Originally posted by justme1640
I am more alarmed by the fact that Bush is actually voicing a concern about Avian Flu -- my feeling is more one of - what does he know that we don't
know yet?

Justme - you should read at least one or 2 of the links provided above. FYI -
H5N1 is a well known, long identified threat. "H5N1 has laid waste to poultry stocks across wide swathes of Asia but it doesn't restrict itself to
chickens. People, pigs, dogs, domestic cats, tigers and leopards -- the virus has surprised experts by showing it can infect far afield without
acquiring the non-avian genetic material once thought to be necessary for it to jump species."
H5N1 jumps species WITHOUT non-avian genetic
material
Suspected person-to-person spread was first reported in January of 2004.
www.nytimes.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
January 30, 2004
"scientists report that their findings support the idea that the SARS virus made the jump from animals to humans, probably multiple times."
www.sciam.com...
"Chinese scientists have found more evidence the SARS virus jumps from animals to humans, possibly frequently."
www.cbc.ca...
[Same is true of bird flu]
...Scientists have been screaming warnings about this (and other pandemics) since FMD/ASMA jumped species back in the 1970's - once FMD appeared in
domestic turkeys in the USA in 1980, and in trout in 1981, they started screaming bloody murder.
...Because the original mutations usually took decades to create acute symptoms and become life threatening - the warnings were dissed. Instead, the
diseases were 'played' as a business opportunity - a way to make $$$ treating early symptoms.
Then, FMD appeared in Japanese quail in 1996, quickly mutated into H5N1 bird flu in 1997 in Hong Kong - and the writing was undeniably on the wall.
When antiobiotics suddenly started
causing new rapidly progressive antiobiotic-resistant mutations about 2 years ago - there still was time to
stop it all.
But nothing was done. Now it's too late - quarantine won't work.
More:
1999 - WHO - "
Influenza pandemic preparedness plan. The role of WHO and guidelines for national or regional planning." Geneva, Switzerland, April 1999
September 23, 2004, "Warning on flu pandemic"
"Scientists working for the World Health Organisation fear that the arrival of the flu season in Asian countries could see the human flu virus merge
with a lethal strain of bird flu that is already in circulation, producing a more deadly flu virus that could rapidly infect humans, leading to a
global outbreak."
www.guardian.co.uk...
"Avian Influenza Outbreaks Create Concern About Human Infection Mayo Clinic Researchers Warn"
www.mayoclinic.org...
"The Next Influenza Pandemic: Lessons from Hong Kong, 1997"
www.cdc.gov...
Also, RE: the FMD link.
Julian LM. The occurrence of fibromuscular dysplasia in the arteries of domestic turkeys. Am J Pathol. 1980 Nov;101(2):415-24. PMID: 7435545
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
Braga IS 3rd, Tanaka S, Itakura C, Mizutani M. Fibromuscular dysplasia in intramuscular arteries of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). J
Comp Pathol. 1996 Feb;114(2):123-30. PMID: 8920213
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...
From the Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research and Animal Science ...
www.scielo.br...
Well there you have it. The sketch, with references. But hey. Don't let the facts get in your way...
Have there actually been a few cases of human to human contact they haven't told us -- and is there a possiblity of someone in early stages of
infection (perhaps someone who was at that zoo?) who has gotten on a plane and is somewhere in the US or Canada and they are just waiting for the
first cases to be diagnosed?

