Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

[hawkeye]

Re: Bird-flu talk scares audience into action

I just wanted to point out:

stocking up on provisions and medications to get yourself and your loved ones through an eight- to 12-week period just in case, it ? or any other disaster ? does occur.

[Niko]

Bird-flu talk scares audience into action

URL: http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs...017488,00.html

Bird-flu talk scares audience into action

By Jay Berger
September 24, 2006

Re: your Sept. 22 article, "Speaker details dangers of avian flu: ?We will see bodies pile up,' physician cautions":

On behalf of your World Affairs Council, I want to thank The Star for its outstanding coverage of the ? not possible ? but probable pandemic that responsible scientists and government officials are desperately trying to warn us is coming.

During the past several weeks, as I was coordinating and planning for Dr. Michael Osterholm's presentation, I heard from a number of naysayers who believe everything from the conspiracy theories to it just can't happen here. The fact of the matter is, whether you believe it or not, nothing can be wrong with getting prepared. And that means stocking up on provisions and medications to get yourself and your loved ones through an eight- to 12-week period just in case, it ? or any other disaster ? does occur.

I was quoted correctly saying Dr. Osterholm's discussion "scared the living bejeebies out of me." That was my public proclamation. The fact is the information he presented really scared the s--- out of me. We can't expect the government to take care of us. This is going to be big.

I know those in attendance are planning on becoming prepared. Many of us are now feeling we are on a mission to communicate to the remainder of our community: "You need to get prepared."

? Jay Berger is executive director of the World Affairs Council of America ? California Central Coast in Oxnard.

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Copyright 2006, Ventura County Star. All Rights Reserved.

[sharon sanders]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

Thanks Dr. Terrie.

[T. Modesto,PhD]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

What will it take..? When cases start breaking out in this country...they will start noticing and possibility of panic hits.

Hey did you notice this LOVELY comment:

Even the dead will be contagious.

Suffice it to say this information is not making it to the unwashed masses.

Remember hearing about a few cases a couple of months ago where people who attended funerals contracted the disease. Do you recall the 2 journalists that fell through the cracks..?

My understanding of the above comment is that there will be so many dead bodies and that they will have contagious issues in and of themselves. It is not that they who are dead will be passing on H5N1 virus particles as they were when they were living by breathing, but that dead bodies have their own complex contagions as well. One issue is that H5N1 is found in very high concentrations in the rectum and bowel of the most seriously ill and fatality resulting patients. During the dying process in this illness, the patient will excrete an extensive amount of diarrhea that has very high concentration of the virus in it. People who are caring for the sick and ultimately the dead person will not have the standard safety protection supplies for removal of the dead bodies in safe manner. The rate of infection can/will increase beyond measure because of the unsafe method of bodily removal, funeral ritualization and burial.

Additionally, with so many dead bodies and bodies that are not treated properly with standard thanostic (dying, death and bereavement) procedures and safety controls, this will cause and result in more compounded and complex health issues. A highly infectious person who has died creates a plethora of health issues that can affect a large area of the population in a very short period of time. An infected dead body can be as dangerous a public health issue as the person who is alive with the infection if not handled correctly and quickly. Both the handling of the remains and the expediency of the removal of the remains will not be likely in a pandemic situation. So the comment is correct that bodies will be contagious and will be stacked up hopefully in safely identified and secured areas with as much respect as possibly under the given situation.

In my continuing education training course When So Many Die at Asbury Online Institute, we have a whole section in the course on how individuals and families need to prepare to attend to the bodily remains of a loved one who has die in a medical disaster to help reduce the contagious nature of infected remains on the immediate family and the community at large. In dealing with a medical disaster of a highly contagious disease, a number of things must be considered in developing and maintaining a sick room and after death care physical and emotional support care. Remember that the funeral service professionals such as funeral directors and coroners will be in limited supply and will be overloaded with work.

Families and loved one will need to address the immediate removal of deceased bodies from their living surrounding to help reduce the numerous health issues a decaying, infectious body produces. Local communities even neighborhoods with large populations (high rise apartments etc) will need to consider and learn how to address the infectious remains in as safe a manner as possible for all concerned with limited personal supplies available. The two part thanostic punch of a pandemic from an infectious person is 1) while they are alive and 2) after they are dead. Death in many ways does not stop the ongoing medical crisis issues the family and community will experience and MUST address in a medical disaster such as a pandemic.

TM

[Laidback Al]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

GaudiaRay's Comment:

----
Osterholm, re: dead bodies, the discussion at FT, said they're no more contagious than any other body. Their skin will probably have the virus on it.

If you seriously want to know, you should ask DMORT at FEMA. Disaster Morticians = DMORT.
------

from:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10777

[Harriet]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

Here is a link for funeral directors and the guidelines:

http://www.vfda.net/armed_forces_med_intel_center.pdf

According to this contact with bodily fluids or lung tissue are main dangers of risks of infection.

The infected dead are less of a risk than the live ones but still some risk involved.

[NOK]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

I just remembered reading this......

Minnesota State Summit: History Supplement

Opening Remarks Prepared for Delivery
By the Honorable Mike Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
December 14, 2005

Here in Minnesota, the Paulson family was one of the first to be touched. The Paulsons were residents of the town of Wells, about a two-hour drive to the southwest from Minneapolis.

