February 14, 2006
Bird Flu Lands in Slovenia
Ducks on the Drava: Doomed to Destruction?
The bad news: Bird flu has come to Slovenia.
The even-badder news: It appeared in koblerjev zaliv (Kobler Bay) on the Drava River, some 300 meters from where I live.
The encouraging news: Slovenia's Health Ministry says there's nothing to be worried about, but notes that people should: "stay away from wild birds and not feed them or touch them."
The not-so-encouraging news: On Saturday I was feeding wild birds on the river -- the ones at ground zero.
The what-the-hell-are-they-doing news: They found the dead swan on Thursday. By Saturday, tests had revealed that the bird was H5-positive. The results were promptly sent to the appropriate EU authorities -- but not shared with Slovenes at home. Everyone here got the bad news from Brussels.
In the meantime, things are peaceful. Oddly so. I guess I was imagining some kind of scene out of Outbreak -- men swooping in wearing contamination suits, shouting "Secure the perimeter! Secure the perimeter!" except in Slovene. But everything seems the same.
Across the channel, though, at least the British tabloid The Mirror is up in arms: Bird Flu... It's just 798 Miles Away! Virus Kills Swan in Slovenia!
Sensationalism aside: Happy Valentine's Day! (and does anyone have any Tamiflu?)
Posted on February 14, 2006 to Slovenia
Comments
Well, I hope you were taught to wash your hands when you were little :))) To quote The Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy: Don't panic! :)))
Posted by: pengovsky at February 14, 2006 09:52 AM
Just think of all the people who will now find out, where Slovenia is...
Posted by: melis at February 14, 2006 10:04 AM
Well, it's obvious: The country is hen-shaped, the head of the Veterinarian Authorithy is a chicken-head and the three top leaders of this country are bald and resemble egg-heads :))) Bird flu just had to come here, right? ;)
Posted by: pengovsky at February 14, 2006 10:17 AM
If you say so... :-) From this point of view I am glad we don't have any cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy..
Posted by: melis at February 14, 2006 10:40 AM
Michael, what's going on? I keep getting the "Your comment was denied for questionable content." reply... And I ain't using any dirty language...
Posted by: pengovsky at February 14, 2006 10:51 AM
what about millions of people, which die every year of the "ordinary" flu? Any concernes about that? ;)
Posted by: E-gon at February 14, 2006 11:09 AM
pengovsky: E-mail me the comment. Sometimes the filter grabs the oddest things.
E-gon: I'm too busy rolled up in the fetal position, crying and screaming, to think about them right now.
Posted by: Michael M. at February 14, 2006 11:45 AM
Unless you take a bite of that swan, nothing much to worry. Tamiflu doesnt really help that much, they are strains of h5n1 already resistant to it... stockpiling it at home is not such a good ideja :)
Posted by: BigWhale at February 14, 2006 01:18 PM
The swedish health authorities tell us that there is no need to panic. The only people that have cause for concern are the ones that keep poultry running free. As I do just that I...do not feel calm. I might as well join you in a fetal position, crying and screaming Michael ;o)
Posted by: Peter Zrinski at February 14, 2006 01:36 PM
Sorry, Michael: I'm a diagnosed hypochondriac, so you'll get no "nothing to worry about" stuff from me. Everything I can say to you is: you got what you deserved! I stopped eating poultry five months ago, and whenever I see a bird around I try to kill it with a gaze (moving to a stone when that doesn't work). And you? Feeding swans!? Please!! Don't you know that they're our public enemy number one! Since yesterday I have all reason to panic and I do so. Whenever I see Mrs. Čadonič Špelič on TV I say to myself: "OK, if she's taking care of our vet services, I can as well star choosing my coffin." Anyway, Michael, although I hope you know there's actually no hope left, try to keep cool and preserve calm: for the children's sake. We'll miss you, but hell, that's life.
Posted by: Luka at February 14, 2006 02:21 PM
If I do get it, I'm going to have to take Vida with me to the afterlife. That's all I know for certain.
