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Coronavirus global pandemic

What about an emotional support peacock? I seem to remember a story about someone trying to take a peacock onto a plane a couple of years back on the grounds that it was an emotional support animal (I could not imagine how a peacock on a plane could possibly work).
 
MoodyBlues said:
... even less is known about COVID-19 in non-human animals than human animals.
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Not entirely true, Moody. That "secret government lab" in China where the Coronavirus was "engineered as a bio weapon" is actually a research facility specifically for the study of natural pathogens. Read up.

It worries me that so much misinformation and speculation is taken for fact, or at least used to justify behavior that goes against medical recommendations. Or worse, used for a political or profitable agenda. :(

The science indicates that the virus originated in bats or pangolins. The original infection, or "patient zero" is still only speculative with how it transferred. However, like other Coronavirus infections, it's not spread by animals to humans. If that were the case, we would have seen hotpsots primarily where humans and animals interact rather than in areas where humans interact primarily with other humans. I also beleive that testing isn't 100% perfect and that false positives can be triggered by many factors, especially when we are rushing the tests and sloppy collection procedures are being used.

The problem is that when one dog or one tiger gets a positive result (true or false) it becomes the next wild speculation for the media and public to latch onto. We should now kill all bats, dogs and tigers? I'm sure that if you ask, there would be advocates regardless of the science.

Assuming there are species that can be cross-infected, the infection vectors would have to be the same. Droplets from an active infection or surface contact with viable viruses (virii?). Since non-domestic animals are not practicing any social distancing and domesticated and farm animals are concentrated in groups exposed to humans, if there was the possibility of cross-infection, we'd see COVID-19 rampant in those populations by now. That's not happening, unlike the Swine or avian flu's that immediately demonstrated the infection vector between species.

I think we are too ready to buy into the "anything's possible" philosophy to demonstrate open-mindedness. Being open minded should be about discovery and study of the unknown rather than accepting wild theories as explanation.
 
Excellent post, @lunatic59, thanks.

I guess I was thinking strictly in US terms, plus, frankly...well, I had kind of forgotten how/where it started. My subconscious mind protecting me from the atrocities inflicted on sentient beings in China...I didn't want to go there consciously...
 
dontpanicbobby said:
Completely off topic but I'm pretty sure there's a city ordinance here that prohibits personal ownership of a peacock. Goes back to Victorian times IIRC.
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Luckily for me, your 'here' isn't my 'here!' In my 'here,' Arcadia, peafowl freely roam certain neighborhoods, including mine. I've noted before that they originated at the world famous LA County Arboretum near my home. No one owns them, they're just here. :)
Hadron said:
What about an emotional support peacock? I seem to remember a story about someone trying to take a peacock onto a plane a couple of years back on the grounds that it was an emotional support animal (I could not imagine how a peacock on a plane could possibly work).
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Yes, you're absolutely right. If memory serves, they were returning to....California. :eek:

Trust me, a mature peacock in full feather, which runs from about January through late summer, measures about 6'-7' long! How that woman thought this would work is beyond me! :eek:

Here are a couple of photos of my favorite peacock, taken in a February, so he's in full feather. I hope they give some idea of his length:

dsc_0475_MrPeacock_020312.jpg


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A physician here in LA is having some success with the much-touted malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine:

"Dr. Anthony Cardillo said he has seen very promising results when prescribing hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc for the most severely-ill COVID-19 patients.

'Every patient I've prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,' Cardillo told Eyewitness News. 'So clinically I am seeing a resolution.'"

It's very important to note that it only works when combined with zinc, not alone as certain public figures keep saying:

"He said he has found it only works if combined with zinc. The drug, he said, opens a channel for the zinc to enter the cell and block virus replication."

Looks good!
 
MoodyBlues said:
Luckily for me, your 'here' isn't my 'here!' In my 'here,' Arcadia, peafowl freely roam certain neighborhoods, including mine. I've noted before that they originated at the world famous LA County Arboretum near my home. No one owns them, they're just here. :)

Yes, you're absolutely right. If memory serves, they were returning to....California. :eek:

Trust me, a mature peacock in full feather, which runs from about January through late summer, measures about 6'-7' long! How that woman thought this would work is beyond me! :eek:

Here are a couple of photos of my favorite peacock, taken in a February, so he's in full feather. I hope they give some idea of his length:

View attachment 149227

View attachment 149228
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But they are so damn loud. How do you deal with that?
 
