ok, so we have friends who are stockpiling tinned goods in preparation for the Avain flu pandemic...

[Feistybird]

..which is reckoned to hit us by the latter half of the year.

Are they overreacting nutters or just taking sensible precautions?

[Feistybird]

?

[Twiglett]

nutters

[GeorginaA]

nutters

[PiccadillyCircus]

nutters

[tenalady]

Cant trust the info we have been given by government, so i say probably sensible. No harm in it to give peace of mind.

[cece]

what???

[Snafu]

Snort. Nutters.

[liath]

I stockpiled some stuff at the start of the winter, but I am a huge hypochondriac and catastrophiser (if that's a real word...)

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Will stockpiling tinned goods actually prevent you from catching bird flu then?

[Snafu]

No, but a well-aimed tin of baked beans will deter any deadly chickens, VVV.

[GeorginaA]

Who said anything about trusting the government? :)

But realistically - didn't the famous 1918 one last 2 years anyway? That's one big stockpile...

Plus we're still no more at risk than we were last year, or the year before ... or the year before that... it's just we understand more about how flu epidemics work now. It's an increase in understanding of epidemiology, not an increase in risk.

[Bozza]

nutters

[Bozza]

Not you Georgina btw. In response to the OP.

[tenalady]

pmsl snafu

[Twiglett]

there was a beautiful simplicity in place at the start of this thread .. it had an ethereal quality which was then ruined by all you bastards who can't keep it to just one word

[GeorginaA]

Oh, and the reason the 1918 one was so bad might have had a teensy weensy bit to do with huge worldwide troop movements and medical services being a tiny bit stretched to the limits on account of some big war on (inconsiderate, I know).

A good article:

\link{http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/286/\Avian Flu: this is not 1918}

[Chandra]

I came across an official document about what to expect if the thing becomes epidemic. It was very scary, the description of what to expect for the third month was very grim, really made me wonder about that. However.... I have not started stock piling!

[GeorginaA]

Bozza: damnit, I was all geared up to be mortally offended then.

Twiglett: oops, sorry :)

[peachyClair]

nutters

[Cappucino]

nutters

(do they have guns and chickenwire?)

[Chandra]

If you are really curious, \link{http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/17/44/04121744.pdf\this} is an update version of the doc mentioned.

However I think your friends are overreacting, are they building a bird droppings proof bunker as well?

[Feistybird]

well, my friend is a bit of a panicker - the type that travels to an airport the night before her flight in case the (brand new) car brakes down.

But other than that, they're very down to earth -hence the question here.

Her DH reckons has read a lot about it and informs that 1 in 4 of the population will get it and the only way to avoid it, is to avoid people.

[Feistybird]

breaks not brakes....

[handlemecarefully]

I'm a terminal worrier and panicker, but I'm not stockpiling (and I also have 3 buff sussex chickens alive and well in my back garden)

so they are ....well perhaps not nutters, but a tad over reactive

[GeorginaA]

Was it martianbishop who mentioned that the risks were actually higher for your dp to get testicular cancer, but we're not (maybe we should be?) all panicking every day about our partners getting cancer...