Also, I don't know how to reconcile the conflicting statements: "Don't panic, everything is fine" and "Christ almighty, stay away from the birds!!!1!!"
Posted by: Michael M. at February 14, 2006 02:55 PM
Well, it simply means "Don't panic while staying away with all your might from everything that has got wings as their means of transport"... :-)
Posted by: melis at February 14, 2006 03:07 PM
A bit off the topic: has anybody heard Vida Čadonič Špelič speak English? It's a must do experience, although a little painful in the beginning, but highly rewarding.
Posted by: Luka at February 14, 2006 03:13 PM
Michael, you're doomed: http://www.delo.si/index.php?sv_path=41,35,118868
Posted by: Luka at February 14, 2006 03:34 PM
For starters, you should sue her ass for not issuing a warning on the first day when they found the dead bird. You were put in a dangerous situation because this incompetent cunt is not doing her job properly. If she had issued the warning, you wouldn't have gone close to the damn bird. Hmm, I might have been in the states too long. But seriously, everyone who was in the proximity of swans during the three days that the vital information was witheld should smack a class action suit on Vida.
Posted by: crni at February 14, 2006 05:03 PM
In here, in Romania, some Gypsies ate some dead birds that died from the flu... It is unclear whether they got the flu, but now their village is in quarantine.
Posted by: Bogdan at February 14, 2006 05:22 PM
crni: Sounds like a damn good idea. I think I've been out of the states too long, because it didn't even occur to me.
Posted by: Michael M. at February 14, 2006 05:27 PM
Don't wory Michael. I also live in 3 km danger area.
And:
- a bit more than 100 people died from bird flu so far.
Eech day:
- 30000 people die from poverty
- 1400 girls and women die giving birth
- 16 people die waiting for an organ transplant to give
- 12.000 people die of neglect and malnutrition and misery
- 3300 die in road crashes
- 8200 people die from AIDS
- 5000 children die from diarrhea caused by a lack
of clean water
- 71 people are killed in alcohol related accidents
- 3000 people die in China due to smoking
- 40000 children under the age of five die from malnutrition and vaccine
- 1000 Americans die from smoking-related diseases
- 3000 children die from malaria
- 5000 people in AFrica die from TB
- ...
Posted by: matej at February 14, 2006 07:56 PM
I think you should calm down a bit Michael (as should I for that matter). You only catch the flu if you are in very close, constant, contact with infected birds.(So the experts say here in Sweden) I don´t think feeding swans will transfer the disease to you unless you tried to hug them and/or kiss them.Did you? ;o) I have just read thet they have found 2 dead swans on the german island of Rujana.It seems the Flu is cathing in on Sweden. The fields behind my house is a wintering and feeding ground for hundreds of swans. I think I´ll keep my hens indoors from now on.
Posted by: Peter Zrinski at February 14, 2006 10:17 PM
Forget the bird flu! Come to sunny Orange County, California, USA, where you are most likely to be denied an organ transplant (see Matej's comment above). There's a big scandal about it now here; it's been dubbed "Livergate," because the first sign something was wrong was with the liver transplant unit of the local university hospital. So put birds aside, and keep your organs safe.
Posted by: Jonathan at February 15, 2006 12:38 AM
Don't worry about not having any tamiflu ready ... it's BS medicine that doesn't work anyway. It's supposed to be a generic anti-viral thing, that should work on all virii, but it doesn't really work on any virus at all. The only reason it cought on the hype is the fact, that it's the only medicine that *could* have any effect on the H5 virus. Another thing ... poeple who have died of bird flu were all weak, malnurished, old, with no access to medical care etc. I don't think you have anything to worry about, since neither of the listed circumstances apply to you.
Posted by: rox at February 15, 2006 11:42 AM
um.probably no one will read this anyway, but no one ever mentioned that EU press release came a whopping HALF AN HOUR earlier than Slovenian one. both issued by the same person, no less.
but of course, 30 minutes is a lifetime in journalism, isn't it?
Posted by: quattro at February 17, 2006 08:17 PM
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