A blog post from eight years ago

 

I wrote a post on Opera.com eight years ago that discussed the possibility of dealing with a world-wide pandemic of the H5N1 ‘Bird Flu’ virus. It seems prudent to post it once again in light of the Ebola outbreak and the potential for airborne transmission (see my last two blog posts here on Vivaldi):

July 7, 2006

I read with interest the comments from experts attending the First International Conference on Avian Influenza in Humans has been taking place this week at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.To quote from the BBC news release, Professor Albert Osterhaus, a leading European virologist based at the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, on the subject of a vaccine, said: “If a pandemic were to happen tomorrow, we would not have a vaccine; at least not a vaccine with which we could vaccinate the European population or the American population – and we need a vaccine for the world. Basically, if we don’t invest now in suitable clinical trials, there will be a shortage of vaccine – if we have a vaccine at all.”

 And amplifying his comments, Dr. David Fedson, a retired professor of medicine said, “If you look to the UK, France, the Netherlands and Italy (countries with companies that produce vaccine) – are any of the health authorities in these counties spending public funds on clinical trials of H5N1 vaccine? The answer is ‘no’. Not a single pound sterling is spent by the Department of Health in the UK on clinical trials – why is this so? Contrast this with spend on the Eurofighter for European defence, a weapon system no longer needed. Our priorities have got mixed up. Governments are feckless.”

 

Well, I have to report that the general public is in denial as well. I have been tracking the ‘hits’ on the website I set up (pandemicsupplycompany.com) and there have been only a few hundred. Less than a dozen have bought anything. Now, granted, my page is lost in the search engines (it is about 50 pages back in Google, based on the metatags and keywords I provided), but my industrial espionage on competing websites indicates that few people are actually buying the supplies necessary to protect themselves in the event of a pandemic.

As my Opera friend David in Australia said, “It is like buying a fire extinguisher—you may not need it now, but when you do, you’ll be glad you have it”

 

I’ll bet fire extinguisher salesmen have better luck in selling their product than people like me that offer truly useful protective products against airborne infectious diseases. It is very depressing; especially in light of the report out of Indonesia that the first Human-to-Human transmissions have occurred in a family there. Fortunately, the virus has only mutated ‘slightly’, and it still won’t spread easily. But, give it time……When people panic at a real and horrific outbreak, and try to buy protective stuff, it simply won’t be available in quantity. No supplier will take the risk of sitting on a large inventory for a lengthy time. I know I can’t afford to.

 

Dr Fedson went on to tell BBC News: “Right now, worldwide, we can produce 300 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine, but it turns out that the H5N1 vaccine is so poorly immunogenic and replicates so poorly that… we could immunise globally, with six months of production, about 100 million people. From a public health point of view this is catastrophic, We have had reverse genetics H5N1 viruses available to work with for three years and after three years this is all we can say: ‘We could produce enough vaccine worldwide, for 100 million people’. Is that good enough? I don’t think so.”

 

If any Opera folks are interested in supporting my efforts, please take the time to use your favorite search engine to look up my website. Use the words Pandemic, Avian Flu, Infection protection Kits, Bird Flu, H5N1, Airborne Pathogens, Influenza, and so forth. This is the only way I know of to improve my page rankings without spending a fortune. I refuse to advertise, or invest in pay-per-click types of cash drains. My funds are now tied up in inventory, and I’m now helplessly awaiting contact from people that are concerned about preparing for a future outbreak. Right now, I’m thinking that it is a lost cause.

 

Now, back to the present day:

I lost about $10,000.00 setting up the on-line company, ‘Pandemic Supply’ in 2006; however, I still have a substantial inventory of Level 3 biohazard booties, body suits, masks, goggles, gloves, hairnets, virus-destroying chemicals (good old bottled bleach works well to wipe down and decontaminate surfaces), and antiseptic soaps. My wife and I and some of our neighbors will be fully protected should the Ebola outbreak come to my hometown in Utah. More importantly, I took the time to thoroughly learn to use the stuff. If my readers here are interested, I can write a list of recommended supplies and suppliers along with procedures for your own protection efforts.

Ebola Protection Gear

Image courtesy of Freerepublic.com

Addendum:I have had several requests for more information on the products in my inventory since I wrote this post. There are only two that may be of interest to people that must travel right away into infected areas or on flights into a ‘Hot Zone’. Here are the photos:

This kit is for an airline traveler          This kit is for limited use in a Hot Zone

I think my PayPal account is still active. Contact me for prices, on-hand stock, and further details.

I can also get interested agencies further info. on lead-time to deliver in quantity from Salt Lake City. I will come out of retirement to get a synchromesh operation going, if needed. It would be under the umbrella of the Pandemic Supply Company. Contact email at present: [email protected]