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Worried 1.
Healthful fresh foods and nutritional supplements.
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Read how good food, sex,
prayer and sensible exercise can protect you from avian
influenza By SUSAN AMBROSINO Susan Ambrosino's Herb Club, Inc. With deadly bird flu threatening the United States and Canada, it just makes sense to give your body all the support it needs to keep you safe from infection.  Wholesome
foods, sensible exercise, stress reduction and daily
prayer and meditation have have all been linked to
improved immunity against disease.So, too, have regular intimacies with a loving mate. For added "insurance," health-conscious men and women often turn to herbs and supplements when  their health is stressed or under
threat.Herbs and supplements aren't drugs. And they aren't intended to treat, cure or prevent any illness. Like fresh wholesome foods, herbs and supplements provide nutritional support that can enhance your body's natural ability to do what God designed to do: stay healthy and survive. That's good news because there is no vaccine to protect you from "avian influenza." Your body's natural ability fend off illness is your first - and final - defense if and when you are exposed to bird flu during an outbreak. Experts disagree on the chances of that happening. But federal authorities led by President George Bush are already warning of the potential for misery and death surpassing that of the 1917 bird-flu epidemic that killed 50 million people - 675,000 in the United States alone. The potential for a bird flu pandemic today is so worrisome that some people already are calling it "The End Times Flu" in reference to global epidemics warned about in the Bible's apocalyptic Book of Revelation.  But
that doesn't mean you have to live in fear of bird flu -
quite the contrary. Eat right. Take care of emotional and spiritual needs. Spend quality time with your loved ones - and follow your health care professional's suggestions for an exercise regimen that suits you. Rock-solid studies show that all of those things can contribute to your overall sense of well-being in addition to boosting your immune response to infections of all kinds. While you're eating right, having fun with your sweetie and making other healthy lifestyle adjustments to enhance your resistance to the bird flu and other illnesses, take a few seconds to subscribe to my free weekly Herb & Health Report digital newsletter. It's fun, easy to read and provides you with the up-to-the-minute information you need to find and maintain optimal health day in, day out - all your life long! Questions? Comments? E-mail me, Susan Ambrosino, or Derek Clontz, Herb & Health Report Editor. You'll be glad you did.
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60 more facts about bird flu Protect
yourself and impress friends with your knowledge of the
avian virus that, experts warn, could kill millions or
even billions of people worldwideSources: Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, 4-Page Media, Inc., Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota, The New York Times, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), National Institutes for Health, National Public Radio, British Medical Association, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Gazette (Montreal), globalchange.com,. BBC, wisegeek.com, Science and Development Network. Copyright 2005, 4-Page Media, Inc. All rights reserved. |
| Continued from top of page 2. 3 NAMES, ONE BUG THE scientific names for bird flu are "avian influenza" and "H5N1" virus. |
3. BIRD FLU WORSE THAN AIDS AND WORLD WAR II SCARY prediction from Michael T. Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota: "An influenza pandemic ... will result in the biggest single human disaster ever - far greater than AIDS, 9/11, all wars in the 20th century and the recent tsunami combined. "It has the potential to redirect world history as the Black Death redirected European history in the 14th century." |
4. BIRD FLU IS AN EFFICIENT KILLER BIRD flu viruses are serious and often lethal for birds and humans. But there isn't "just one" bird flu - there are many. Even so, only the "H5N1 virus" is capable of infecting humans with potentially devastating consequences. |
5. 1 BILLION PEOPLE COULD DIE CASES of human infection by bird flu have been on the rise since 1997. When human-to-human transmission begins any day now, "up to one billion people could die in six months," said Dmitry K. Lvov, Director, D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. "We are half a step away from a worldwide pandemic catastrophe." |