MoodyBlues said:
A physician here in LA is having some success with the much-touted malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine:

"Dr. Anthony Cardillo said he has seen very promising results when prescribing hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc for the most severely-ill COVID-19 patients.

'Every patient I've prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,' Cardillo told Eyewitness News. 'So clinically I am seeing a resolution.'"

It's very important to note that it only works when combined with zinc, not alone as certain public figures keep saying:

"He said he has found it only works if combined with zinc. The drug, he said, opens a channel for the zinc to enter the cell and block virus replication."

Looks good!
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The original paper that identified that drug for use in COVID-19 treatment has drawn some criticism of failing to meet proper standards for a clinical trial, so I would perhaps take it with a pinch of salt as well as zinc.
 
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While any breakthrough in treatment would be very desirable, I would have to caution against jumping at every claim that the press pick up. Every claim I've met so far would be described as "anecdotal" at present: small samples, no controls, often with other treatments going on at the same time with the same patients. Everyone is looking for good news, and I'm sure most of the people reporting it are sincere, but many of these things will turn out not to stand up.

In fact I can illustrate this by using one sentence from the article that Moody quoted:
Hydroxychloroquine has been touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19 by President Trump among others, but it remains controversial as some experts believe it is unproven and may not be effective.
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This statement isn't quite true. What it should actually say is "all experts believe it is unproven", including those who originally proposed that it has a beneficial effect. They know that what they've reported doesn't meet the scientific standards of proof, or even come close to meeting the standards required for approval of a treatment. At best they think they have seen something helpful and are letting people know.

And I'm going to stop now because I see I've been ninja'd while typing this! ;)
 
dontpanicbobby said:
But they are so damn loud. How do you deal with that?
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Nah...you just get used to it. :) It becomes background noise that you rarely notice, like traffic in other neighborhoods.

Keep in mind they're only loud during mating season, and then only the males, and then only mature males, so it's not that bad.

I snapped these photos one February, on my driveway; they're of my favorite peacock. He and I were behind my car, and he was participating in a squawk-off with another adult peacock who was in front of my car:

dsc_1933_MrPeacock.jpg


dsc_1943_MrPeacock.jpg
 
Xyro said:
The original paper that identified that drug for use in COVID-19 treatment has drawn some criticism of failing to meet proper standards for a clinical trial, so I would perhaps take it with a pinch of salt as well as zinc.
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True that, but the doctor I quoted was specifically talking about results he'd personally seen, in patients very ill with coronavirus, who showed dramatic improvement within hours. I didn't take it as a broad-stroke statement that it was a cure for all patients.
 
This has NOTHING to do with the topic, but it made me laugh out loud, and I thought it might do the same for you--and we can all use a little laughter right now, you know?

So I was watching Jeopardy! last night like always, only to find that it's one of my least favorite tournaments they do, college. Oh well, I sucked it up and watched anyway, even though I knew I'd know most of the answers...questions.

A category named "What do you stand for?" came up. This clue was revealed:

Jeopardy_040620_1.jpg


Now, even if you've never shown and/or owned purebred dogs with "papers," as I used to on both counts, you probably know what AKC stands for. If not, that's okay: it's American Kennel Club. So what do you think this young Einstein from Texas said?

Jeopardy_040620_2.jpg


"What is CANINE?" :o

:D Bwaaaaaahh! :D *me ROFLMFAO* :D
 
This article from KABC helps shed some light on how LA became a hotspot in the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes how thousands of flights arrived at LAX from December through March--flights direct from China, Italy and Spain.

It also includes a cool map you can play for a visual of the flights arriving.

I can't say what I'd like to say without turning this political...so I'll just shut up now! :o
 
Gotta love being an Angeleno! (I do.) During LA Mayor Garcetti's daily news conference today, he not only had a doctor speak, but also Sean Penn. :)

Turns out that Penn is the founder of CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), which has provided help around the globe after earthquakes and other disasters. They're now staffing several of our coronavirus testing centers, freeing up the LAFD paramedics who were staffing them. Nice!
 
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