On the heels of the World Health Organization (WHO) advisory for countries to stockpile H5N1 bird flu vaccine - a policy designed to spur
mass-production - military reports say the bird flu virus could be used as bioweapon. As it stands, vaccine makers have not mass-produced H5N1 vaccine
because it's not profitable. Patents and Intellectual Property Rights for the technology are held by several different owners, and the licensing and
fees to use the technology cut into profits. Quite simply, there is "not enough bird flu vaccine to go around." In this light, claims that
terrorists might use the virus as a bioweapon are suspicious.
www.newstarget.com
The World Health Organization is to be applauded for its efforts to try to ramp up product of vaccines to protect people from the coming flu pandemic.
Despite their best intentions, however, the world isn't ready for such a viral outbreak. Should such an epidemic actually occur soon, millions of
people will likely be killed while waiting for vaccines. There simply isn't enough flu vaccine production to go around.
......surviving the next pandemic need not depend on vaccines at all. Healthy individuals can survive the pendemic merely by dramatically boosting
immune system function and supplementing with anti-viral herbs as well as powerful antioxidants (see related ebook on antioxidants) like
astaxanthin.
....................
WHO Tries to Force Bird Flu Vaccine Production
The World Health Organization is about to advise countries to stockpile the influenza vaccine for H5N1, responsible for the deadly birdflu outbreak in
Southeast Asia.
Canada is exempted from this strategy because it has already amassed stockpiles of two types of anti-viral drugs, has a long-term contract for
made-in-Canada pandemic flu vaccine and the recent go-ahead to make, test and license trial batches of H5N1 vaccine. This project could reduce by four
months the manufacturing time if that virus erupts into a pandemic. Canada already has a very good mixed package of different complementary
interventions at its disposal.
The upcoming policy is meant to provide financial incentives for flu vaccine makers to start crucial work on developing and testing H5N1 vaccines.
The United States has ordered two million doses for stockpiling; France and Italy are in negotiations to buy bulk orders as well.
.................
Bird flu virus could be used as bioweapon
Experts on virology warn that it would be a relatively simple task to genetically engineer the H5N1 virus (bird flu) into a viral agent that could
spread widely without the need for human-animal contact. The use of such an agent as a deliberate infective weapon would be difficult to detect,
because the H5N1 virus could mutate into a human-transmissible form without human intervention.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
The real bird flu epidemic story is much more complicated, and has little to do with terrorism. Unless we go back to the early 1900's.
The USA ordered 2 million doses of H5N1 vaccine last fall; Canada has chosen to stockpile anti-viral medications. Neither country's preparations are
adequate. The population of the USA is nearly 300 million, so 298 million Americans will not be protected. To date, anti-virals have proved
ineffective against the H5N1 bird flu strain, leaving Canadians with no protection.
In Canada at least, national plans for dealing with the anticipated flu pandemic are trickling down to the regional level. For example, this week's
disaster management conference in the Province of Manitoba will give planning details to officials and emergency personnel. Manitoba is slightly
larger than Texas, with a population of less than 1.2 million. All residents are covered by the Manitoba Health Services Insurance Plan. Authorities
assure Manitobans that if and when the pandemic does occur, the Province is prepared.
Provincial officials study emergency flu plan
Elected officials and emergency personnel will hear details of Manitoba's plan to deal with such a health disaster for the first time this week at a
provincial disaster-management conference.
Among the plan's most dramatic steps: a proposal to conscript retired or part-time medical personnel, because a flu outbreak would likely
cause hundreds of health professionals to get sick themselves.
The plan also has provisions to turn schools and malls into temporary hospitals, and spells out who would get flu vaccine first.
In the USA, the "Key Facts" about bird flu available from the CDC are re-written with regularity and generally contradict other available sources.
See:
March 8, 2005 Version: CDC "Key Facts" about bird flu
For example, the current CDC fact sheet says H5N1 bird flu doesn't cross species barriers. In fact, H5N1's ability to cross species is what makes it
so dangerous. Over the past few years, H5N1 has been reported in birds, pigs, cats and other animals.
September, 2004: Re: Bird flu
"It seems this virus (H5N1 bird flu) is quite versatile - it appears in pigs, cats and other animals, so it can appear in places that were never
thought about before." Omi said. "This virus is very infectious," he added. (Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific)
....................
Fearful expert tells of bird flu in pigs
Presumably to protect the nation's poultry industry, the CDC skims right over the fact that bird flu is present in the meat of infected birds,
including ducks and chickens. The CDC "fact sheet" also neglects to mention that this flu strain can present with gastrointestinal symptoms, and
without other "typical" flu symptoms.
We report the first case of avian influenza in a patient with fever and diarrhea but no respiratory symptoms. Avian influenza should be included in
the differential diagnosis for patients with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly if they have a history of exposure to poultry.
Atypical avian influenza (H5N1). Emerg Infect Dis. 2004 Jul;10(7):1321-4. Apisarnthanarak A, Kitphati R, Thongphubeth K, Patoomanunt P, Anthanont P,
Auwanit W, Thawatsupha P, Chittaganpitch M, Saeng-Aroon S, Waicharoen S, Apisarnthanarak P, Storch GA, Mundy LM, Fraser VJ. Thammasart University
Hospital, Klong Luang, Pratumthani, Thailand. PMID: 15324560
The CDC "fact sheet" also assures Americans that H5N1 bird flu has not entered the USA. However, without using molecular diagnostics on each and
every person in the nation, such a claim legitimately cannot be made.