6. WATCH OUT FOR SICK PIGS PIGS catch and carry bird flus and human flus. That means swine may turn out to be the "mixing vessel" that produces a bird flu-human flu mutation that can be transmitted from human to human - the worst-case scenario. |
Echinacea |
Goldenseal |
Reishi |
Maitake |
Cat's Claw |
| 7. SYMPTOMS TO WATCH FOR SYMPTOMS of bird flu include ordinary fever, aches and pains, cough, and sore throat. Also look for eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases and other severe and life-threatening complications. |
8. BIRD SPIT SPREADS THE VIRUS BIRD flu spreads through bird "spittle," i.e., saliva, nasal mucus and secretions and feces. Birds with weakened immune systems become infected when they have contact with contaminated excretions. |
9. STEER CLEAR OF SICK CHICKENS THE Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, says most but not all cases of bird flu in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry. Some infections came from contact with surfaces - like countertops - that were contaminated by infected poultry. |
10. YOUR RISKS MAY VARY THE risk of people catching bird flu is low except during an outbreak among domesticated chickens, turkeys and ducks. Then, watch out - it's Katy bar the door. |
11. IN THE KITCHEN: HANDLE POULTRY WITH CARE AVOIDING sick birds and following ordinary "safe-handling practices" when you cook poultry are important in helping you avoid catching bird flu. |
Anti V-IS |
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Pau d'Arco |
Noni |
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| 12. DUCKS SPREAD BIRD FLU LIKE CRAZY WILD ducks and other migratory waterfowl like geese spread bird flu. They carry and transmit the virus to domesticated birds. Unfortunately for humans, ducks do not show symptoms themselves. If you eat ducks, this increases your risk of finding infected duck meat on your dinner table. |
13. WHEN CHICKENS AREN'T YOUR FRIEND SMART consumers will avoid handling or eating live poultry in areas where bird flu has turned up. |
14. EGGS FROM INFECTED BIRDS CAN INFECT YOU WITH BIRD FLU EGGS from infected poultry might well be contaminated with the bird-flu virus. That means you should be careful when handling eggs, egg shells and raw egg products - the dang things could kill you. |
15. ORDINARY HUMAN FLU IS NOTHING TO SNIFF AT THE bird flu could kill millions of Americans, say some experts. By way of comparision, ordinary human flus kill 35,000 to 50,000 Americans each year - no small potatoes. |
16. FREEZING WON'T KILL THE BIRD FLU VIRUS FREEZING and refrigeration will not reduce the concentration or the virulence of bird-flu viruses on contaminated meat. Only proper cooking kills such viruses. The World Health Organization says foods should be cooked to reach an internal temperature of 70°C. You shouldn't touch "rare birds" with a 10-foot pole. |
Korean Ginseng |
More than a Multiple |
Co Q-10 |
Green Tea |
Schizandra |
| 17. DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN ALL bird-flu viruses - including the H5N1 virus now threatening the U.S. - are highly contagious, especially if you come into contact with an infected bird or its: 1. Mucus. 2. Saliva. 3. Poo. |
18. BIRD FLU FIRST ISOLATED IN 1961 SCIENTISTS isolated bird flu for the first time in South Africa in 1961, 44 long years ago. John F. Kennedy was still President of the United States - and America had yet to put a man on the moon. |
19. 100 MILLION BIRDS DEAD - AVIAN FLU TO BLAME DURING a bird flu outbreak in Cambodia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Vietnam in 2003-04, 100 million birds either died or were slaughtered in an unsuccessful attempt to control the outbreak - which rages still today. |
20. BIRD FLU MIGHT SIGNAL THE END OF THE WORLD GROWING numbers of evangelical and apocalyptic Christians believe bird flu is an "End Times Virus." The epidemic and symptoms, they say, are described in amazing detail in the Bible's Book of Revelation. |
21. BIRD FLU HAS A HONG KONG CONNECTION THE first known case of bird flu spreading from a bird to a human in recent years was during an outbreak in poultry in Hong Kong. |
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| 22. AVIAN FLU: The UGLY shape of things to come DURING a small outbreak of bird flu in Asia in 1997, 18 people got sick - six of them - that's a staggering 33 percent - died. |
