Bird Flu

Posted on by Thor

A research team published a study in One Health that analyzed over 70,000 records related to bird flu (H5N1) from 1970 to 2016. The researchers concluded that bird flu might be the source of a new pandemic strain. Bird flu could become zoonotic, that is, transfer from animal to human.

The virus has made the  jump from birds to mammals. Professor Michael Ward from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science, said, “It’s just a numbers game. Viruses jumping species is not a rare event, so it’s likely a virus will eventually make that final jump to humans.”

H5N1 has infected almost 900 people since 2003 with a death rate just shy of 52.5 percent, according to the World Health Organization. Since January 2022 in the United States, outbreaks of a branch of H5N1 known as 2.3.4.4b have affected more than 58 million fowl, resulting in the deaths or culling of most. Farms that raise poultry are reluctant to report cases since it would result in devastating financial losses.

The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that Bird Flu is hitting Pennsylvania harder than any other state. In the last 30 days, more than 215,000 birds in Pennsylvania have been affected by avian flu, meaning they are raised on farms or in backyards where the disease has been confirmed.

In the U.S., it has recently been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as in commercial poultry operations or backyard flocks in 47 states. Since the beginning of last year, tens of millions of chickens have died of the virus or been killed to stop outbreaks from spreading. The death rate among birds affected is over 50%. The bird flu has resulted is rising egg prices.

Bird Flu had made the jump to mammals. In June and July 2023, more than 150 dead or ailing seals washed ashore in Maine with the deadly virus. It is likely that wild birds introduced the virus to seals. Bird flu has also spread to minks and the virus seems to be spreading from mammal to mammal. In Vancouver, Canada skunks are being found infected with bird flu.

Globally, nearly 870 human infections and 457 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization in 20 countries. But the pace has slowed and there have been about 170 infections and 50 deaths in the last seven years. In the vast majority of cases, the infected people got it directly from infected birds. Human to human transmission of the virus has not yet been confirmed.

Should an outbreak happen it is clear that the human race is not prepared. COVID-19 has a mortality rate of just 1% which resulted in over 6 million of deaths worldwide. Imagine an outbreak where the mortality rate jumps from 1% to over 50%. Those numbers are hard to imagine.

There are lots of other wildfires around you know!

Posted on by Thor

Connor Brown outlined the simple things you might consider at this stage as many are proclaiming the pandemic “over.”

1. There is no upper limit to the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections any individual can have.

2. Each infection increases an individual’s risk of a cardiovascular problem, and increases an individual’s risk of developing Long Covid.

3. Long Covid can disable people for weeks, months, or years.

4. Cardiovascular problems can disable people for weeks, months, or years.

5. On average, with no mitigations, it is likely that any given individual will get Covid-19 twice per year.

6. With each infection, the risk of cardiovascular problems and / or Long Covid is always present. 1 in 5 people develop long COVID. That is worst odds than roulette gun with one chamber loaded.

7. On a population level, this means that as time passes, more people will tend to become disabled from cardiovascular problems and Long Covid than those who have fully recovered.

8. Therefore, as time passes, the percentage of the population disabled by Covid will increase.

9. Since people who are disabled may be unable to work full-time, or unable to work at all, the available workforce will decrease.

10. A decreasing workforce pool will damage productivity.

11. In tandem, an increasingly disabled population will lead to an increased demand on healthcare services.

12. Governments will have fewer workers to tax, and will need to spend more on healthcare services.

13. As such, allowing SARS-CoV-2 to spread in an entirely uncontrolled manner is very, very bad for the economy.

Fire breaks are terrible they are worse than the wildfire!

Posted on by Thor

All attempts to slow the spread of COVID-19 have been abandoned. States across the country have lifted either indoor or school mask mandates. Hospitalization rates in the United States do continue to slowly creep downwards but if you compare how many are sick with COVID in the USA there are so many more than in any other country.

As of March 10, 2023 travelers from China will no longer need a pre-flight COVID test before they arrive. The testing requirement began in January of 2023 when there was a huge surge in cases in China after they abandoned the ‘zero COVID’ policy.

