Why are Europeans being daft and irrational about bird flu?

[Welshcookie 17]

I am in the UK and haven't noticed any panic either.....in fact the only thing I have seen that could have caused hysteria was an American documentary shown on sky that played out the whole scenario of the virus entering the US....

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Btw, don't eat pork there's a pig pandemic in Europe going on as well...

No problem. I read some time ago that a lot of the ribs consumed in the US actually come from Europe. We all know that Americans eat stuff whether it's good for them or not.

Edited March 22, 2006 by ET-US2004

[pax 0]

Damn straight. Want some Buffalo wings?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Based on a survey whose results were made public at International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, many Americans may have already figured a solution to this whole bird-flu issue--avoid undercooking!

Americans eating more safely, study finds

Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:32 PM ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of Americans eating risky foods like undercooked ground beef, raw fish, oysters and runny eggs dropped by a third over a four-year period, according to survey results released on Tuesday.

The survey, made public at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, led researchers to conclude that media reporting and public health education efforts on risky eating habits and food-borne illnesses may be working.

But people under 18 years old with compromised immune systems were much more likely -- by 21 to 14 percent -- to eat risky foods than healthy people of the same age, the survey found, leading researchers to believe they may have to target specific groups for education.

The proportion of people eating risky foods dropped from 31 percent in 1998 to 21 percent four years later, according to the results of telephone surveys of 15,000 to 20,000 people conducted by the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet.

The study looked at the consumption of seven foods known to be associated with E. coli, vibrio, salmonella and other food-borne illnesses -- pink hamburger patties, pink ground beef, raw fresh fish, raw oysters, unpasteurized milk, runny eggs and alfalfa sprouts.

The survey found African Americans were the safest eaters, with only 15 percent consuming risky foods in the week before the surveys. Men aged 18 to 64 were more likely to eat risky foods than women of the same ages, by 38 percent to 30 percent.

Asians and Pacific islanders were more likely to consume risky foods than whites, by 32 percent to 21 percent.

The research was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the California Department of Health Services and other state health services.

The most common risky food people ate was runny eggs, the study found.

Edited March 22, 2006 by sriniv

[munchkins 0]

I am in Geneva, Switzerland and am often within a few hundred yards of where they found a dead duck with bird flu. I don't see anyone wearing masks or fighting to get to the other side of the road. Life just goes on as normal. Yes, it was all over the papers, the news, but...its hasn't jumped species....yet!

I think the media tend to, should we say "go over the top" sometimes which does not help. But I have certainly not noticed anything since the very beginnng. I don't think any dead birds that could be linked to it have even been found in the UK anyway.

However, I can understand concern because the aftermath of the dead cow disease was horrendous to say the least!! And seeing the way all those chickens were handled in Turkey was reallly off putting, would not want to see thousands of birds treated in the same way here.

I have read that will the migration of birds again , we will probably not see it here anyway.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Damn straight. Want some Buffalo wings?

We actually had some last night.

[munchkins 0]

Damn straight. Want some Buffalo wings?

We actually had some last night.

Call me thick if you want too, but being over in the UK , do you think you could tell me why they call chicken wings "Buffalo wings"

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Damn straight. Want some Buffalo wings?

Yummy. Need to put that on my list of things to eat once I'm back.

[pax 0]

Buffalo wings are so called simply because of their origins in Buffalo, New York.

Urban legend has it that Buffalo wings originated in a small Buffalo tavern when the son of the tavern owners returned to the bar with a few of his friends after a long night out on the town. He asked his mother to make them some food, but it had been a busy night and all they had in the kitchen was chicken wings, Tabasco sauce, and butter...

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Based on a survey whose results were made public at International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, many Americans may have already figured a solution to this whole bird-flu issue--avoid undercooking!

Americans eating more safely, study finds

Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:32 PM ET

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of Americans eating risky foods like undercooked ground beef, raw fish, oysters and runny eggs dropped by a third over a four-year period, according to survey results released on Tuesday.

The survey, made public at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, led researchers to conclude that media reporting and public health education efforts on risky eating habits and food-borne illnesses may be working.

But people under 18 years old with compromised immune systems were much more likely -- by 21 to 14 percent -- to eat risky foods than healthy people of the same age, the survey found, leading researchers to believe they may have to target specific groups for education.

The proportion of people eating risky foods dropped from 31 percent in 1998 to 21 percent four years later, according to the results of telephone surveys of 15,000 to 20,000 people conducted by the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet.

The study looked at the consumption of seven foods known to be associated with E. coli, vibrio, salmonella and other food-borne illnesses -- pink hamburger patties, pink ground beef, raw fresh fish, raw oysters, unpasteurized milk, runny eggs and alfalfa sprouts.