Marie Paulson had sent three of her seven children off to the Great War. On September 14th of 1918, she received word that her 22-year old son Walter had caught pneumonia. Within three days, Walter was dead. A day after Walter was buried in Wells, his brother Raymond fell ill. Raymond would die, and so would his sister, Anna Valerius.
That was just the beginning. On September 25th, the Surgeon General announced that the first cases of influenza had been discovered in Minnesota. Here in Minneapolis, a large number of army recruits who were being temporarily housed at the University of Minnesota became ill.

In less than a week after influenza was first reported, there were more than 1,000 cases in Minneapolis. On October 10th, all public meetings were banned. On the 11th, all schools, churches, theaters, dance halls and billiard parlors were closed.

As in Cedar City, the disease continued to spread. By October 17th, the Minneapolis City Health Commissioner estimated that nearly 3,000 people had died due to the disease.

By the time the pandemic was finally over in Minnesota at the end of 1920, more than 75,000 people had been sickened. Nearly 12,000 were dead.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

Thank you F1 again to have gone to the source and a thank you to John Mitchell for his diligence and honesty.

Boy we are privilege here, unbelievable.

Snowy

[sharon sanders]

Response to my email enquiry

"Sharon: No, he did not say that specifically........"

[Christian Rivers]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

For what it is worth, here is an excerpt from the US HHS pandemic plan -

http://www.hhs.gov/pandemicflu/plan/sup4.html#post

Section IV 8. Postmortem care
Follow standard facility practices for care of the deceased. Practices should include standard precautions for contact with blood and body fluids.
C R

[sharon sanders]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

I just emailed the journalist.


J. -

Hi. I would like some clarification on your story regarding Dr. Osterholm's
visit to your area. Did he state that the bodies of "bird flu" victims
would be contagious after death?

Thank you.


</PRE>

[sharon sanders]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

"Corpse management, the handling of the dead and how we grieve, will be very important," he said.

He is stressing how the dead are handled. This implies, in English, that he is concerned about the touching of the dead.

[Snowy Owl]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

From what I have read, it seems more the opinion of the journalist rather than those of Osterholm.

So, I will reserve my comments on this issue until I or you can find out if Osterholm made the statement or the journalist.

Snowy

[Harriet]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

Commentary

Reporter Hospitalized in Bandung With H5N1 Bird Flu Symptoms

Recombinomics Commentary
June 15, 2006

the Spreading Reporter of the Time newspaper the Setiabudi Echo was treated in the Handsome Sadikin Hospital (RSHS), Bandung because of being suspected of being attacked by bird flu .Spreading that was assigned in Tasikmalaya, West Java was brought to RSHS, on Wednesday (14/6) around struck 23.00 WIB with the high and breathless fever complaint. The temperature of the Spreading body also achieved 39 Celcius levels. After doing the inspection, the doctor referred Spreading was treated in isolation space. Spreading felt the high fever was accompanied breathless since Saturday set and at that point he only underwent treated the road. However because the illness it was felt never will recover Spreading immediately was brought to RSHS. two weeks set, Spreading could cover the funeral of bird flu casualties and the extermination of the positive poultry was infected by bird flu.

The above translation indicates that a reported covering an earlier H5N1 bird flu case in Bandung has now developed symptoms and has been hospitalized with a high fever and breathing difficulties. Symptoms began on Saturday and hospitalization was on Wednesday.

There have been clusters of bird flu cases in Bandung as well as much of the region in western Java. In addition, nurses in the hospital in Bandung also developed symptoms. Initial tests on the health care workers were negative, but more reliable antibody tests could not be run until later in the month.

Although most reports mention some link with birds, the H5N1 isolated from patients have a novel cleavage site that does not match the bird isolates, raising questions about the origin of the infections as well as ease of transmission.

In the past, the clusters have generally involved family members with close contact to the index case or other family members. Confirmation of H5N1 in the reporter would indicate that H5N1 transmission was becoming more efficient, since poultry contacts would likely have been minimal.

[Harriet]

Re: Dr. Michael Osterholm details dangers of avian flu

The reporter who became ill was in Indonesia. He was covering a farm where there was an outbreak and they were culling birds. Then he attended a funeral for someone who had died of bird flu.

There have also been stories of others who were effected after attending funeral services but then you never knew if someone attending the funeral had the disease or they caught it from the deceased. creepy.


15.06 / 20:34 Journalist suspected of carrying bird flu virus

BANDUNG (WEST JAVA), June 15, 2006. KAZINFORM. A journalist working for a national daily, RES (30), is suspected of being infected with the bird flu virus and has been undergoing treatment at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung since Wednesday.

RES was suspected of suffering from avian influenza flu after he had covered the funeral of Mastur, a bird flu patient, and a cull of poultry in Tasikmalaya, Dr Djatnika, vice chairman of the hospital's bird flu unit, said here on Thursday, Kazinform quotes ANTARA.

The Tasikmalaya-based journalist had high fever and a respiratory problem when he was admitted to the hospital at almost midnight.

His condition was currently getting better and his temperature had dropped to 38.9 C degrees while his blood pressure had risen from 100/70 to 131/73.

"We will take a sample of his blood for a laboratory check," he said.

Hasan Sadikin Hospital has so far treated a total of 45 bird flu patients, and some of them died.

Since July 2005, more than 50 bird flu affected people were found in Indonesia, and 37 of them died of the disease.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has asked the public to watch out for the avian influenza (AI) virus by avoiding direct contact with poultry and keeping poultry out of their homes.