The United States Public Health Emergency will end on May 11, 2023 despite a high plateau of about 2000 deaths a week due to COVID-19. This is the new norm moving forward. People will hopefully have an insurance plan that covers vaccinations. Otherwise it is a $300 out of pocket expense. Somehow I suspect even fewer people will want to get vaccinated. Only about 16% of Americans have gotten a booster dose.

Parents had their children at home when the entire country shut down early in the pandemic. It is not surprising that parents would say and do anything to get rid of their children, parents needed to get back to work. The economy trumped public health. Claims rose that the isolation would cause permanent damage to their children’s mental health. No thought was given to how repeated infections with COVID-19 would shorten their child’s quality of life and life expectancy.

COVID is mild for many children, but the long term effects are just now being discovered. 1 in 4 children are developing long COVID symptoms like, headaches or difficulty concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, joint pain, respiratory issues, skin rashes and heart palpitations, which can remain months after the infection has passed. Children who are asymptomatic or mildly infected can develop persistent problems. It would seem to make sense that living a life with these debilitating symptoms would also affect a child’s mental health.

The emergence of the Omicron variant, which is more infectious than previous forms of Covid-19, and the new sub-variant XBB.1.5, has now led to a much higher proportion of children becoming infected with the virus. Despite this school masking has been abandoned and there is little attempt to install HEPA filters in classrooms to remove airborne virus from classrooms. Children’s immune systems do not develop adaptive memory against the next COVID infection, The result is repeated infections and immune systems being destroyed.

Slowing the wildfire will just prolong the wildfire!

Posted on by Thor

The United States has embraced a COVID-19 policy of mass infection with the hope that the link has been broken between infection and mortality. This is an unfortunate and misguided notion.  The link between infection and death might have been weakened, but it has not been broken, and infection can still cause substantial morbidity in both acute and long-term illness.

Population wide immunity is impossible since the virus is mutating to often for scientists to keep up with the new variants. Breakthrough infections are common even among people who have had every available booster shot and those who have been infected and survived. Despite this Joe Biden has let it rip and wants to end the COVID state of emergency starting May 11, 2023.

The CDC quietly add is this to their website… ‘Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),the virus that causes COVID-19can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection. Documented serious post- COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, and gastrointestinal complications, as well as death.’

COVID is not a cold, COVID is not the Flu. COVID is a life threatening pathogen that can kill you months after you “recover from an infection. It damages your heart, lungs, brain and nervous system. Long COVID which can occur in 1 in 5 cases can lead to a massive loss of quality of life.

COVID also damages the immune system,  aging of immune cells, cell death, risk for autoimmune disease, cancer, it causes susceptibility to secondary infections, co-infections, inflammation. Excess deaths have been on the rise since the pandemic began,  and this is likely because COVID has destroyed the immune systems of so many many people.

 

The Infected

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New York City rats carry COVID-19 and could be a risk to humans. A study published March 9, 2023 in the American Society for Microbiology “mBio,” determined that the rats could be infected with the Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants.

The rat samples were collected in the fall of 2021. The team set up two trappings near locations surrounding wastewater systems and captured 79 rats from three sites in and around city parks in Brooklyn in the fall of 2021, when Delta was dominant. 13 rats tested positive for the virus. The researchers also determined which specific variants could infected the vermin. the study “highlights the need for further monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in rat populations to determine if the virus is circulating in the animals and evolving into new strains that could pose a risk to humans,” Dr. Henry Wan, the study’s principal investigator warned. “Overall, our work in this space shows that animals can play a role in pandemics that impact humans, and it’s important that we continue to increase our understanding so we can protect both human and animal health,” he said.

By giving wild rats samples of different variants through the nose, the researchers also found that Alpha, Delta, and Omicron were able to infect the rats.

The National Library of Medicine published an article that concluded that Omicron could have evolved in another mammalian host like mice or rats. Omicron contains a large number of mutations that are rare in other known human variants. Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences now report that they have found a pattern of mutations in Omicron that is typical of a virus that has infected mice. They believe SARS-CoV-2 jumped from a human to a mouse in mid-2020, then back into a human in late 2021.

