BBC - Bird flu 'could mutate to cause deadly human pandemic'

The H5N1 bird flu virus could change into a form able to spread rapidly between humans, scientists have warned.

Researchers have identified five genetic changes that could allow the virus to start a deadly pandemic.

Writing in the journal Science, they say it would be theoretically possible for these changes to occur in nature.

A US agency has tried unsuccessfully to ban publication of parts of the research fearing it could be used by terrorists to create a bioweapon.

Health officials are concerned though that the H5N1 virus could one day mutate into a form that could be spread between humans through coughs and sneezes through the air. This could, they fear, result in a lethal pandemic that could spread rapidly across the world killing tens of millions of people. It is only now that a study has confirmed that the emergence of such a deadly virus is theoretically possible.

www.bbc.co.uk...

I don’t know whether this is just fear mongering or another agenda added to the list of various implementations to depopulate the planet. A lot of people have various survival skills to cope if SHTF but if a pandemic became global, then I guess the majority of us will be screwed.

My wonder is aimed at: Did they find the mutation sites for previous pandemics? Or are these never seen before issues? Never seen before is truly untested enough for me to not worry. These things have to leave the safety of a lab environment and compete with other germs. Not nearly as scary or worrisome, if so.

reply to post by toocoolnc

Researchers have identified five genetic changes that could allow the virus to start a deadly pandemic.

Researchers have identified made five genetic changes that could allow the virus to start a deadly pandemic.

I don't trust these people. Why for example is smallpox virus - which was eradicated world wide - kept in labs for 'testing'

It is fear mongering.

ANY single virus, is one mutation away from being the next black plague. Every single flu virus that goes around, every single air born pathogen, all it takes is one mutation.

They do this every year to help big pharma dole out as much of their vaccines as they can, so they can further test us like guinea pigs.

~Tenth

This is not a new anxiety.
"Bird flu" is what scientists were getting worried about before "swine flu" appeared on the scene.
Remember "SARS"?
(Although, having double-checked, SARS appears to have animal, not bird source- before somebody else points this out)

More fear mongering, as usual its all Ifs Buts and Maybe's.

The apple I'm eating right now could maybe if conditions allow mutate into a ferrari.

These mutations are most likely genetically engineered. Maybe even Monsanto funded.

Originally posted by PatriotAct
These mutations are most likely genetically engineered. Maybe even Monsanto funded.

The monsanto chiefs should be given a shot of everthing they've ever produced, I bet we'd see a mutation then!

Any flu could mutate into a killer virus if a government wanted it to. The only reason we haven't seen this probably is that if a deadly bug is released it would probably come back to bite them in the arse. Anybody else here ever read one of Fran Herbert's "other" books, White Plague?

Huh, instantly reminded me about that article a few months ago.

NSABB chair Paul Keim, a microbial geneticist, says he cannot discuss specific studies but confirms that the board has "worked very hard and very intensely for several weeks on studies about H5N1 transmissibility in mammals." The group plans to issue a public statement soon, says Keim, and is likely to issue additional recommendations about this type of research. "We'll have a lot to say," he says.

That whole thing is just insane.

reply to post by toocoolnc


There is already a thread on this
Here

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Fearmongering or Not.

Anyone with a working Knowledge of Flu's and Pandemic's will tell you.

It's not a question of "Will there be a Pandemic Breakout?"

But when!

For sure this is fear mongering. Last time one dead duck in France made headline news across the western world and they expected us to freak out and beg to be vaccinated. Luckily most of us did neither. I trust we will prove to be as sensible this time too.

Dear old Auntie Beeb.....the most trusted propaganda generator on the planet....at it again.

1. They postulated 5 changes that would make it airborne.

2. Then they engineered those changes and proved it correct. They actually made an airborne variant of bird flu in the lab and got ferrets to infect each other by sneezing.

3. Now they intend telling the wider world how to do it.

Step 1 I can understand. Step 2 maybe. Step 3 does not sound clever.

Personally, I would not toss this into the "fear mongering" bin just yet. Antigenic variation (i.e. how the viral particles differ from one another) in the influenzae comes in two "flavors" (if you will).

The first is antigenic drift: This is the collection of random point mutations. These are very small changes that occur during the course of viral replication. It is like you copying a passage from a book and making small errors here and there...transposition of a letter here and there or addition or deletion of a letter. But never addition or omission of full words and sentences. A couple of rounds of this you may/may not have something significant.

The second is antigenic shift: This is were one organism/cell is coinfected with two different strains of the flu. The viral particles will essentially pull their RNA segments and reshuffle them out randomly to the progeny. The implications are major and accounts for why the flu vaccine you received last year won't protect you from the flu strains of this year....the mix of antigenic proteins evade detection of the host immune system.

Pigs/swine are, by and large, considered "mixing vessels" for influenzae (although some researchers contest this). That means they can become infected with "human flu" strains, "bird flu" strains and their own "swine flu" strains. If a poor pig became coinfected with human influenza A (the most severe and susceptible to antigenic shift) and H5N1 "bird flu", the influenza virus particles swapped out some genes, then..well.. you could see that it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the farmer coming into contact with these animals to become infected with this new bird flu that picked up the proteins that afforded it to easily infect and spread through the human population.

Possible: yes. Probable: who knows? Places that have large pig farms are where I would expect a major outbreak of this type of flu to occur.

Any virologists out there who could corroborate or correct me?

I always find stuff like this interesting.

Now if a flu can mutate (which it does) - who is to say humans don't mutate (which we do) constantly. I don't think we give our own biological units enough credit. We will survive. Unless an entire earth level destruction event happens - we will survive.

Being afraid of the flu is like being afraid of the common cold. We have been adapting to it for thousands of years. I'm am not saying that people don't die from influenza - they do. I'm just saying that fear-mongering it is not going to alter the fact that it has always been, always will be, and has never been known to decimate an entire population.

~ Serra

reply to post by Serraphina

Wasn't it measles that was supposed to have decimated the Native American population when the first Europeans arrived?
That shows what can happen when a disease is suddenly introduced to a population that isn't ready for it, and doesn't have time to develop resistance.

reply to post by Serraphina


True, it wont kill us all.

However it has in the past killed a lot of us. The 1918 influenza pandemic killed 50 million people.

All of a sudden I'm getting this intense de ja vu...

Don't we go through this scare every three months or so or is it just me?