Waiting For the Epidemic
U.S. Bird Flu: Closer Than We Think
By Sarah Van
Buren (May 25, 2006)
With
avian influenza edging closer and closer to the United
States it is now officially a matter
of time until we begin to live the epidemic. Avian influenza – a fatal
disease with no known cure has already reached parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.
Naturally it’s our turn to follow the rest of the world in a frenzy
of sanitation and precautionary measures. In the beginning of the spread
of the H5N1 virus (mainly in Thailand and China)
every death was announced on CNN. Millions of birds were killed and
burned in China and
safety precautions were heavily stressed. But now, it’s as if bird
flu is non-existent. But be well aware that avian influenza is far
from gone and the threat of thousands dying from this disease is still
very much a reality. The real question is: Are we as a country prepared
for the debut of bird flu?
“The federal government simply does not have the resources
themselves to deal with this on a mass level,” said Governor Mike Huckabee,
the head of the National Governor’s Association. “If
a pandemic does occur, it will overwhelm their (Federal Health Organizations)
resources, just like it will overwhelm ours.” The governor continued
on to say that each state was left to deal with the potential crisis
on its own. Some are taking it more seriously than others. The more
laid back states are only prepared for a health pandemic. They have
readied emergency rooms for containment and some medical training has
been conducted. The more prepared states are ready for full-on chaos,
police are being trained to control protests and mass crime as well
as promote health precautions. However, the National Governor’s Association
and Homeland Security’s Health Department are in no way connected to
the actions taken by the individual states.
The US Department of Agriculture and Disease Control
and Prevention Center have
made a few changes over the past few months to help slow the arrival
of avian influenza. A list of some afflicted countries has been compiled
and no bird or bird product is allowed to be imported from that country.
However, US origin pet birds are allowed back into the US only
to be held in quarantine for 30 days. Bird flu is a fast killing disease
and so the birds will not survive the 30-day quarantine if afflicted
but contamination is still a serious factor (inside the quarantine
office, among other birds and in the airport). The Departments are
taking some security measures but it is still troublesome that people
traveling from an afflicted country are not checked except occasionally
by a thermometer to check body heat. Symptoms of bird flu are not displayed
in body heat until the final stages and so afflicted people may be
allowed to enter freely.
The panic level has dropped significantly as stress
on the spread of bird flu has been relieved. But we cannot forget the
ever-nearing threat of the H5N1 virus, and the potential it has to
kill. Most states say they do not feel ready for avian influenza, and
we as a country need to delay the arrival of avian influenza to give
them time to prepare their medical facilities. We as a country need
to stop waiting for the epidemic and stop the spread of disease
that has already killed so many.
·
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/outbreaks/embargo.htm
·
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_flu
·
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051801479.html