Mayor Eric Adams declared a war on NYC rats as the vermin sightings soared into the thousands.

Beauty

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The Daily Mail ran this inane headline: “Unattractive people are more likely to keep wearing masks in the post-COVID era study suggests.” The study was published in Frontiers in Psychology. The study theorized that narcissists who consider themselves attractive are less likely to wear a mask because the mask makes it more difficult for them to make a good impression to others. The study was based on 244 people interviewing for jobs. It was discovered that narcissist felt they would appear less attractive. The best way they felt to get a job was to spread the virus. The study did not account for politics of the participants.

I have found quite the opposite to be true. Beautiful people are more likely to wear masks because they care about others. The selfish and narcissistic are the ones who care about no one but themselves. That level of mask less ugliness is impossible to cover with make up.

Another study done more than a year ago at Cardiff University, found that masks make people appear more attractive since they focus attention on the eyes. The first part of the research was carried out in February 2021 by which time the much of the population had become used to wearing masks. Forty-three women were asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 the attractiveness of men with and without a mask. Masked men were found to be more attractive.

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to recommend the use of masks given the current spread of the COVID-19 globally. Masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives.

Beautiful people continue to wear masks.

Rhinos

Posted on by Thor

Rhinoceros is an absurdist play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. There was a movie adaptation in 1974. Over the course of the play the inhabitants of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinos. It is about conformity and mass delusion. Ultimately only one human does not succumb to the plague. The main character’s love interest begins explaining that he is in the wrong for wanting to remain human. The rhinos, stampeding down the streets and building hallways seem happy as they bellow and scream. “Those are the real people.”, she says about the rhinos, “They look happy, they are right to do what they did.” She then quietly walks out the doorway to become a rhino herself, leaving him alone. The last human in the town and perhaps the earth.

We are living in a rhino apocalypse where the best defense is to be immune to peer pressure. Most people are returning to a pre-pandemic life. However the pandemic is not over with over 500 Americans dying every day. Granted back in January thousands of people were dying every day but over 2000 deaths a week is not unacceptable. Basic health precautions are still needed.

As people pack together in public spaces, they are living a mass delusion thinking no mitigation measure are needed. They are living a lie. Being fully vaccinated, I believe I am safe from hospitalization and death, but I am not safe from Long COVID. There is not treatment options or cure for Long COVID. It would mean months, years or perhaps a lifetime of debilitation illness. About 1 in 5 people who were infected develop Long COVID.

The CDC published a study which states, “It is likely that a substantial proportion of patients surviving COVID-19 will experience long term symptoms, requiring prolonged care even after a mild or moderate disease. These symptoms might negatively affect patients quality of life.” Though in black and white, it seems to have been kept rather quiet. There are no ongoing warnings about the dangers of repeat infections causing Long COVID so most of the population remains ignorant. Ignorance is bliss.

When I wear an N-95 mask in public, some people are genuinely insulted. You can see the anger in their eyes. They fear the mask because it reminds them that they are living in a fantasy. The contagion has already spread. Most people have bought into the mass delusion that becoming infected multiple times is the new normal.

Mass delusion is intoxicating and tempting. When you see large crowds of Rhinos gathering in tight herds and breathing in each others faces, it is tempting to believe that life has returned to normal. The rhinos seem happy. But the virus can not be seen and it is still circulating. Vaccines and repeat infections are not stopping the spread of the virus and the proliferation of new more infectious variants.

Being burnt is all in the mind, it is laziness and anxiety!

Posted on by Thor

There is no cure or treatment for Long COVID. One in five people who have had COVID report having long COVID symptoms. Symptoms of long COVID include, but are not limited to…

  • fatigue, exhaustion after physical or mental effort,
  • fever,
  • respiratory symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath and cough.

