat avian flu virus might pose to humans on a large scale and pro-active in preparation, but the sky is not falling.

Just my 2 cents.

[FormerRepublican]

8. My post wasn't to increase alarm...

...but the presence of bird flu in Iraq does potentially expose Americans (although arguably Americans in other affected countries, like China and Indonesia, are also exposed). It was also to point out the flaws in Bush's plan to use the military to enforce quarantine in the event of a pandemic. From all appearances, the military may be one of the first entities exposed in the event of a pandemic.

It's interesting at this juncture to read the history of the 1918 pandemic, where the military played a large role in the spread of the illness due to exposure during WW I. There are a few potential repeats of those events that could occur if bird flu goes pandemic...

[pinto]

10. I see your analogy with 1918 and returning troops. It bears a look.

Some big differences between 1918 and today are infection control procedures. In 1918 troop ships were packed with returning personnel, little infection control measures were in place, infection control education was sparse, and the follow up once state side was poor.
The situation was mirrored in cities across the country.

Additionally, many of the flu deaths in the 1918 epidemic were due to complications from bacterial pneumonia - they didn't have antibiotics in 1918, and the "Spanish" flu provided a portal for subsequent, untreatable bacterial infection.

Finally, avian flu remains avian, outside of close contact with infected birds. If and when it crosses the threshold of human-to-human transmission, I expect - I hope - the response of health professionals in 2005 will be more effective than what was available to the overwhelmed health care structures of 1918.

Your point about the possibility of inadvertent disease transmission with large groups of people moving around the world is a good one. Thanks.

:thumbsup:

[FormerRepublican]

11. Excellent post on the corollaries - thanks.

We should also keep in mind that Bush has yanked control of the response to an avian flu pandemic from the CDC (which actually has some experience with infection control) and has given it to the Department of Homeland Security (which has proven pretty ineffective at everything it touches).

Given recent post Katrina events, that fact alone raises the risk that pandemic controls will be anemic. Somehow, I can't envision someone like 'Brownie' being able to handle the massive crisis that might ensue if bird flu were to evolve in a worst case scenario.

Jeez Louise, can't someone wrest control of this issue and give it back to the CDC where it belongs?

[pinto]

12. My wish as well....n/t