Avian Flu: Not to scare but to prepare mode

[Glynis]

We keep a good supply around because of hurricanes but we probably only have 3 weeks worth of food. Does anyone know of a website that suggests how/what to stockpile for 3 months? I am concerned living in FL that things like flour would get buggy if they sit too long.

providentliving.org has some really good resources for food storage. If anyone is interested, I have a plan called "Elephant Bites to Food Storage" that has been really helpful to me. It's based on the premise of how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Same with food storage, if you do it all at once, it's overwhelming and cost prohibitive. One bite at a time, however, is doable. I have a list that breaks food storage down into 52 weeks. You add something to your weekly shopping list each week, and it really adds up.

If anyone wants this list, feel free to ask me! I'm happy to share!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I'm set. I have three months of booze stocked up.

 

[Kay7979]

As for the whole preparedness and food storage issue, it really isn't a bad idea, in general. If only that someday you run on hard times and are short on money, its nice to have a stockpile of items. We are ones that took the Y2K scare seriously. We did a LOT of reading about preparedness, and really started thinking about how vulnerable people are, especially in cities where it is very hard to be self sufficient. It really change our whole lives, I must say, and we will probably always remain in preparedness mode, with some food storage and basic supplies, seeds for growing vegetables, extra toilet paper and paper towels etc.

I can tell you that even normal food, not specially stored, stays "good" far far longer than you would think. Granted, the nutritional value may decline as time passes, but the products are still edible. We seriously are still using stuff from 1999. I had put away enough for ourselves and other non-preparing family members. Canned soups and fruits and tomato sauce are still fine. Even vacuum packed coffee, and coffee in tins. I had only one pack of coffee that tasted bitter from the oils or something getting rancid. Corn meal stayed OK sealed in a mylar bag and a 5 gallon sealed bucket. Flour has to be packed in a non-oxygen environment if you plan to save it long. Pasta and noodles sealed in bags and stored in a cool dry place will last for years. Tuna and canned hams etc. will remain fine for years.

If you have some spare money, it would be wise to set aside enough for a few months. Items that can be bought in bulk like rice, pasta, etc. will make a lot of meals very cheaply with a few other ingredients. Sure, you wouldn't want to have to live on a few basics day in and day out for months, but some of these foods are very economical, store well, and it sure beats going hungry! There are companies that sell powdered butter, eggs, cheese etc. if you decide you are really into a serious food storage program. Hopefully, no one will need to use these stores for an actual emergency.

 

[cats mom]

Since the 1918 flu and this one are deadly for inducing an overwhelming immune response called a cytokine storm, doesn't it seem that it might be possible to find a drug to modulate the immune response? Aspirin decreases prostaglandins, antihistamines affect histamines, singular reduces leukotrienes for asthma. The drug company geniuses have hopefully had a year or two to get started on research.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd count on the drug company geniuses to come through with an effective immune modulator with just a year or two of research time.

They've been studying MS (the general consensus in the medical community is that it is an autoimmune disease) for many, many years.
The effectiveness of the few treatments they've been able to come up with is less than stellar.
Steroids, interferons and chemotherapy drugs included.

Of course I tend to side with the few researchers who think there is an underlying disease process with MS that needs to be explored. The immune response may not be the main problem.

I guess it's possible that the interferons already developed could help w/avian flu if the problem is modulating an immune system that has been kicked into overdrive. They've been able to cure plenty of EAE mice.
Hope no one has a fear of needles though.


I do think it makes sense to be prepared and have basic survival supplies on hand. I'm not sure I have enough faith in the gov. to assume they would be able to provide services in the event of an emergency - flu or otherwise.

 

[yoopermom]

Count me in with the seriously watching it group. DGM, 96, lived through the 1918 flu, and said to me yesterday, "Why don't people stay home when they're sick?" (I REALLY think people had more common sense back then!)

What's the worst that could happen? You could lose your job? What is that compared to your health and that of your family's? (Exception made for health care workers, of course.)

We live in a harsh climate, so have a generator, a few months of food, etc. I worry more about the psychological/social aspects rather than the physical. My family lives 250 miles away, in a big city, and has no intention of being prepared for any type of emergency.

Terri

 

[palmtreegirl]

I'm set. I have three months of booze stocked up.

 

[budbeerlady]

My cousin is in the healthcare industry. She travels globally to train others and set up medical equipment. She has talked about this for a while and it scares the heck out of her. She thinks this if it mutates would wipe out aton of people. Not just people in the u.s. but what about under developed countries?
I have had two weeks stocked up due to winter snow storms but I think I will up my amounts. We live out in the country and if need be we could avoid other for a long time. I am thankful every winter that we have the fireplace and acres of woods.

 

[gate_pourri]

I have a small amount of food and water, as well as plastic tarps and Potassium Iodide, but that is because, living in downtown Chicago, I am much more worried about a terrorist attack then I am about avian flu.

 

[gate_pourri]

This is exactly what I've read. The strain will most likely attack the young and healthy.

My Dad's father was the only child of 5 who survived the 1918 epidemic. My Dad told me about how his dad remembers a farmer who would go around with his wagon and pick up the dead bodies as no one wanted to leave their houses.

There are so many things have changed between 2006 and 1918. In 1918, with only a small amount of International travel, the flu wasn’t as prevalent as it is today. Today, a new ‘flu’ emerges every year, and with every flu you get, or every flu shot, you gain more and more resistance to the flu. In 1918, the whole world was reeling after a long world war, and International famines. Today, the United States is prosperous. The probability is that with new medicines, technology, and relative health, an avian flu pandemic would have little defense then a regular flu year. Thousands would die, which happen every year. There are too many differences to compare the 1918 flu to today.

