James; I was looking at the Texas State Department of Health and Human Services home page this morning and saw a link to their state plan for a flu pandemic. I thought our fellow readers might like to take a look. Probably would be a good idea for us all to see what each of our states have in mind for us. Here is the URL: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/influenza/pandemic/ Long Life, – “Overhill”
Mr. Rawles: Regarding the by another SurvivalBlog reader that mentioned that she had purchased Nano mask: They have major flaw, so I’d rather choose [a full mask with] 95 filters: The Nano mask offers NO EYE PROTECTION. Think about it, if it can get into your mouth or nose, it’ll get into your eyes too. Secondly, [swimming] pool grade diatomaceous earth will work too, contrary to what the website says. (I used to own a pool building business for nine years.. – Tamryn JWR Replies: I agree with both of your points. There are differences between natural diatomaceous earth and …
Hi Jim: Great to see young new people trying to start practical preparations. One cup of FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth per five gallon bucket will keep the bugs out. All of my stuff is already in nitro packed buckets with oxygen absorbers, but someday we might not be able to get dry ice and O2 absorbers for packing grains, so I just ordered some diatomaceous earth myself. See: http://www.internet-grocer.net/diatome.htm [The other topic that I wanted mention is] “Nano masks.” Mine just got shipped to me via UPS. I ordered them a month ago. Far more effective than N-95 [filter]s. See: …
Hi James, I thought this was a significant news article. See: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3483521a13,00.html I assume our banks are making similar plans to the New Zealanders. God Bless, – Lyn
Seems to me you would need quite a large herd of miniature goats to have chevron throughout the year using minis considering three meals per butchered animal, once a week = 52 goats just for butchering which means at least 26 females producing twins once a year plus being sure you have two bucks for service those females, plus enough browse for them to thrive on. Seems to me you would be much better off having two to three full size meat goat does to produce 4-6 butcher goats at (depending on the breed) 50-100 pounds of meat per animal. …
Memsahib: Just wanted to mention…..it really is not too hard to can meat with a pressure cooker. If you stock up now on mason jars and a good pressure cooker ( get an extra gasket) you can raise elephants for meat! Just have a feast for all the neighbors and can the rest. It is nice to have little jars of cooked meat around to dump over rice or throw into a stew. Frankly, it’s easier IMO than plucking or skinning family size animal meals every day, to just cut up one big one and can all day, and then …
The looming spectre of Asian Avian Flu really has me bummed, because I am a big fan of free range poultry. Free range poultry are able to forage for much of their own food from Spring through Fall. Another big advantage is that chickens come in single family serving size. Meaning my family can eat a whole chicken for dinner and there are not a lot of leftovers to worry about. Chickens are a great way of storing family serving sized protein “on the hoof” as it were. But, free range is out of the question for me now. See …
Mr. Rawles: All the talk about snares and traps and hunting… You’d better inform people about the proper precautions concerning RABIES in wild game. – Tamara JWR Replies: Yes, you are right. There are risks involved with hunting and trapping. But there are also risks involved with walking down a city street, or buying potato salad at your local delicatessen, or picking berries in bear country. As with anything else in life you need to weigh cost/benefit ratios, and learn to take appropriate precautions. Here are some basic precautions about hunting, trapping, and handling raw meat: Always wash your hands …
The Times of London reports that planners in the British Government are anticipating shutting down or curtailing traffic on their Underground system, and detailing dedicated security for health care workers, in the event of an influenza pandemic. See: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C25149-1853843%2C00.html Just some food for thought and ground for further research (FFTAGFFR.)
Mr. Rawles: Today one of the honchos at [name deleted], a major east coast Medical Center where my wife works told her that a epidemiology research group has finished a modeling study that predicts, based on the mutation rate of the Avian Flu, that sometime within 18 months it will become transferable in human-to-human contact. (Whereas now it goes only from birds to humans.) – "Mr. Not For Attribution"
One our readers recommended the documentary: The Next Plague, about the Asian Avian Flu threat. This show is currently in the repeat cycle on The History Channel. It features interviews with WHO officials and Dr. Michael Osterholm. You are probably already familiar with many of the details contained therein, but if noting else, it serves as media substantiation that the Asian Avian Flu threat is real.(Just in case you have any friends/neighbors/relatives that won’t believe what you say until they “see it on television.”
Hello! I just finished reading Patriots for a third time – INCREDIBLE book. I’m also a good friend of “Dr. Buckaroo Banzai.” I have a master’s degree in immunology and teach in a nursing program at a local college. My comments are aimed at the general education of the readership of your blog. The immune system operates largely on the function of T-helper cells. There are two main T-helper varieties. One variety (T-h1) deals with intracellular pathogens (viruses, few bacteria) and the other (T-h2) deals with extra-cellular pathogens (majority of bacteria, protozoa, fungi). What separates these two groups are …
Dear Mr. Rawles, I think the pneumovax is a good idea. However, there are simply no data to support your statement that “pneumonia co-infections are the biggest killer associated with the Asian Avian flu.” Whether even a single victim of the current H5N1 avian flu in Asia has even developed pneumococcal pneumonia has not been reported. I doubt it. These people appear to be dying too quickly for that to be the problem. I think they are simply dying from viral pneumonia. In 1918-1919 many flu victims died within 24-48 hours of becoming febrile. Those deaths certainly had nothing to …
Hi Jim, Thanks for your excellent site. I read it every day but Sunday and enjoy most every article. However, while I believe it is important to be as prepared as possible for pandemics and every other kind of emergency, I’m convinced that the Avian “Bird” flu is contrived and a needless scare. Bill Sardi, on his excellent website, has numerous excellent articles, all well researched and documented, showing that this crisis is hysteria being fanned by government authorities (http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com/report.asp?story=Bird%20Flu%20Hysteria%20Fanned%20By%20Inaccurate%20News%20Reports.). I heartily recommend this site to all your readers. – G.M. in North Carolina JWR Replies: There may be some …
With all of the recent conjecture about the possibility of an Asian Avian flu pandemic, the subject of pneumonia inoculations has come up. (Because pneumonia co-infections are the biggest killer associated with the Asian Avian flu. Most of those cases are viral, but some could be pneumococcal.) Merck makes a widely used pneumonia vaccination called Pneumovax 23. It is administered intramuscularly before exposure to pneumococci (streptococcus pneumoniae), and reportedly only rarely has adverse reactions. It will not prevent viral pneumonia, but at least it is effective at preventing 23 strains of pneumococcal pneumonias. The threat of Asian Avian flu mutating …