Pandemic Plan

[GTR-N1]

If the world was hit by a pandemic to-day, 99% of the world would panic > degrade into anarchy.

Microbiologists say it's just a matter of time before a supercontagion evolves to breach our last lines of antibiotic defence.

What plan would you implement for yourself and your family? 30 years ago, people considered the idea of building nuclear or bushfire bunkers; so would you reinforce your home's impregnability and how? What would your stockpile consist of? To what extent would you quarantine yourself? Would looters need to be fended off in the area you live - maybe no place is safe - but how would you be proactive (assuming the perimeter of your house is as passively protected as possible)?

Remember: Being very afraid is not a solution.

[Yo-Yo]

Me, I'd 'go bush' & live off the land (something i learned to do young when I was growing up overseas), being tied down to an area can be a disadvantage

I have an emergency bag with the usual first aid kit & supplies, 2X20L metal jerry cans for my xtrail & a pushbike(don't need petrol for a pushie ;p)

I'm by no means one of those loony 'preppers' but it never hurts to be prepared for an emergency eg. natural disaster, long term power outages etc.

One other thing & bear with me on this, one thing I've always found odd about apocalypse/zombie movies is they almost always get about in cars or on foot. Cars are a short term solution until you run out of fuel sources & being on foot takes a lot of energy & relatively short distance,

the solution: pushbikes. No need for fuel & you can cover much longer distances rather than on foot

[Nee-san]

and you can carry a pushy over rough terrain.

I would say you must stockpile weaponry and ammunition for a significant period of time.

Mad Max on audio book ?

[Vera]

Microbiologists say it's just a matter of time before a supercontagion evolves to breach our last lines of antibiotic defence.

would this be due to people over using antibiotics?

[GTR-N1]

Yes but that's just the half of it.

* Another part is that viruses (& even bacteria, amoeba, parasites and fungi) are mutating at a faster rate than what the newest antibiotic/antiviral research can keep up

* Another part is the advent of Genetically Modified crops

* Another part (as a catalyst) is that people travel more broadly/frequently

...but you're on the right track Vera

[Vera]

how are gm foods involved in that? something like bacteria evolving to overcome genetic defenses?

[Dani Boi]

I would barricade my windows and only go out during the day and hunt, then I'll set up manikan dolls around town and pretend to have conversation with them because they the ony friends I got alongside my dog.

[GTR-N1]

^^^ Lol

In the meantime, a mannequin by your side enables you to drive in the T2 lane without getting booked?

And Vera, there was an Australian Story documentary about 2 Tasmanian Drs who met each other at a conference. Upon asking each other about unusual cases lately, 1 remarked about diagnosing (through a long search), a rare type of leukaemia. The other Dr in amazement said she'd located the same thing! They both did research to find that a toxin in the Upper George River could be the culprit - but how did it get there? Then the Drs did tests on the Lower George R and found the same. At the headwaters of both rivers they found the same toxins. The only alteration to the virgin hilltop was a GM pine forest.

That convinced me that GM products are akin to 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' syndrome > lowering our immune system. So by unplugging a bad genie, we could be asking for it.

[Vera]

I recall my genetics teacher saying that pesticides used were more of a problem than any genetic tweaks. Can't remember what pesticide we looked at, but it caused heaps of problems to different animals and so far humans hadn't shown any reaction but it was believed that it could make us dumber (did the same to bees maybe)

Anyway I thought that whatever was genetically modified had to go through years of testing to make sure it was safe, I remember reading several reports that were re-tests doing exactly that. Is that not true for crops?

[darksky34]

this world is farked already.

is it just me or a lot of sydney homes don't have bunkers etc? we'd be all screwed.

[GTR-N1]

I have caves in my backyard lol > refuge for SAUers hehe...

I heard last week that HIV and gonorrhoea are both on the rise again - but hey, they're perfectly preventable...

...and not airborne

[Birds]

HIV and other STDs are as preventable as stupidity itself.