23. BIRD FLU DEATH TOLL SHOCKER THE 33 percent death rate of humans who caught bird flu in 1997 (see item, left) is small compared to death rates now being recorded. Today, at least half of all people who catch bird flu die. |
24. PEOPLE SPREAD BIRD FLU, TOO STATISTICS indicate you are most likely to catch bird from from a bird or bird meat. But it can spread from human to human - just like an ordinary flu. Such transmission is still considered rare - for now. |
25. HOUSING BOOM WILL END EVEN conservative experts agree: If human-to-human transmission of the bird flu increases as the virus mutates, hundreds of millions of people could die. Other experts aren't quite so optimistic. They project a death toll of one BILLION or more, including half the population of the United States.. |
26. ASIA'S THE HOT SPOT |
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Ginger C with Rose Hips |
| 27. DRUGS NOT SO HOT AGAINST BIRD FLU ANTI-VIRAL drugs such as amantadine, rimantadine are powerless against the bird flu. Two other anti-virals - oseltamavir and zanamavir - may work, say scientists - but probably not for long. |
28. NO VACCINE FOR BIRD FLU THERE is no vaccine against bird flu. A healthy immune system and avoiding contact with the virus are the best protection against infection. |
29. CDC CAUGHT WITH PANTS DOWN? AS of May 24, 2005, the national Centers for Disease Control reported on its Web site: "The current risk to Americans from the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in Asia is low." |
30. GEORGE BUSH WORRIED SICK ABOUT BIRD FLU AS of Oct. 5, 2005, the risk to Americans was considered to be so high that President George Bush started talking about quarantining cities to keep the an outbreak of bird flu under control. |
31. WORLD HEALTH ORG. WARNING ABOUT BIRD FLU "MUTATIONS in avian flu virus could result in rapid spread of a new flu epidemic, with large numbers of deaths." - World Health Organization |
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| 32. WE'LL NEVER FORGET IN 1917 - 1918, a virus that became known as "Spanish flu" circled the globe, infecting 400 million people and killing 50 million of them. A staggering 675,000 were Americans ... 200,000 of whom died in October 1918 alone. |
33. SPANISH FLU OF 1917 ACTUALLY STARTED IN THE U.S. CALLING 1917's viral outbreak the "Spanish flu" is now known to have been a misnomer. The bug that killed so many people was a form of bird flu, forensic pathologists now say. Not only that, it didn't start in Spain, where eight million people died. Research now indicates it began in the United States ... in Kansas. |
34. DEATH COMES QUICKLY TO MANY VICTIMS OF BIRD FLU IN 1918, people with bird flu often died - boom! - in a matter or hours or days. Many of the victims were young and healthy, not old and infirm, the victims that ordinary human flu targets. |
35. BIRD FLU VICTIMS LOSE BLADDER CONTROL AND BLOODY FROTH OOZES FROM MOUTH Eyewitness describes death by bird flu during 1917-18 epidemic "AS their lungs filled, the patients became short of breath and increasingly cyanotic. "After gasping for several hours they became delirious and incontinent, and many died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth. It was a dreadful business." |
36. 1917 BIRD-FLU DEATH TOLL STILL RISING ESTIMATES of the death toll exacted by the bird flu of 1917-18 vary even today. Numerous medical texts and history books say 30 million people died worldwide. The authors of new study that appeared in the journal Nature say that figure is much too low - in fact, 50 million died. |
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Bayberry |
Oregon Grape Root |
Catnip |
Milk Thistle |
| 37. PLAGUE A 'WALK IN THE PARK' COMPARED TO BIRD FLU THE 1917-18 bird flu is thought to have killed the more people in less time than any other epidemic or in history - 50 million over 18 months. The 14th-century's Black Death killed just 20 million over a period of two years. |
38. NOBODY IS IMMUNE TO BIRD FLU THE latest bird flu virus is especially frightening because it has just mutated into a form that can infect humans. That means few if any people on earth have had exposure to this new flu, enabling them to develop resistance, making it particularly virulent and deadly. |
39. 'GOD HELP ME' Bird flu's late-stage symtoms are a living nightmare ORDINARY flu symptoms include fever, nausea, aches, pains, orneriness and diarrhea. During the bird flu outbreak in 1917-18, victims often developed severe pneumonia. Dark spots appeared on the cheeks and patients turned blue, literally suffocating from a lack of oxygen as their lungs filled with a frothy, bloody goo. |