The survey found African Americans were the safest eaters, with only 15 percent consuming risky foods in the week before the surveys. Men aged 18 to 64 were more likely to eat risky foods than women of the same ages, by 38 percent to 30 percent.

Asians and Pacific islanders were more likely to consume risky foods than whites, by 32 percent to 21 percent.

The research was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the California Department of Health Services and other state health services.

The most common risky food people ate was runny eggs, the study found.

Overcooked meat is chewy, and prions can't be cooked to death.

I love runny eggs and half-cooked meat and haven't encountered any problems yet. Food-borne diseases are usually a result of bad farming and slaughtering practices...

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

What? A 100 people have died worldwide from birdflu. Mainly in Asia. 100 PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chill out Europe.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

What? A 100 people have died worldwide from birdflu. Mainly in Asia. 100 PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chill out Europe.

Good point rch99!

That's drop-in-bucket compared to those who die from sunstroke EVERY year (or from waterborne disease such as Hep-A or gastroenteritis EVERY DAY).

Edited March 22, 2006 by sriniv

[Reba 2]

this was in the Charlotte Observer this morning:

Carolinas warned to prepare for bird fluU.S. health chief: Don't count on federal rescue

KAREN GARLOCH kgarloch@charlotteobserver.com

RALEIGH - If a bird flu pandemic strikes humans, the Carolinas must be prepared to take care of the sick and make sure life goes on without depending on the federal government, the U.S. secretary of health and human services warned Tuesday.

"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come riding in and rescue them, will be sadly mistaken," Secretary Michael Leavitt told the N.C. Pandemic Flu Summit.

Leavitt announced North Carolina will get $2.5 million of $350 million approved by Congress for pandemic flu preparedness.

But N.C. Gov. Mike Easley, who introduced Leavitt, said, "That will not cut it."

To be prepared, Easley said, states need more federal money to purchase antiviral drugs and to pay for training local and state emergency response teams.

"North Carolina will be as prepared and as ready as humanly possible," Easley said. "But it's going to take a bigger federal commitment."

South Carolina, which held its pandemic flu summit earlier, received $1.5 million from the federal government in January.

To make their points, Leavitt and Easley both talked about the differences between a flu pandemic and hurricanes that often strike the Carolinas.

Unlike hurricanes, pandemic flu wouldn't hit one location and be over quickly, they said. It would affect the whole country and unfold over many months, lasting a year or more. Schools and businesses might close because so many people would be sick or taking care of the sick. Help wouldn't come from other states -- the way it did for victims of Hurricane Katrina -- because they would "be at home taking care of each other," Leavitt said.

Since it was first identified in 1997, the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian virus has been confined mainly to birds in China and Southeast Asia. In the last few months, it has spread to birds in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has killed millions of birds and about 80 people worldwide. Most infected humans contracted the virus through close contact with infected birds.

The rapid spread of the virus in birds has been accompanied by fears it will mutate into a form easily transmissible among humans. That would cause a worldwide pandemic.

Leavitt said the bird flu will probably show up in a bird in the U.S. "relatively soon." Some scientists believe migratory birds crossing from Asia into Alaska and down the West Coast could bring the virus to birds here.

Leavitt said that won't be a reason for panic. "If you're a bird, it's a pandemic. But if you're a human, it's not."

If detected early, he said, infected birds will be destroyed before the virus can spread.

State and federal officials praised North Carolina's history of responding to disasters such as hurricanes and ice storms. "I've seen North Carolina in action," Leavitt said. "You do disasters extraordinarily well."

Easley singled out the state's Hospital Emergency Surveillance System that scans admission lists in hospitals across the state every 15 minutes to identify unusual clusters of disease early, and "to catch problems while they are still small."

Dr. Jeff Runge, chief medical officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a former Carolinas Medical Center emergency physician, said North Carolina's public health and emergency response programs are far ahead of those in some states. "A tremendous amount of coordination is already in place."

But it's not just governmental agencies that need to be prepared, officials said. Businesses, such as banks and groceries, must have plans for staying open when 30 percent to 40 percent of their employees are out sick. And families must prepare too. "It's not just the job of government to protect you in your household," Runge said.

To that end, federal officials have created checklists to help schools, families, businesses and health care providers prepare for a potential pandemic. The checklists are available at www.pandemicflu.gov.

Yep, North Carolina does good disasters! *snarf*

[pax 0]

This is ridiculous. Seriously. It's going to be SARS all over again.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This is ridiculous. Seriously. It's going to be SARS all over again.

I had forgotten all about SARS. I remember a colleague went to Toronto around then and when she came back, everyone in the office avoided her for a while