Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching

(Page 7 of 7)

December 2007/January 2008
By Michael Greger, M.D. 
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This means everyone will be urged to stay home and not venture out to work or school during a pandemic, like we would during a prolonged blizzard or ice storm. Although globally a pandemic may last 12 to 18 months, historically, pandemics have come in waves. In any particular locale, a wave may only last a number of weeks. This is why the Centers for Disease Control is officially calling on all Americans to stockpile 90 days of essential supplies to weather out the next pandemic effectively.

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Michael Greger, M.D., is director of public health and animal agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States. This article is reprinted from his exceptional book, Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching. You can read the entire book online at here.

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Comments

  • Janet 1/9/2009 9:02:48 PM

    Why did the author consistently use the word "mutate" to describe the changes in the virus when the accurate description is "evolve"? A mutation is a one-off quirk. The virus has evolved in order to survive in different species, from bird to human. If it evolves further, it will go from human to human. It is not a 'mutant', some freak of nature from a SciFi novel. The virus is a form of life that is capable of adapting to survive; it evolves.

  • JoeOvercoat 1/3/2008 1:30:08 PM

    My understanding is that "outside in the open air, influenza
    viruses quickly dehydrate and die, or are rapidly killed by the UV
    rays in sunlight" does not agree with recent findings that viruses
    thrive in cool dry air because they are not weighed down by
    humidity to ground. And this article fails to address the 1918
    pandemic in the context of the existence of factory farms at that
    time, or more importantly, the lack thereof.

  • Reb 12/8/2007 9:29:23 PM

    Thank you for a well written article on this subject. As a small
    farm advocate I work daily with so called press releases on the
    coming pandemic and how backyard flock are going to kill us all.
    Quite simply the NAIS National Animal ID System is a by-prouduct of
    the industrial ag practicioners and big brother working together to
    control the food supply,no not a conspiracy theory,but a very well
    documented fact. They have caused the problem now they have the
    solution,the corporate takeover of the food supply,top to
    bottom,public and private. If one would like to know more check out
    www.nonais.org or www.libertyark.org and above all raise your own
    food and never give in to the deciders! "Live free or die tryin"

  • chuck 12/4/2007 12:36:22 AM

    Seems pretty obvious - chickens are descendants of wild jungle foul
    - they're natural environment is not a "packed box". And the breeds
    - those closer to the wild-type are by far the healthiest,
    hardiest, and smartest ones. Even their eggs are better than
    anything from the store! How long before this out-dated industrial
    model of farming goes?

  • chuck 12/4/2007 12:23:22 AM

    Still the government wants chip implants in all poultry - yet the
    problem is mostly with these concentrated operations - hmm.. smells
    like foul play to me!

  • Fahrvergnügen 11/26/2007 1:08:15 PM

    This is precisely why I raise my own.

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