Avian flu: escape route by sea

[Mike Davis]

Has anyone other than myself made a plan if you had to leave the mainland of the U.S. for an indefinite period of time if H5N1 hits the U.S.? Having a boat can be a plus. Any thoughts?

[M. R. Bober]

Mike,
Camus said "we are all basically alone". It appears that--for this theme--you certainly are. Take lots of water.

Good luck,
Mitchell Bober
Sunny Annapolis (Fearmongering since 1649), MD

[Oswego John]

If any seagulls want to land on your deck, say "Shoo".

Just kidding.

All in all, it is something to think about, though.

O J

[Paul Kamins]

Mike, I have to admit that I have considered the same. But then I wonder which would be safer, toughing it out on land or on sea. Considering that I am a relatively new sailor with a relatively small CD30, survival durring an exodus at sea could be tricky. Paul.

[Carter Brey]

Between depending on my immune system and contemplating spending an indefinite length of time aboard a 28-foot sailboat with 2 pre-teens and a woman who fears rough water, I'd say my chances for emerging mens sana in corpore sano from such an eventuality would be greater ashore.

Carter Brey
(Thinking cheerful thoughts here in sunny Manhattan)

[Warren Kaplan]

Avian Flu. Human Flu. Swine Flu. Common colds and most of the usual contagious diseases are primarily spread by direct contact.

Avian flu is not very contagious to people. There have only been about 100 cases confirmed world wide. Those people usually got it by direct contact with infected birds. People to people transmission is extremely rare and if I remember correctly it has only transmitted to a single person when it has transmitted person to person.

Best defense against ALL these contagious diseases:

WASH YOUR HANDS AND WASH THEM OFTEN!!

You should not eat, drink, smoke a cigarette or rub your eyes unless you've washed your hands. You should wash your hands thoroughly and for at least 20 seconds. You will find if you do this the chances of you getting avian flu, human flu or a common cold drop dramatically.

FWIW

Warren Kaplan, DVM

[Michael Heintz]

Warren,

With all do respect SIR!!!!!!!!!!

If I were to wash my hands every time I EAT,DRINK,SMOKE A CIGARETTE, or RUB MY EYES, or any other personal body functions.

There would be no time in the day to do anything

I thank you SIR for your wisdom, However I think I’ll stock up on Jim Beam, and sail into the sunset!!!!!!
<img src=http://www.heintzwasson.com/clients/machtnichts.jpg>

[tartansailor]

Words of Wisdom spoken with Authority. Thank You.
That is especially true here in southern Delaware with Purdue and Mountainaire to the south, Bombay Hook to the North, Prime Hook to the East, Blackwater and the Chesapeake to the West, and plop dab in the center of the Eastern fly-way. We are also surrounded with mill ponds just loaded with resident ducks, and less than a mile is the Murderkill and Broadkill Rivers teaming with migratory birds.
At present there are many thousands, yes, thousands of Snow Geese gathering in local fields.
Southern Delaware has got to be ground zero if anything bad happens.
Beginning 1 April I am out of here for 3 months of fly fishing up north.
I think that I'll just keep a bucket of soapy water handy in the interim.
Dick

[Warren Kaplan]

Everything has to be put into perspective. Also remember that the media overhypes everything to sell papers and panic everyone.

Case in point. Do you all remember the absolute world panic in 2003 about SARS. To believe what was hyped the world was coming to an end for sure. Well, there were a few thousand people who contracted SARS in Asia and North America in 2003. Of those, about 100 or so died. Terrible to be sure. But let me give you another statistic. One that is rarely mentioned. Each year the number of deaths related to ho-hum "regular" human influenza of the various strains in the USA alone averages...are you ready for this....36,000!!!

You don't hear people ready to spend the winter offshore each year because the annual flu "epidemic" is coming. Yet human influenza related deaths rates are staggering compared to Avian Flu. SARS. The Swine Flu scare of about 20 years ago.

I'm not suggesting that Avian Flu might not mutate into something stronger. But that can happen with every flu virus. I'm not suggesting that the avian flu threat should be considered superficial. What I am saying is that we deal with much greater threats every year and nobody is whipped up into a panic like the media is doing when these "new" things come along.

Wash your hands. Stay out of crowds if the disease ever gets to your area and use common sense.

By the way....Ex Fleet Cap'n Heintz......Jim Beam is an excellent disinfectant when taken in copious aliquots internally!

[Carter Brey]

By the way....Ex Fleet Cap'n Heintz......Jim Beam is an excellent disinfectant when taken in copious aliquots internally!

Aliquots? Aliquots!?

[Sea Hunt]

Dr. Kaplan:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We now have the written testimonial of a doctor confirming what many of us have long believed to be true. The consumption of Jim Beam (or Jack Daniels) internally is, in fact, medicinal and helps to prevent many, many types of infections, ailments, etc.

I assume that the quantity of consumption will vary depending upon the ailment. I have used Jack Daniels medicinally for a sore knee, a pulled back muscle, a jammed finger, the common flu, a bad cold, cold weather. Surprisingly, I can't seem to remember the quantities of consumption for each of the above ailments. No worries.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you

[Len]

And I thought owning a boat in preparation of the melting of the poles was a bit excessive.

[Oswego John]

Hi all, (achoo)

Could you stand a little bit more nostalgia? (that's nostalgia, not neuralgia)

Going back many decades, before, during and after WWII, it was commonplace for many to smoke and drink. If you should come upon an old black and white film of that era, you will probably notice that when a new character enters the room,someone will invariably ask "Can I fix you a drink?", and proceeds to pour three fingers of hootch out of a beautiful, lead crystal, cut glass decanter. Immediately after the first sip, a cigarette was lit. (no filters in those days.)

There was, and maybe still is, a saying to drown a cold and starve a fever. The common cold was made more tolerable by consuming vast quantities of Rock and Rye, a liquid form of dynamite, which had slices of various fruit wedges marinating in the bottle. After the liquid had been consumed, if one were to eat the fruit slices, he wouldn't be fully coherent until sometime during the next week. It was as bad, maybe worse than torpedo juice. But hey, remember, it was strictly for medicinal purposes.

When a smoker caught a cold, he wasn't to be denied. He went automatically into cold combat mode. He bought a pack of Kools, or some other mentholated cigarette. Strictly for medicinal purposes. Why not? A prescription could cost as much as $2.00, whereby a pack of butts cost about $.14 or so. Common sense ruled in those days.

Maybe I jogged some old timers memories by this.

FWIW,

O J

[Neil Gordon]

......Jim Beam is an excellent disinfectant when taken in copious aliquots internally!

It's also made in America, so while we're battling the imported micro-critters, we're not furthering the evil trade deficit. (I make exceptions for single malts.)

[Neil Gordon]

The common cold was made more tolerable by consuming vast quantities of Rock and Rye, ...

The original formula being rye whiskey and rock candy. (Remember rock candy swizzle sticks?) Rock and Rye had the unique ability among alcoholic delicacies to destroy not only your liver but your pancreas. All of this somewhat offset by the vitamin C you got from the fruit slices.