[rustyme]

no problems chickens you are welcome ,
                yes I hope that it fades away, but at the moment it doesn't look that way.  . Things are still very unclear really . For example what are the details of the people that have died so far ? were they all in the 25-50 age group ? were they all fit and healthy ? what were their housing and employment details ? .   All these things can make a huge difference in the equation !! especially as there have been no deaths ouside of Mexico so far !! However , the people at WHO and CDC the HPA and the EU Health commission know more than I do and they are very concerned and WHO have put the Pandemic threat level upto Phase 4 now , the highest it has been since the system was conceived.

cheers

Russ

[sausagesandcash]

Time to stock up on tins of food!! .......and ammo 

[chickens]

Do we know what the incubation period is for example if I ask my friends to wait until they collect their children (so to be safe for everyone) what timing would I be asking them? Or is it pointless really because the man we sit next to on the bus could have the flu and us not know?
Chickens

[sausagesandcash]

Lets not loose the run of ourselves chickens....now if they were coming from Mexico....well maybe

[chickens]

Okay Morgan thanks you are right and thanks again for advice everyone

chickens

[rustyme]

yes ...chances of them coming into contact with any of the infected people in Canada must be pretty remote. The incubation period is abot 7-10 days though ( I think?). However , the death rate in Mexico seems to be slowing and there are no deaths recorded anywhere else , so it may, repeat MAY, be that there is not too much to worry about . Taking normal precautions and being maybe a little more careful or should I say thoughtfull ? should see things through ok .  The next week will show how far and freely it has spread , and also how virulent it is . Therein lies the problem !! , act normal while waiting the week for more information and then everything turns out fine !!! act normal while waiting the week for more information and then everything turns out NOT fine at all !!! I would say , again , just go careful , wash hands often , use tissues and throw away in a proper bin , don't sneeze or cough into someone cover your self . Avoid going to places where there are lots of people , such as airports , train stations etc. People who have just normal flu should do this anyway, but there are many selfish people who say "oh it is only flu , I am going to just carry on " , well for them it may be JUST normal flu , and they can get through it ok . However there are many people for who flu isn't JUST flu . Some 20,000 people die of flu every year !!! So at the moment it would seem that just taking normal precautions would be the best thing to do . (Just make sure the AK47 is handy though !!!)

cheers

Russ

[MiriMaran]

Can it be passed from humans to pigs?

[rustyme]

I haven't seen anything in particular about it going from human to pig but, as it is a mix of American swine flu , European and Asian swine flu American bird flu and human flu , it is really incorrect to call it either pig flu or swine flu !!! but I should think it would pass as easily to pigs as it does to humans .I know that it is quite common for pig farmers to get pig flu from pigs ( just not this particular one ) and no doubt the farmers give their pigs flu too. The danger with this flu though is it's ability to hit the fit humans between 25-45 ish . It makes their very effective immune system attack the hosts body . Older or younger people have a less strong immune system that is incapable of killing the host , therefore they survive. The flu in pigs is fairly mild ,from what I have read so far . There is even doubt that it even came from pigs .. it may well have come from birds or even a human !!! The virulence and death rate are very hard to work out . Mexico being classed almost as a third world country , as far as the health system goes , it is therefore very difficult to say if the 150 deaths so far , are part of say 2,000 people who have the virus , or maybe they are part of 2,000,000  . If from the 2,000 then it is a very dangerous virus with a high death  rate. If from the 2,000,000 then it is only a very mild form of virus and we will basically shrug it off. Time is the only way of finding out , and seeing how many die from known infected numbers. All we can hope is the number of deaths is very small and the number of infected very high . That means it is a very mild form ...fingers crossed

cheers

Russ

[MiriMaran]

I was just wondering whether an infected person could infect some pigs and then the virus gets spread very quickly through the pigs being moved e.t.c.

