Avian flu pandemic
 

Despite all the recent attention devoted to avian flu in Southeast Asia, I've read nothing that persuades me a vacation trip to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand should be postponed. The main recommended precaution seems to be avoiding poultry markets.

Other opinions?

Just wash your hands alot:) And buy travel insurance which is a good idea anyway.

There's no pandemic. This is the latest wacko-enviro scare, that it will jump or morph to human form, much like the mad-cow disease scare. I've even seen tripe written about it in journals such as Foreign Affairs.

Uh, but be glad we are not chickens ;)

M8

This is more hype than anything for now. Remember SARS in Asia? Even that was more hype than anything at the time.

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There ya go - a thinking man! ^ ^

Tripe
 

Tripe? I think you've gotten your animals mixed up. BTW, the articles in Foreign Affairs were spot on (at least in my view). I'm not sure what your "enviro" reference was about.

Potential
 

Avian flu has the POTENTIAL to be a serious problem, but it's not there yet. I agree with the earlier recommendation of insurance. Also, if you want be even more "safe", see your doctor for a prescription for an anti-viral before the trip and carry it with you.

Well then we disagree, don't we? :p

Well then we disagree, don't we? :p

Civilized Dis-agreement Is Healthy!
 

I do enjoy your posts and have taken the link to your blog. I'm on my way to VN, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia next week. Are we crossing paths? BTW, I have a box of Tamiflu in my carry-on.

salute - chefdg1

My favorite part of the world ^ . No I am not headed there. My last gig in SE Asia was in Dec. This year I have done mostly West Africa, and it looks like next year will be mostly West Africa again, with only one gig in SE Asia, and one in Latin America. Plenty of domestic US too.

On the medical topic, I do carry a travel medical kit when I am in high risk countries. I've had to use the cipro on several occasions. Once in Indonesia and twice in Angola. I also carry a blood pathogen kit, sutures, etc., and Malarone is a daily requirement when I am in Africa. Fun work, sometimes I'm out in the boonies, and sometimes in very classy hotels.

BTW, you are the first I have met here who reads Foreign Affairs ^ The last issue on China was excellent.

M8

FWIW, more updates on the bird flu here: :)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201283

I hope I dont regret saying this in a couple of months, but I was traveling extensively thru Asia for work during the SARS scares and the US office of my company kept trying to call me home while all of my "local" co-workers told me not to worry. I wound up staying and while it was freaky to go thru thermo scanners in every airport, I lived to tell about it and in retrospect thing my company was just trying to cover their _ss.
We have our honeymoon planned in SE Asia in a month and after talking to some of my co-workers in SE Asia they have informed me that they arent planning on leaving anytime soon to avoid the "risk." We're planning on going if that's anything to rely on ;)

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