While Hurricane Rita may pose a more immediate threat, I still contend that the BIG story of the century could very well be playing out in areas such as Indonesia. There 17 people have contracted the bird flu after visiting a zoo which contains infected birds. Those 17 are likely to die and there are reports that 115 people may be infected there. These people were complaining of fever (the onset of the flu) and went to the hospital but were turned away since their conditions were not serious. As it stands now, nothing is being done to quarantine the infected humans and birds are not being culled in any widespread manner. There is no vaccine (the media has erroneously stated that there is one) and the World Health Organization role seems to be one of quelling fear rather than raising concern, therefore their press releases say that this is not the onset of the pandemic, which flies in the face of thier own classifications for pandemics, placing the recent events in Indonesia (and elsewhere) solidly in the Phase Five of a six phase evolution of a pandemic. Those who study virus all say it's just a matter of time, not a question of "if" but "when". And where we are seeing these clusters of cases cropping up in area of the world that are ill equipped to deal in any organized way with an outbreak then I feel compelled to write silly posts like this that sound alarmist. Let me clarify, I am not worried (I'm passed that), I am however keenly interested in the story. This is a fascinating one to me. It is amazing to think that something so small could, under the right conditions, completly change life on Earth. The last big pandemic was 1918, called the Spanish Flu. It killed millions. Conditions on the Earth are much different than they were back then. Our cities are more densely populated, our airplanes are able to travel the globe in a day, and air travel is more common. What took a year to spread across the globe in 1918 could travel in a week. And from the looks of it, H5N1 (the current bird flu) has a much higher morbidity rate than the Spanish Flu did.
I've also thought a lot about how to prepare for such an event. After having done some research on the subject basically it comes down to staying at home and riding it out since the hospitals are going to be overrun and healthcare workers are going to be slim. So if at home it's important to have water and fever reducing pills like Tylenol and Ibuprophen. Staying hydrated is the most important thing. Your chances of death with this virus are extremely high (due to the fact that it necrotizes lung cells) so it may not matter anyway. About the only people I see surviving this are those that live in communities that can shut off the road and live in isolation.
So I say let's enjoy our potential last days on Earth. Raise a glass and give thanks to Jah for your days here. Treat your neighbor kindly and buy a gun in case he doesn't reciprocate.
The good news:: If you survive real estate is going to be really, really cheap (free) and that pesky problem of paying for the Baby Boomers Social Security will vanish.
i'm gonna to fight the fierceful dragon!
caught your site and am just passing by to say hi, hope life is well.
-tara hall
tara,
if you happen to see this, holla back:
lowbar *_at_* gmail *dot* commmmmmm
bk