[rustyme]

yes I should think that would be very possible , but it would spread much much faster from human to human . Human catches virus goes to supermarket , infects possibly dozens maybe even hundreds. Human goes to football match , how many then then each of those infected by first human does the same infecting many more . How many of those jump in a plane and go to Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Australia, USA, even back to Mexico !!! talk about a Mexican wave .....

cheers

Russ

[pegusus pig]

Hi all back again and feeling less fuzzy headed than before. (if thats possible for me ) Thank you for all the advice, it can be so frustrating being the only one in the family who actually has these concerns regarding the stock, or human/stock cross contamination. It's great to have found a site where the people are willing to offer useful advice on your problem/worries other than "put them in the freezer, problem solved". So thank you all.

As for pigs getting it as rusty says theres every possibility they can get it, but going on the lack of info on defra and what Mr Pig posted;

There are no reports of an increase in influenza in pigs occurring in the US/Mexico or elsewhere in the world.
Therefore, although parts of this virus may have originated in pigs, it now appears to be transmitting from human to human direct.

 i would take it that as long  as we all make sure we know who is visting and use the correct precautions then there shouldn't be to many concerns. I'm not allowing the family/vistors anywhere near the pigs (they've just come back from holiday), following all the usual cleaning and disinfecting, and keeping a close eye for any that look under the weather. Not much diffrent from usual.

Hows the cold rusty you said you were feeling unwell a few days ago?

[rustyme]

the cold is gone now ... thank god..lol . I heard on the news earlier that Egypt are culling ALL pigs . I thought that a bit strange and over the top to say the least. It is human to human that is causing the spread NOT pig to human . Although at present all cases are related to Mexico directly . However the school in New York that has confirmed cases, has said that there are hundreds of pupils showing signs of flu . Not all of these went to Mexico , therefore that means if they become confirmed that they are the first human to human spread ouside of Mexico . That will then mean that the WHO will raise their warning level to phase 5 . The first person to die of it outside of Mexico was a little girl of 23 months , she was a Mexican who had gone to Texas for treatment of the flu .

cheers

Russ

[chickens]

my friends arrive tonight from halifax and although they have not been out and about much they have obviously used the airlines etc - should i be keeping them away from my animals then? just the pigs or all animals? should i just not worry?  Sorry i am being a pain again

chickens

[rustyme]

Hello Chickens ,
                 not a pain at all , just being careful . I would say try to keep all contact with visitors at an absolute minimum. Obviously if you need a vet to see an animal then they would have to have contact. But other than that it would be sensible to keep everyone away from your stock if at all possible. I know it hasn't spread all over yet and may not, but if contact it kept to nil , then your animals will remain safe . It is a very hard thing to achieve though as you will have contact with your visitors and you will then have contact with your stock !!!! I would ask your visitors if they have any symptoms at all and then act accordingly . The flu is a mix of swine/pig flu human flu and bird flu , so it is quite possible for your pigs to catch it and any poultry too . I have no idea about cattle or sheep , goats etc. , but the only thing you can do is reduce any risk as much as possible . There is very little information about animal contamination with the flu , so it is up to everyone with animals to make their own arrangements , ie . keep contact with visitors  to nil , and keep up with cleaning of pens and sheds , and keep to hand and use dissinfectant as per reccomended precautions against desease spread .  Don't worry though ... be concerned yes !, but not worried .

cheers

Russ

[pegusus pig]

I heard on the news earlier that Egypt are culling ALL pigs . I thought that a bit strange and over the top to say the least. It is human to human that is causing the spread NOT pig to human .

Thats what got me a little worried, not that i don't care about my family but they let you know if they are ill (and they DO let you know) then the doctors make them better. Not so with the pigs it may look fine fit and healthy but shot just on connection. I lost animals in the foot and mouth like this due to a farm a few miles away having it. They wont put the kids down (how ever much you beg ) thankful they are all fine so far not a sniffle but still keeping a eye on them only been home 3 days, fingers crossed or I'll be in panic mode again.