question for the science guys. H5N1(bird flu)

Post by **shadd_** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:47 pm

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/ ... 60309.html

this article got me wondering about canadian geese in particular. in the spring and fall the geese population in my area is fairly large.

they like to hang out at the golf course and the shit can get rather heavy. with the bird flu expected to arrive in north america how will people contract this disease? would it be mostly confined to poultry operations and such or would you be at risk for example at the golf course?

Post by **Foo** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:53 pm

The primary spread of the disease is through the faeces. if it's not yet hit your shores then the biggest threat is migratory birds.

However by the time it reaches you, it might be an entirely different situation. If the virus is found to be transmissible between humans (currently not established) then the most likely cause of contraction would change depending on which source is the most infectious.

Post by **shadd_** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:56 pm

Foo wrote:The primary spread of the disease is through the faeces.

ouch, that's what i'm sorta worried about.

i live in northwestern ontario, just south of hudsons bay. lots of migration happening here.

Post by **Foo** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:18 pm

I think the main thing I failed to get across is that in its current form H5N1 isn't a massive risk to humans, being inherently self limiting in spread. There have been some cases of human infection but I think it's maybe a few hundred cases worldwide over the past few years.

Post by **shadd_** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:36 pm

yeah i think i read 175 cases worldwide. my luck would see it mutating
while in my area. :/

Post by **Underpants?** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:41 pm

asian goose sushi is god damned delightful.

Post by **menkent** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:05 am

riddla wrote:most all the asian cases are from eating improperly prepared foul (uncooked)

or people who actually worked on the poultry farms... so just try not to inhale the infected bird shit for a couple hours a day and you should be ok

bird flu is all talk right now. sars was a bigger risk to humans and look how huge a plague that turned out to be.

Post by **tnf** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:08 am

hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. bleh.

Post by **Hannibal** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:09 am

Damn. There goes my bi-weekly lunch ritual of goose shit sandwiches w/ mango salsa.

Post by **menkent** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:11 am

oh yea, best stop fucking chickens too. sry drum

Post by **Dukester** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:09 am

shadd_
I'm in Texas and I sometimes play a local country club that has a course weaving through penesulas on the lake. In the winter all the damn ducks gather to get out of the wind on two greens. You have to herd them all to the edges just to play and then when you putt your golf ball shoots out a rooster tail of duck shit!

It would almost be impressive if it wasn't so disgusting :/

Post by **shadd_** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:28 am

Dukester wrote:shadd_
I'm in Texas and I sometimes play a local country club that has a course weaving through penesulas on the lake. In the winter all the damn ducks gather to get out of the wind on two greens. You have to herd them all to the edges just to play and then when you putt your golf ball shoots out a rooster tail of duck shit!

It would almost be impressive if it wasn't so disgusting :/

lol. replace ducks with geese and that describes my situation.

i kicked a few balls to the side because they ran through a runny blob(geese get the runs too i guess) and i could'nt be arsed to clean em up.

no penalty stroke for that btw.

Post by **Ryoki** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:58 am

There's a colony of geese between my house and the trainstation. I have to navigate through their puddles of liquid biowarfare shit at least twice a day, life is hard.

They're cute though. This morning i saw them chase off another bird that invaded their territory and it was quite a hilarious spectacle. Four of them adopted a sort of phalanx formation and put their long necks forward, then charged the intruding bird whilst making loud screeching noises. Two geese guards were on the left and right sides of the phalanx, keeping an eye on possible human interferance by way of putting their heads far in the air and hissing at passers by.

The whole thing made me smile, even though i hadn't had any coffee yet...

Post by **Lotad** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:00 am

It's really not as big a deal as the media is making it out to be. it's not much more deadly thatn regular flu and unless you're living in a third word country the only people who need be even slightly concerned are the elderly and the under 5s.

Post by **werldhed** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:38 pm

Lotad wrote:It's really not as big a deal as the media is making it out to be. it's not much more deadly thatn regular flu and unless you're living in a third word country the only people who need be even slightly concerned are the elderly and the under 5s.

Not neccesarily true. Avian flu virus inhibits the immune system in a similar way to HIV (which obviously is not limited to children and seniors) and puts patients at increased risk. In addition, pathology in avian flu patients is quite similar to that in cases of Hong Kong virus, which killed a large number of 20-40 year olds. Namely, it causes multiorgan failure, which is quite unlike the effects of any regular viral influenza.

Post by **Lotad** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:27 pm

OLD PEOPLE