40. WHY MAKING BIRD FLU VACCINE IS A BEAR ESPECIALLY troubling in the quest to develop a bird flu vaccine is the fact that the virus kills chicken eggs. Modern vaccines are made by growing influenza in live chicken eggs, after which scientists extracting the virus and inject it into humans. When the egg dies, the vaccine is worthless. Bird flu "wins" again. |
41. SARS AND BIRD FLU - NOT THE SAME THING BOTH bird flu and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are respiratory diseases - and both have caused widespread epidemics in Asia in the last 12 months. But the bird flu and SARS are very different. Bird flu is caused by influenza viruses similar to those that cause human flu. SARS is caused by a previously unknown 'coronavirus' from the same family of viruses that causes the common cold. |
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Bilberry |
Rhodiola |
Taurine |
Coral Calcium & Magnesium |
| 42. EARLY SYMPTOMS OF BIRD FLU ARE NOTHING SPECIAL EARLY symptoms of bird flu in humans are similar to normal influenza and include: * fever * cough * sore throat * muscle aches * conjunctivitis In severe cases, avian flu causes severe breathing problems and pneumonia, and is fatal. |
43. READ HOW SWIMMING SPREAD BIRD FLU HEALTH xperts on the front lines of bird flu research say that in addition to direct exposure to contaminated meat, simply: * being around birds |
44. YOU CAN HELP FIGHT BIRD FLU Susan Ambrosino says: "Help us help you. Send bird flu facts you've found - with your sources - to BIRD FLU FACTS. "Include your name and we'll give you credit on these pages. "Thank you!" |
45. TRICKY BIRD FLU VIRUS IS CHANGING ALL THE TIME ON a high note, the virus that causes bird flu must undergo 10 genetic mutations before it can be transmitted from human to human. On a low note, it's already undergone five of them. |
46. POKEY BIRD FLU VIRUS IS IN NO RUSH TO HURT YOU THE incubation period of avian influenza (H5N1) may be longer than for other known human influenzas. In 1997, most cases occurred within two to four days after exposure; recent reports indicate similar intervals but with ranges of up to eight days |
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Ginger Root |
Shitake Mushroom |
DHEA |
Royal Jelly |
| 47. FIRST SYMPTOMS OF BIRD FLU: HIGH FEVER, BLEEDING GUMS AND NOSE MOST patients have initial symptoms of high fever and an influenza-like illness with lower respiratory tract symptoms. Upper respiratory tract symptoms are present only sometimes. Unlike patients with infections caused by earlier avian influenza viruses, patients with today's avian influenza (H5N1) rarely have conjunctivitis. Diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, pleuritic pain, and bleeding from the nose and gums have also been reported early in the course of illness in some patients. |
48. ANOTHER EARLY SYMPTOM: BOWEL PROBLEMS WATERY diarrhea seems to be more common in the early states of bird flu than in those of ordinary human flu. This diarrhea may precede respiratory manifestations by up to one week, and is something to watch for. |
49. NEW STRAIN OF BIRD FLU TARGETS HEALTHY BABIES IN contrast to 1997 when most deaths from bird flu occurred among victims older than 13, recent recent avian influenza infections have caused high rates of death among: 1. infants, and ... 2. young children. Alarmingly, the fatality rate was a mind-boggling 90 percent among young patients in Thailand. Death has occurred an average of nine or 10 days after the onset of illness, with an actual range of six to 30 days. Most patients have died of progressive respiratory failure. |
50. BIRD FLU VICTIMS STRUGGLE TO BREATHE MOST hospitalized patients with avian influenza (H5N1) have required breathing support within 48 hours after admission to a hospital. They've also needed intensive care for multi-organ failure and sometimes hypotension (low blood pressure). In addition to treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, antiviral drugs have been used in most hosptialized patients. But it is unclear to what degree these drugs helped. Death rates for treated patients have been the same as for untreated patients. |
51. BIRD FLU IS GETTING STRONGER AND HARDER TO KILL NEW studies indicate that when compared with an influenza bird flu strain from 1997, the virus isolated in 2004 is much tougher, requiring: 1. higher doses of the anti-viral drug oseltamivir ... 2. ... and more prolonged administration to improve survival rates. |