Other possible symptoms include:

  • neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating
  • headache
  • sleep problems
  • dizziness when you stand
  • pins-and-needles feeling
  • loss of smell or taste,
  • depression or anxiety
  • joint or muscle pain
  • heart symptoms or conditions, including chest pain and fast or pounding heartbeat
  • digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain
  • blood clots and blood vessel (vascular) issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
  • rash and changes in the menstrual cycle

The CDC recently added this to their website… “Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),the virus that causes COVID-19 can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12). Documented serious post-COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, gastrointestinal complications, as well as death.”

This new revelation from the CDC leads me to believe that it is better to not get infected rather than ‘return to normal’ and suffer repeat infections that could result in long COVID.

Professional athletes are not immune to long COVID. Athletes with long COVID are having to slow down and pace themselves to manage their condition. Symptoms spike after exercise. Exercise intolerance is common among long COVID patients.

After the 2021 Superbowl win, Tom Brady the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tested positive for COVID-19 after after the Buccaneers celebrated their Super Bowl championship with a large celebratory parade in the Hillsborough River, Florida. Tom Brady’s father spent 3 weeks in the hospital in a life or death battle with COVID. Tom Brady announced on February 1, 2023 that he is retiring “for good” from football. Are these three events related? Any theories would only be conjecture. It is up to Tom to decided how he and his family want to live a healthy life going forward.

“Football, beer and above all gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.” – George Orwell, 1984.

Wash your hands so you don’t burn to death!

Posted on by Thor

COVID is airborne and can travel much further than 6 feet. At the start of the pandemic people were wiping down their groceries and washing hands incessantly. Washing your hands is important, but it is useless if you go out in public without a mask. Breathing COVID is what makes you sick. A face mask is also a good way to keep you from touching your face.  People touch their face over 2ooo times a day. Touching surfaces is less likely to get you infected. Despite this I still carry a small vile of sanitizer in my pocket and use it on occasion when in public.

COVID is airborne. The virus has been allowed to spread unchecked around the world. It is here to stay. The best way to stay healthy is to avoid breathing the air that others have exhaled. Airborne transmission is elusive since you can not see yourself become infected. You don’t need to be in the same room as a sick person to contract an airborne disease.

For much of the pandemic the CDC was promoting the idea that 6 feet of distance would protect you from being infected. The virus can remain airborne for much further than 6 feet. Since I have started going out in public I work with the idea of maintaining 22 feet of distance from others when possible. If closer than 22 feet I will be masked indoors or out. This has worked so far.

If someone coughs in a bathroom and then you enter, you could be infected. This makes it possible for airborne diseases to infect larger numbers of people and more difficult to determine the causes due to a lack of person-to-person contact. The virus can remain airborne from minutes to hours.

 

 

Collapse

Posted on by Thor

Jessica Wildfire at OK Doomer wrote a fascinating article about how society is in a behavioral sink. She mentioned behavioral studies conduced by John B. Calhoun back in the 1950s. The basic premise is that if you build an ideal utopia for rats they will attack one another for no apparent reason. All the rodent’s needs are met, but they still have a need for destructive aggression.

The rat population would never grow to the potential of the food supply but would cap off at about 50% before the rats would wage war. In terms of mating, a few male rats would dominate and the remaining mails would attack one another. The females would flee. There were plenty of female who were not mating with the dominant males but the non-dominant males were too busy attacking one another to mate. Dominant female would kill their own children so they could mate with the dominant males. The rat society disintegrated. 2000 rats were decimated to 27 survivors.

The survivors were called “the beautiful ones” they separated themselves from the chaos, cutting all ties. They slept, ate and groomed themselves wandering the periphery of the paradise. They managed to survive the rat apocalypse but had to desire no rebuild after the implosion.

Humans are acting crazy today because of the pandemic. Aggressive behavior can be found on airplanes, car traffic, stores and anywhere people congregate. The aggressive  behavior is irrational.  People act in purely selfish ways with no regard for those around them. Humans don’t notice their insane behavior because they think they are special. But many humans are simply following the example of the rats. Their need for dominance and irrationally violent behavior is leading to societal collapse. Though the virus is killing thousands each week. Humans are working hard to kill one another. People seem incapable of working together for the common good. Americans have no desire to protect others, whether it’s from gun violence or a virus.