If bird flu hits Africa, U.S. next, speaker says
By Michelle L. Klampe, mklampe@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 29, 2006
When the bird flu hits Africa, start stockpiling food.
That was the dramatic message delivered Friday to more than 100 students, staff members and others attending a symposium on avian flu and other infectious diseases at California State University, Channel Islands.
"Invaders of the Human Body" featured a panel of six university professors, mostly from California, talking about the danger and spread of such infectious diseases as AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, West Nile virus and more. But the hottest topic at the event was Tom Scott's presentation on avian flu.
"Imagine if the virus is as bad as is feared. Of the 100 people in the room, 20 of us won't make it," said Scott, associate director of the Center for Conservation Biology at University of California, Riverside. "Everybody scared so far?"
The World Health Organization has reported 205 cases of avian flu worldwide, with 113 people dying. Healthcare officials worldwide worry the disease, which in its current form is contracted primarily through close contact with infected birds like chickens and geese, will mutate into a form that is easily spread from person to person, launching a pandemic.
If the disease does mutate, its arrival in Africa and its impact on that continent will be indicators for people in the U.S. to start preparing, Scott said. "When the disease takes hold in Africa, start stockpiling," he said.
If avian flu becomes a pandemic, life as we know it could be disrupted for several weeks while the disease runs its course, Scott said. Hospitals would be inundated and grocery stores and other services likely shut down. Stockpiling food and other emergency goods will be essential if that's the case, he said.
"This could be a life-changing event for all of us, just as it was (during the flu epidemic) in 1918," he said. "It's time to start taking precautions."
CSUCI now has a committee on the bird flu and the effects an epidemic might have on the university, said Peggy Hinz, director of communications for the campus. The committee will examine such effects as implications of a quarantine on students living on campus and how it might affect students' ability to complete classes and graduate.
University President Richard Rush said Friday's symposium offers the university community a chance to explore topical issues applicable to everyday life.
"All of us want real answers to real questions ? so we can begin to figure out what we must do to protect ourselves," Rush said.
Some of those solutions may come from the next generation of scientists currently studying at the university, Scott said.
By Michelle L. Klampe, mklampe@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 29, 2006
When the bird flu hits Africa, start stockpiling food.
That was the dramatic message delivered Friday to more than 100 students, staff members and others attending a symposium on avian flu and other infectious diseases at California State University, Channel Islands.
"Invaders of the Human Body" featured a panel of six university professors, mostly from California, talking about the danger and spread of such infectious diseases as AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, West Nile virus and more. But the hottest topic at the event was Tom Scott's presentation on avian flu.
"Imagine if the virus is as bad as is feared. Of the 100 people in the room, 20 of us won't make it," said Scott, associate director of the Center for Conservation Biology at University of California, Riverside. "Everybody scared so far?"
The World Health Organization has reported 205 cases of avian flu worldwide, with 113 people dying. Healthcare officials worldwide worry the disease, which in its current form is contracted primarily through close contact with infected birds like chickens and geese, will mutate into a form that is easily spread from person to person, launching a pandemic.
If the disease does mutate, its arrival in Africa and its impact on that continent will be indicators for people in the U.S. to start preparing, Scott said. "When the disease takes hold in Africa, start stockpiling," he said.
If avian flu becomes a pandemic, life as we know it could be disrupted for several weeks while the disease runs its course, Scott said. Hospitals would be inundated and grocery stores and other services likely shut down. Stockpiling food and other emergency goods will be essential if that's the case, he said.
"This could be a life-changing event for all of us, just as it was (during the flu epidemic) in 1918," he said. "It's time to start taking precautions."
CSUCI now has a committee on the bird flu and the effects an epidemic might have on the university, said Peggy Hinz, director of communications for the campus. The committee will examine such effects as implications of a quarantine on students living on campus and how it might affect students' ability to complete classes and graduate.
University President Richard Rush said Friday's symposium offers the university community a chance to explore topical issues applicable to everyday life.
"All of us want real answers to real questions ? so we can begin to figure out what we must do to protect ourselves," Rush said.
Some of those solutions may come from the next generation of scientists currently studying at the university, Scott said.