In fact, scientists are pleading with governments to use molecular diagnostics for accurate diagnosis. In March of 2004, researchers from the
Neuroscience Research Institute in Peking recommended the use of molecular diagnostics towards the establishment of "systems of sensitive and fast
detection methods as the first line of alarm." Such systems have not been created or implemented anywhere in North America.
See:
The necessity of molecular diagnostics for avian
flu
As with Mad Cow, bird flu could be epidemic and no one would ever know - because the testing protocols are totally inadequate.
H5N1 bird flu is now known to spread person-to-person, and to be asymptomatic in some individuals. This means that unknown to anyone, some people
might be carriers.
Relatives of avian flu patients have asymptomatic
cases
Mar 9, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Two relatives of avian influenza patients in northern Vietnam have tested positive for the virus without being sick,
according to reports from Vietnam today.
............
researchers have recently described several instances of person-to-person
transmission.
Now there is evidence that in rare cases it can spread from person to person.
Bird flu can be transmitted in a variety of different ways: between animals, birds and humans via physical contact or droplets in the air; in feces
and urine and therefor, in water and soil and from contaminated surfaces. More to the point, the virus apparently can survive an unusually long time
without a host.
For example, British microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington is urging a ban on poultry feathers from China because of possible contamination with
the H5N1 bird flu virus.
Feather pillows may carry Asian bird flu
Poultry feathers imported from China to make products such as pillows could carry the avian flu virus, says a British microbiologist who is urging the
British Government to consider banning them.
"Terrorist" warnings are being released to cover up government mismanagement, some theorists observe. With increasing regularity, military and other
officials are suggesting that bird flu might be a purposefully designed biological weapon. Here is a recent military "report" that was "leaked" to
the press.
Military intelligence warns that avian flu could be used as
weapon: report
The military's intelligence arm has warned the federal government that avian influenza could be used as a weapon of bioterrorism, a heavily censored
report suggests.
It also reveals that military planners believe a naturally occurring flu pandemic may be imminent. The report, entitled Recent Human Outbreaks of
Avian Influenza and Potential Biological Warfare Implications, was obtained under the Access to Information Act by The Canadian Press.
The report outlines in broad terms the methods that could be used to develop a manmade strain of influenza capable of triggering a human flu pandemic.
...It notes a method called "passaging," while not entirely predictable, could be a "potentially highly effective" way to push a virus to develop
virulence. ..."Such forced antigenic shifts could be attempted in a biological weapons program," says the 15-page report, dated Dec. 8, 2004.
Current bird flu warnings also threaten to shift the focus - and the funding - away from the war on terrorism.
Catastrophic bird flu outbreak possibility poses greater risk than terrorists
As an outbreak of bird flu in Asia has begun to spread among humans, British health officials say a catastrophic worldwide epidemic is likely on the
horizon. The government is already reportedly planning to cancel large public events if the flu hits the nation in epidemic proportions. Officials say
a potential flu epidemic is more of a public danger than any potential threat by terrorists.
In fact, scientists have been tracking bird flu mutations for decades,
and warning authorities about the coming dangers if it was left free to
evolve. Bird flu pathology is linked to a misfolded protein called "a-smooth muscle actin" (a-SMA) and mutated cells called "myofibroblasts,"
which cause fibroplasia and create fibrosis. This disease pathology first emerged in the USA in the early 1900's.
Misfolded a-SMA and myofibroblast pathology characterize a disease called fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). FMD was offically acknowledged in the USA in
1938 when Drs. Leadbetter and Burkland proved the disease was being transmitted congenitally. FMD first was discovered in domestic turkeys in the USA
in 1980.
See:
Fibromuscular Dysplasia
H5N1 bird flu's evolutionary tale is long, and linked via the actin protein to FMD and Mad Cow disease. Understanding the tale takes knowledge of
molecular biology, biochemistry, proteomics and genetics, at least. Our governments are counting on our scientific ignorance.
The disinformation campaign extends to agriculture. Veterinary texts are being re-written to highlight "growing concerns that cattle and other
livestock could be used by terrorists to poison the nation's food supply."
See:
Popular Veterinary Manual Gets Update
The unfortunately harsh reality is that terrorists don't need to do anything at all. It's already been done, in the name of capitalism and the free
market.
Concerns to protect industry and "the economy" override any efforts to protect ordinary people from the H5N1 bird flu epidemic, as with the Mad Cow
epidemics. Unfortunately, what people don't know
can hurt them.
Someday soon, it no longer will be possible to camouflage this new epidemic, and "the terrorists" will be held responsible. And although the time
for effective quarantine is decades past, no doubt quarantine will be touted as the best defense.
Related News Links:
news.ft.com
Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
NEWS: Government Plans for Flu Epidemic: Update
NEWS: WHO warns of bird flu pandemic
SCI/TECH: Russian Expert Fears Flu Epidemic May Kill Over A Billion People This
Year.
NEWS: Bush Pushes Wrong Flu Vaccine to American People
[edit on 11-3-2005 by soficrow]