Yes.
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

FYI - the evolution of this flu has been tracked since 1980 when a human disease called fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) first was found in domestic
turkeys in the USA (see Pubmed, Julian).
By 1996, FMD had spread to quail in Japan.
By 1997, it had evolved to H5N1 bird flu in Hong Kong.
...somewhere during this time, researchers in Brazil documented the presence of FMD in avian reovirus - a contagious but non-deadly bird virus -
showing the evolutionary path.
Also FYI - FMD causes mutations in the stem cells for connective tissue, via an actin protein. ...actin is present in virtually every cell of every
species on the planet - it appears that FMD uses actin and actin related proteins to cross species and kingdom barriers, and to hitch-hike on viruses,
bacteria etc to spread. Numerous diffrent mutation tracks have evolved over the years, bird flu being only one.
.....also FYI - US agencies and institutions like the Mayo Clinic and CDC have been issuing dire and urgent flu warnings since 1997...as has the World
Health Organization. ...every epidemiologist and nation in the world knows it's coming, and has for several years.
However, many leaders in government and industry support a policy of 'benign neglect.' The theory is that a major plague will take care of the
world's overpopulation problem, weed out the weak - and leave behind a superior and immune human population.
*******
"H5N1 has laid waste to poultry stocks across wide swathes of Asia but it doesn't restrict itself to chickens. People, pigs, dogs, domestic cats,
tigers and leopards -- the virus has surprised experts by showing it can infect far afield without acquiring the non-avian genetic material once
thought to be necessary for it to jump species."
www.canada.com...
"WHO refutes claims that bird flu virus originated from China"
www.chinaview.cn 2004-01-31 13:24:00
Suspected person-to-person spread was first reported in January of 2004.
www.nytimes.com...
"Playing chicken with public health"
www.bangkokpost.com...
January 30, 2004
"scientists report that their findings support the idea that the SARS virus made the jump from animals to humans, probably multiple times."
www.sciam.com...
�Chinese scientists have found more evidence the SARS virus jumps from animals to humans, possibly frequently.�
www.cbc.ca...
�AFTER killing millions of chickens and ducks across Asia, bird flu is feared to have jumped to some exotic species, killing a heron in Cambodia and
possibly a leopard in Thailand.�
scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com...
April, 2004.
"The EPA modelers say science is being altered to suit objectives."
http//www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-science29apr29,1,723517.story
www.911ea.org...
July, 2004.
"US scientists need better ways to fight the influence of industry and politics on scientific inquiry,... Whether they are studying global warming,
environmental toxins, or workplace safety, scientists who find their research unjustifiably shunned or suppressed face similar challenges from
corporate and special interests...
...Baird also took the scientific community to task for failing to respond to the suppression of science (and contended that) scientists ... must
"stand up for the democratic process itself."
...An April 2004 General Accounting Office report ...said some departments have appointed members of industry and stakeholder groups, persons who are
exempt from conflict-of-interest rules. Industry leaders may therefore theoretically be profiting from their own advice."
Fighting for integrity. Delegates at a CSPI meeting dismayed at corporate influence, politicization of science.
www.biomedcentral.com...
September 30, 2004.
"...our world is imperiled by a terrifying monster. Scientists try to sound the alarm, but politicians ignore the threat until its too late.
Indifference ultimately turns into panic."
www.commondreams.org...
Fri 1 October, 2004 10:52
"GENEVA (Reuters) - The top World Health Organization (WHO) influenza expert said on Friday drug companies and governments had to speed up production
of bird flu vaccines or risk a pandemic which could kill thousands (ed. very obvious spin) of people.
...Only Aventis Pasteur Inc and Chiron Corp -- with contracts from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- are currently developing a human
bird flu vaccine.
...Under the two deals, under which 2.4 million doses will be produced, NIH is paying for costly clinical trials. The WHO provided the prototype
strain used to develop the vaccines.
...In the event of a pandemic, Europe which is home to 70 to 75 percent of the global drug manufacturing capacity would be key to producing sufficient
quantities. "But the reality is none of their companies is investing in developing a pandemic vaccine."
..."Some companies say they don't see the market and why invest money. Others say intellectual property rights would be impinged on,"
...Four groups -- a U.S. company and three U.S.-based research institutes -- claim the patent covering reverse genetics, a complex technology used to
remove avian pathogenicity from the virus in WHO's prototype vaccine"
Cached at:
www.tilrc.org...
October 20, 2004
"With polls showing that Florida is once again too close to call, President Bush on Tuesday assured the state's flu-wary retirees that "we have
millions of vaccines doses on hand for the most vulnerable Americans" as his administration said that 2.6 million more doses would be available by
January. ...Tommy G. Thompson, said ...the total would be about 58 million doses in all." (But didn't mention that 55.2 million of those doses were
the wrong vaccine.)
Source