Is bird flu another Y2K scare?

I really don't think that it is. For the last 6 weeks or so I have been following closely the news about outbreaks and deaths from bird flu. For the most part, the people (including children), who have died have been intimately involved with chickens or other sickened birds (swans in 7 deaths). The news reveals that cats have been infected with the fatal form of H5N1 and housecats and tigers have died from this. Several cats in a kennel in Germany have tested positive. One dog at least has died. Swans, ducks,and other wild birds are migratory, so they are bringing the disease home with them. On the pandemic flu website, sponsored by the CDC, there is a map of North American bird migration flight paths. Pretty spooky to me.

I was initially confused about what exactly we are dealing with disease wise. I don't sleep with chickens, or pluck feathers from dead swans, or drink duck's blood, so I felt I really did not need to worry about bird flu. Turns out I was very wrong and I am glad I did some research. I utilized the Communicable Disease Center of the United States and the World Health Organization's websites along with multiple news reports and websites dedicated to emergency preparedness. I would like to briefly share what I have learned and then tell you what I have done to prepare for the pandemic flu. If it does not come this year from the birds, we will have a pandemic sometime soon. As far as preparing goes, most of us live someplace where there could be a natural disaster, so preparing for bird flu, also prepares us for earthquakes, flood, hurricaines, etc. To say nothing about preparing for a terrorist attack. I don't think I am that much different than other Southern Californians, I have experienced several large earthquakes and really have done nothing to prepare for them.

What you need to know and understand in order to prepare your family for a possible emergency. According to the CDC:
Avian flu is caused by avian influenza viruses, which occur naturally among birds.

Pandemic flu is flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness that spreads easily from person to person. Currently there is no pandemic flu.
Seasonal flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses.
Probably most of us have had seasonal flu. We get it from someone else, usually by touching a contaminated item and spreading it to ourselves. People do die of the flu every year. The difference between an outbreak of the flu and a pandemic flu is the number of people involved. Pandemic flu in 1918 was called the Spanish flu. A Stanford website offers these numbers:

"The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster."

Other flu pandemics have followed this killer. According to Wikipedia, which has some excellent information on its website:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic

• The "Asian Flu", 1957–58. An H2N2 caused about 70,000 deaths in the United States. First identified in China in late February 1957, the Asian flu spread to the United States by June 1957.
• The "Hong Kong Flu", 1968–69. An H3N2 caused about 34,000 deaths in the United States. This virus was first detected in Hong Kong in early 1968 and spread to the United States later that year. Influenza A (H3N2) viruses still circulate today.

Today we are faced with another pandemic virus. Currently according to the WHO we are at a level 3 which means that the scientists have seen some changes in the virus AND THERE HAVE BEEN CASES OF POSSIBLE HUMAN TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION. The bird flu has spread faster than was anticipated and is now affecting birds (both wild and farmed) in many countries. The CDC continually updates information on the locales affected and has information posted here.

More tomorrow.