 

[KelNottAt]

I have a small amount of food and water, as well as plastic tarps and Potassium Iodide, but that is because, living in downtown Chicago, I am much more worried about a terrorist attack then I am about avian flu.

What does Potassiom Iodide do? And, where do you get it? Is that a generic name? Would I recognize it as a brand?

 

[DisneyJules]

I guess I'm not worried . I don't get sick often and only got the flu really badly once during high school. Aside from that I am fairly healthy.

This flu can target people who are health, since the immune system goes into over drive trying to fight the flu. I know it seems strange, but that's how it works.

 

[DawnCt1]

I have listened to only a couple of interviews on TV, but the thoughts seemed to be that it is not likely that Bird Flu would ever mutate into a strain that would affect humans. Not that it couldn't, but it isn't a given that it ever will. If it did, it might take years. In the meantime cures may be perfected. Maybe they were just trying to keep people from being overly alarmed. I can't even imagine a scenario where people would be quarantined and whole communities would be isolated. How could everyone stay home and businesses cease operating? What about the post office? Banks? If people didn't go to work they couldn't pay any of their bills and truly there would be absolute chaos in that scenario.

Check out www.Drudgereport.com. ABC news is reporting a 50% chance of avian flu jumping to the human population. DH is an infectious disease specialist and feels that there is a viable concern and in fact, has prepared his hospital to pre order supplies to deal with the eventuality. Most hospitals are on the "business model' of not stockpiling equipment and supplies but ordering to replace. They will be ordering gowns, gloves and disposable ventilators.

 

[DawnCt1]

What does Potassiom Iodide do? And, where do you get it? Is that a generic name? Would I recognize it as a brand?

It blocks the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland in the event of a nuclear accident, meltdown, etc. from a nuclear powerplant thus minimizing the risk of thyroid cancer.

 

[Tantor]

Thanks for that article Dawn.
I really don't think people are thinking seriously enough about this. It scares the heck outa me

 

[DisneyTarheel]

DH lectured on this last winter to physicians and some nurses and ended his talk essentially saying that if healthcare workers didn't show up, it would be unforgivable.

And potentially could cause them to lose their license to practice medicine . . .

 

[DisneyTarheel]

I doubt that the flu invasion will be on the scale of a nuclear holocaust. Yes, it will be inconvenient and some people will die(most likely those with underlying chronic illnesses, the old and the very young--just like every flu season.) There is no cure for flu virus, but there are many, many resources for fighting the complications that simply were not available in 1918.

Remember, though, that the H1N1 "Spanish" flu in 1918 killed upwards of 40 to 50 million people, yet only had a mortality rate of about 2 or 3%. So far, H5N1 has a mortality rate approaching 50%. If this strain ends up becoming a human pathogen, we are going to have major problems.

 

[AMcaptured]

My grandfather was orphaned in 1918, both of his parents died and left behind eleven children, three of those children also died, the youngest of the bunch. He was raised in a convent and talked about the incredible devastation that encompassed Germany at the time. If the 1918 plague was able to cause the amount of deaths it did without international travel, even with improved hygiene, nutrition and medicine, if even we experience 10% of the expected outbreak, it could be devastating.

Food isn't the only thing you need to make sure you have plenty off. Vitamins, tylenol, immodium, canned frozen juice, propane gas for the grill and extra dog food too!

 

[nliedel]

I have to say this terrifies me too and I don't scare easy. Millenion bug? Whatever. Deaf kid? Bring it on baby, we can deal. Adopt a child with a Coke addiction (no not the soft drink)? OK what else ya got? Two preemies? I'm up for a challange. The thought of the flu just terrifies me.

A few months ago (January) one of the boys brought home Herpes Simplex A from school. That's the cold sore on the mouth kind. Well it hit our family hard. I had no idea it could give everyone fevers the first time around (80% of the population has it, we didn't). All the kids got sick, the preemies were really hit hard. We didn't know what it was till the sores popped out on their lips a few days into it. I was feeding the babies, you know fingers in mouth. I had a cut on my left index finger. If you get some time google Hepatic Whitlow. It's when the Herpes Simplex A virus gets in your finger. I had gorgeous hands, stunning. They were my best feature. I had a worst case scenario and the pain was terrible. I just got my second outbreak this past weekend and missed the anti viral window by a couple hours because I was out of town. Today my finger is swollen on the end to twice it's normal size and, well it's full of pus.

It was a little virus. It causes a little sore and most people have it but I was unlucky. If a stupid cold sore virus can knock out my family what chance do my kids have against the bird flu?

Oh and don't forget things like toilet paper on your lists. It's a good idea to have all this stuff stocked up anyway. Things happen and a good supply of stuff you use anyway is always a good idea.

For the flour. Freeze it for 24 hours a pound and put it in the extra large bins you get at restaurant supply places like Gorden's Food Service. I have been buying bread flour in bulk for years. Just keep rotating it and use it.

 

[Free4Life11]

This flu can target people who are health, since the immune system goes into over drive trying to fight the flu. I know it seems strange, but that's how it works.

Wait a second. I thought the flu wasn't affecting humans right now!! Did it change?!?!?

 

[Free4Life11]

Well thanks to this thread I've been up all night Seriously though I've been researching weather radios, first-aid kits, etc. Going to try and be proactive. You've all scared me into getting some stuff stockpiled!

ETA - I now how to distill water and even create a fallout filter (nuclear fallout). I think I'm losin' it...