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Classic Sinus Formula |
Daily De-Tox |
Burdock Root |
| 52. QUARANTINE YOURSELF IF EXPOSED TO BIRD FLU MEDICAL authorities says the risk of human-to-human, transmission is low at the moment, but self-quarantine for one week after exposure to an infected person is prudent. Once evidence indicates that person-to-person transmission is occurring regularly, quarantine of exposed people should be enforced - at gunpoint if necessary - medical authorities warn. |
53. 100 MILLION CHICKENS AND DUCKS - DEAD FROM BIRD FLU IN 1997, H5N1 emerged among the domesticated bird population in Southeast Asia. Since then, over 100 million chickens and ducks have been slaughtered in an effort to curb the virus’ spread. The overall human toll remains low. But researchers note that this strain results in a 55 percent death rate in known human cases (this number varies depending on who you are talking to - some experts say eight of 10 people who get bird flu die). If the H5N1 bird flu virus mutates from its current form into a virus easily transmitted between people, a pandemic will be the likely outcome. |
54. HOW BAD IS BIRD FLU WHEN COMPARED TO OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEMS? REAL BAD, SAYS EXPERT “WITHOUT a doubt, if you were to add up my entire public health career’s concerns, worries, and - in some cases - nightmares - they collectively do not meet the concern, worry, and nightmares that I have about the issue of an impending pandemic of influenza.” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and associate director of the Department of Homeland Security-funded National Center for Food Protection and Defense |
55. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF BIRD FLU 'JUST GOING AWAY' AND NOT CAUSING MANKIND SERIOUS PROBLEMS? “IT'S not if the bird-flu pandemic is going to happen, it’s when, and where - and how bad.” Michael Osterholm (credentials noted in bird-flu fact #54, left), wanns: |
56. BIRD FLU 'IS 1918 ALL OVER AGAIN,' SAYS EXPERT OVER the past 300 years, there have been 10 documented influenza pandemics. The most recent was the 1917-18 Spanish Flu - during which an estimated 50 million people perished. A modern bird flu pandemic would be strikingly similar to what happened in 1917-18, say experts. And research indicates that the H5N1 bird flu virus, like the Spanish flu, will be the most deadly for the healthiest segments of the population, not just the old and infirm. “It's 1918 all over again,” Osterholm (credentials noted in bird-flu fact #54) said. By comparing population data from 1918 to that of today, he estimated fatalities would range between 180 million and 360 million people worldwide. |
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Red Raspberry Leaf |
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Myrrh |
Frankincense |
| 57. 60 OF 116 EARLY VICTIMS OF BIRD FLU - DEAD THE World Health Organization has officially recognized 116 human cases of H5N1 influenza, 60 of them fatal, as of September 29, 2005. |
58. PETS IN PERIL, TOO, FROM BIRD FLU IN addition to infecting humans, the bird flu virus has jumped to other species, too - targeting cats, pigs, tigers, and leopards in recent years. |
59. ANYONE WITH A SORE THROAT AND FEVER BE TESTED TESTING for avian influenza (H5N1) should be considered for patients with all of the following: * Documented temperature of over 100.4:F (38:C). * Cough, sore throat, or shortness of breath. * History of contact with birds or a known or suspected patient with avian influenza (H5N1) within 10 days of symptom onset. |
60. WHY THE BIRD FLU VIRUS IS SO SCARY TO EXPERTS OF all the many different avian influenza subtypes, avian influenza H5N1 is of special concern because: * It mutates rapidly. * It has shown a propensity to acquire genes from viruses infecting other animal species. * It causes severe disease in humans, with a high case-fatality rate. * The virus has spread rapidly throughout poultry flocks in Asia, increasing the likelihood of infecting pigs where a "genetic reassortment" with human strains could occur, leading to a new pandemic strain. |
61. LEADING EXPERT SEES ECONOMIC DISASTER "THIS (bird flu pandemic) is going to be the most catastrophic thing in my lifetime. "When this situation unfolds, we will shut down global markets overnight. "There will not be movement of goods; there will not be movement of people. This will last for at least a year, maybe two." |
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61 things you must
know about bird flu
