[HisNameIsHarley]

Originally Posted by d4nimal

So I talked to my boss today about it, and he believes there is no vaccine in development at this time. The CDC is working with Cynda Crawford at UF and some people (I believe at Cornell) to monitor the disease clinically. He told me that until it seems to be a great threat there will be not much interest in making a vaccine because pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make money off of developing and producing it. Creating it would not really be a problem at all (they already have an H3N8 vaccine for horses), but the demand and the funding is most likely just not there right now.

Everyone in my research lab has heard about the virus (there was a seminar on it last year before I started working at the vet school), and they are not really concerned with it. I would not be, either, if I were you. It apparently is treatable with Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) and ...that other thingy (thats the technical name), and is a relatively rare problem. Plus, now that you know the symptoms of the flu, you will be more alert to its warning signs in case somehow it ever reaches your yorkies. I am positive that you are all very good parents, so at this juncture I would maintain your level of concernedness at "informed, but not freaking out" stage.

ps-if you want to read a really really dry and sleep-inducing paper on it, I can direct you to an online journal published in Science about it. I read it. I would not if I were you. Unless you were planning on taking a nap anyways

hahaha thanks for the info.. I really hope everyone is right that the flu will not become a big/bigger problem..