Category: Plagues and Pandemics

From The Memsahib: Asian Avian Flu and the Home Poultry Flock

Here at the Rawles Ranch the chicken-loving Memsahib couldn’t help but be dismayed when her DH suggested the immediate sale of her sizable flock of terribly cute and tame chickens.  So off to the internet in search of answers… Wild birds can be the carriers of Avian Flu to domestic chickens and turkeys.  Bird flu can be spread from country to country by migratory birds.  Waterfowl can carry avian flu without clinical signs of infection. With that said, how can any government in the world keep the Avian Flu from reaching their shores? To prevent Avian Flu infecting your home poultry …


Letter Re: Pandemics–Winners and Losers

Jim, I think your estimations on the results of a pandemic are … incomplete. Say the worst case scenario happens…say 1/3 of the population of the US dies. That is 100-million or so people, out of 300 million or so.We really don’t know what segments of the population H5N1 will attack. In Asia, it’s attacking the very young mostly but they’re also the ones that have the most contact with the infected fowl. The 1918 Spanish Influenza killed mainly young to middle aged, very healthy people, but that was from secondary infection that couldn’t be treated (today we have antibiotics …


Pandemics–Winners and Losers

I have been studying the implications of a possible Asian Avian Flu pandemic.  In a “worst case” scenario, what would be the long term effects on the economic infrastructure in the event of a 20%, 30%, or 40% de-population of the planet? The only historic parallel that comes immediately to mind is the “Black Death” plague pandemic in Europe. The resultant de-population caused massive labor shortages in subsequent decades. And that of course was in a non-technological and largely agrarian society. What happens to a highly technological, highly interdependent society with extremely long chains of supply? What are the full …


Archives of JWR Radio Interviews on Pandemic Preparedness Available

For two successive weekends, I was interviewed by Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute on her shortwave/webcast radio show. The topic of both of these two hour interviews was family preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic. These interviews are available for free download from Republic Radio in a variety of audio streaming formats at: http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Geri05.html


Letter Re: Source for Sambucol

Hello Jim, While I am relatively new to the path of self-reliance, I have enjoyed related hobbies all my life, and I must commend you on a stunning website. I have never found a place to have such diverse information so organized and diligently explained. A day does not go by that I do not visit to read your daily posts and often look back and re-read the archives which I glean even more data from. I am writing because I found that Amazon.com has Sambucol for sale from third-party vendors cheaper than those very same vendors have posted on …




Letter Re: Sambucol for Asian Avian Flu

Jim, Your link to the Sambucol page recommends 4 tablespoons daily for flu treatment. That equals one-half bottle (4oz./120ml bottle) each day per adult. Say you have 2 adults and 2 grown children, all being treated for symptoms. That equals 2 bottles per day. Readers may want to get right on this. Drugstore.com gives free shipping on $50+ orders. They are currently out of stock but promise delivery of Sambucol with two week order fulfillment.




Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic

The emerging threat of the Asian Avian Flu Virus (AAV H5N1) brings into sharp focus the vulnerability of modern, highly mobile and technological societies to viral or bacterial infectious diseases. The last major Asian flu outbreak, (H2N2 in 1957, which killed 69,800 people in the United States) took five months to reach the United States. With the advent of global jet travel, it is now likely that highly virulent disease strains will be transmitted to population centers around the world in a matter of just a few days. In this article, I will describe how you can protect yourself and …


Letter Re: Asian Avian Flu and Water Purification

Mr. Rawles: You know when to start worrying, when a Government scientist says “There is no need to panic.” The UK government is stockpiling 14.6 million doses of ‘Tamiflu’ (see the BBC article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4344220.stm. The question I have, after reading past posts on your site regarding AAV H5N1 flu, is whether there is any consensus on the appropriate medication/prevention supplement to get hold of, before everybody sells out? Especially, if anyone has specific sources in UK. It may be that the advice from the Government will be to stay at home for an indeterminate length of time for the …


Letter Re: Sambucol (Black Elder) for Influenza

Intro From JWR: I’ve received more than 10 e-mails from folks on three continents about using elderberry extract for treating influenzas. However, I was reluctant to print any of them until now. I guess I was being overly cautious, because in the just past day I got two letters that cited clinical studies rather than hearsay: Hello Jim, I’ve been a believer in the effectiveness of an Israeli-made extract called “Sambucol” for a number of years. My seat-of-the-pants reaction is that it definitely does ward off colds/flu. The following is from the manufacturer: Effect of Sambucol® on several strains of …


Letter Re: Asian Avian Flu

Dear Mr. Rawles: I read A. Microbiologist’s comments today on Tamiflu becoming resistant to Avian Flu and I wanted to attach a link from Canada.com disputing that contention: http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=81201e24-9e91-4287-833b-9da02ff083ac Regards, – C.P. JWR Replies: Thanks for sending that along. OBTW, I’ve had several e-mails from folks with rumored herbal remedies for influenza. Do any SurvivalBlog readers have any clinical data on any efficacious herbal remedies? I’m not looking for “I heard from a friend that…” Rather, I’m looking for concrete double blind test data


Letter From “A. Microbiologist” Re: Asian Avian Flu

Jim: Cipro is an antibiotic, as such it is only useful for bacterial infections. If you developed pneumonia during the course of the flu infection Cipro might be an okay choice. From what I have read most people that die from avian flu are dying from respiratory failure far before they would get pneumonia. Recommending Tamiflu is a better choice but resistant strains to this are emerging, and this is the most common stockpiled drug so more resistance is likely to occur. Relenza is an even better option, but it is much more expensive. I would recommend that all your …