Friday, December 02, 2005
Bird Flu
Today I found out they were discussing quarantining and/or isolating individuals that are affected with the bird flu at City Hall. Apparently, this is a serious issue since at the time the article was written (June 2005) approximately
8000 birds have already died on Bird Island Qinghai China and this number is expected to increase. This is significant because the data show that 4/5 of the birds around the world uses this island as a resting ground en route to other destinations.
The
Attorney General, Lisa Madigan said at the meeting before anyone even think about quarantining or isolating people, she will investigate how this will affect peoples' civil liberties. This was an interesting statement coming from her since she was sponsoring
SB1529 while she was State Senator. This bill would give
"sweeping powers, without liability, to the Governor and appointed health officials in case of a public health emergency; the governor can act alone"... Apparently, the US is trying to implement a Model Emergency Health Powers Act (MEHPA) .
If this legislation passes:
1. You will have a mandatory vaccination or you will be charged with a crime.
2.You will get a mandatory medical exam, or you will be charged with a crime.
3. Doctors will give the exam or you will be charged with a crime.
4.Your property can be seized if there is "reasonable cause to believe" that it may pose a public health hazard... it can be burned or destroyed and you will not have recourse or compensation.
I don’t know which I find more disturbing, the ideal of the government’s intervention in the case a bird flu pandemic occurs, or the treatment itself. First, how can you trust any government with sweeping powers. Second, the only treatment is Tamiflu. Even though the FDA says that Tamiflu is safe,
it has been linked to 2 teen suicides and 64 cases of disorders in Japan. I find it hard to believe the FDA about the safety of Tamiflu when it is connected to
a high-ranking official in the government.
Tags:
Tamiflu,
Bird Flu,
Other articles on Bird Flu,
posted by Cynthia
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