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Lee tried to stifle a sneeze
but couldn’t. Invisible to the naked eye, a cloud of almost five
thousand virus-filled droplets launched into the air at some 150 km/
hour or roughly 100 mph. Some passengers in the wide-body Airbus
frowned. The Hong Kong to London flight was long and no one wanted to
catch a cold.
Lee planned to fill every waking moment of his stay in London. A
concert at the Millennium Dome, dinners at some of the finest hotels,
shopping in crowded malls – “What a chance,” Lee thought. All he had to
concentrate on was a few hours in front of the International Board. It
was his job to present sales trends in China to the bosses who were
also winging it towards Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports.
“The global executives will get only good news from me,” figured Lee.
“Pity I don’t feel better …”
The Diagnosis
Lee was exhausted. He had a cough, scratchy throat, runny nose and
muscle aches. A fever started but it wasn’t until Lee began having
difficulties breathing that he decided to get help.
Doctors huddled in subdued discussion. Experts were rushed in. It was
finally determined that Lee’s body was fighting strenuously against two
viruses. Lee had caught a highly infectious Influenza A virus – a flu
bug. However, at much the same time he had also picked up a second
virus called H5N1. The two viruses had mixed their genes and formed a
hybrid. Since this was now a radically new pathogen, Lee had no
immunity to it.
Lee was not the only one in this fight. Infected passengers from Lee’s
plane from Hong Kong had connecting flights to major cities in most
continents. The global executives Lee had addressed at the office had
also flown home diseased. Sadly, some of the medical staff where Lee
was diagnosed had also caught it not to mention the crowds Lee had
interacted with at concerts, restaurants and on shopping sprees. The
so-called Bird Flu or Avian Influenza had indeed spread its wings. It
was the start of the first flu pandemic of the 21st century.
The News
Had Lee or any of the others known in time, they would have taken
anti-viral drugs hoping to block or at least slow down the replication
of the virus. At least the severity of some symptoms might have been
eased not to mention a reduction in the duration of sickness. But time
had run out - anti-viral medication needed to be taken within 48 hours
of the first stages of the disease.
It wasn’t long before Lee was put on a respirator in quarantine. It
also wasn’t long before the media found out Lee had Bird Flu. The
public became nervous. The number of flu patients – real or imaginary –
multiplied dramatically but nurses and hospital staff were strangely
missing … using overdue holiday time or just not showing up for work at
all. It was announced that schools, restaurants, and non-essential
businesses would be closed. No deadline was given – no one knew for
sure how long the measures would have to be in place.
The Public Announcement
Wisely, the public was advised to stock up on food and water.
Newspapers advised people to stock up on toothpaste, toilet paper and
treasure (cash). People were told to shop at off-peak hours and public
transport was ordered to run 24 hours per day. But despite warnings to
the contrary, doctor’s offices, hospitals and clinics were overrun.
Faces masked in paper waited for hours in front of pharmacies in hope
of getting relief. Despite clear instructions from health officials,
panic broke out as folk finally fathomed that at best only one third of
the population had access to anti-viral drugs. In rural areas and
smaller towns, there wasn’t any chance at all.
The Short-term Havoc
Rumors and half-truths began to circulate causing public outcry and
protests. Because the protests only helped spread the flu, quarantines
were set in place. The public was told to stay at home indefinitely.
Vibrant cities screeched to a halt as public transport shut down.
Streets stank as garbage piled up. Shops were looted and in some cases
those caught coughing were stoned. Safety services (fire, police,
ambulance) were disrupted, fires burned out of control. Cross-border
travel was curtailed killing tourism and all international sports
events were cancelled. Food imports were banned creating shortages of
meat, vegetables and wheat. Folk with chronic medical illnesses
couldn’t get their medications. Soap and disinfectants – perhaps the
simplest and most effective fight against the spread of disease – were
in short supply; no one had thought to stock-pile soap.
The Controversy
Local governments and health organizations began to squabble over who
had the power to do what. The question was of legalities: who would
control distribution of anti-viral drugs and who would receive those
drugs? Army barracks received attention but prisoners were ignored.
Families with pets were labeled as ‘higher risk’ groups but no-one knew
if these families should receive more help or less. As in-fighting
became more severe, decision processing became more difficult. Who
should give the daily press briefings? Who would organize mass
cremation? Who would facilitate conferences for global medical
meetings? The list grew rapidly.
The Waves
The first wave of the pandemic was over in three months time but not
the shock. Bacterial disease such as cholera multiplied rapidly with
catastrophic results across Africa and Asia. The longer-term, global
recession began with the realization that supply-lines, manufacturing
and food-production chains were desperately weakened through labor
loss. Medical facilities were terribly understaffed. As usual, the poor
had little chance of aid at all. And then came the second wave of Avian
flu. It took over a year before the waves of sickness and death became
controllable.
Lee actually survived it all. Although he “started” the pandemic, he
also helped “end” it. Doctors used his blood to find the initial
vaccine. Since Lee was also now immune, he not only volunteered to help
where he could and also founded the World Association of Sensible
Hygiene (WASH). More importantly, Lee and others like him helped
disrupted societies regain their faith and hope and love. Since this
was pandemic number 11 in the last 300 years, history had taught that
it was inevitable that individuals and communities and countries would
bounce back fairly quickly. But a bitter question remained. Would Lee
and the rest of the world be better prepared for the next pandemic? Lee
wondered that too as he bordered the wide-body Airbus destined for
Mexico City.
By Paul Madrid / RJK / Paul Madrid is a minister, author of several <a href="http://www.xodigo.com/h5n1/survive.htm">Avian Bird Flu</a> publications and web host at <a href="http://www.xodigo.com">“H5N1, avian (bird) influenza and you."</a>
Article Source: http://www.articlematrix.com
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