EXCLUSIVE: Spin and Counterspin: New Bird Flu Mutation has 91% Fatality Rate in Humans

A new H5N1 bird flu mutation with a 91% fatality rate in humans appeared this month: between March 1 and March 24 of 2006, the WHO reported 12 new H5N1 cases with 11 deaths. By comparison, H5N1’s fatality rate was 50% in 2004 and 2005 with a total of 131 new cases and 66 deaths. The new virulently fatal Asian H5N1 mutation creates a second genetic track for H5N1 to spread easily from human-to-human. It is spreading through Asia, Europe and Africa and is expected to enter North America with migratory birds, if not on consumer goods or with travellers. The mainstream media is focusing on studies that show humans are resistant to airborne H5N1. Few acknowledge that the H5N1 virus is shed in bodily fluids and spreads mainly via wastewater into waterways, and on physical contact. The virus can live for months on cold surfaces and up to 200 days in water; it infects fish, and animals that drink contaminated water. Unlike most flus, H5N1 can enter the human body through the gut as well as the respiratory system - via contaminated water and infected meat.

WHO Cumulative Figures.

March 24, 2006: 186 Cases; 105 Deaths.
March 1, 2006: 174 Cases; 94 Deaths.
January 30, 2006:160 Cases; 85 Deaths.
December 30, 2005: 142 Cases; 74 Deaths.
January 28, 2004: 11 Cases; 8 Deaths.

***

"The geographic expansion this year has been, I think, greater and worse than most of us could have expected,"' said Malik Peiris, professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong. ..."It is certainly a cause for concern because the more areas where humans keep on getting challenged by this virus, the more chance there is for the virus to adapt for human transmission,'' Peiris said in a telephone interview today.

***

An analysis of more than 300 samples of the H5N1 virus taken from humans and birds has revealed that its family tree has started to branch out in a way that could make it more threatening to people. ...the changes are worrying because they show that the virus is increasing in genetic diversity. ...It will also make it more difficult for scientists to monitor the way that the virus is changing, so as to track potentially dangerous mutations.

“Back in 2003 we only had one genetically distinct population of H5N1 with the potential to cause a human pandemic. Now we have two.” ...“The more mutations that are seen, the more the virus is able to mutate, the greater the chances of the virus changing.”

...Influenza viruses are separated into strains, which are labelled according to the particular versions of two proteins that they carry - haemagluttinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). ...These strains are then subdivided into genetic groups called genotypes, and some genotypes can be separated further into smaller units called clades.

Bird flu mutation 'adds to threat of human pandemic'

***

...the cells bearing the type of receptor the avian virus is known to favor are clustered in the deepest branches of the human respiratory tract, keeping it from spreading by coughs and sneezes. Human flu viruses typically infect cells in the upper respiratory tract.

***

Virologists know (H5N1) infection occurs through contact with blood, feces and other body fluids, and WHO officials recently reiterated the flu virus is also airborne, posing even a greater threat than AIDS.

Cheng said there may be other cases in which people became infected through human-to-human transmission, but there isn't enough evidence to prove it. There may also be many less severely ill people going unnoticed.

***

Birds spread the disease through droppings and other secretions, which often contaminate shared feed and water. Domesticated birds show a sudden decline in egg production a few days after they contract the illness; other symptoms include nasal discharge, ...severe internal bleeding, organ damage, and sudden death.

***

(H5N1), spread through bird feces, saliva and infected water... "You have to test the birds and test the water," Fair said. "If you find it in a lake, influenzas can hang around for a month. Some studies have shown it staying over 200 days." ...The longer the disease remains in the water, the more likely it is to find other host species, Fair said.

***

A German scientist said Tuesday the entry of faeces from infected poultry into the food chain via fish was a likely cause of the global spread of bird flu - and not migrating wild birds.

'We are moving away from the assumption that migrating birds are the cause,' said Josef H. Reichholf, a zoology professor at Munich's Technical University, in a comment published by the newspaper Die Welt.

'We will have to live with bird flu in the future,' said Reichholf, adding: 'Perhaps we already have been for years and just didn't know it because ...dead birds ...were not tested.'

***

H5N1 9A ...severely attacks fish with particular virulence. The fish bones turn soft...

***

July, 2004: 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.

In 1957, Dr. Rob Webster discovered that human flu is related to bird flu.

...but few paid attention to what he saw as a great danger. ..."The veterinarians said, 'Not a problem.' The medical people said, 'Not a problem,'" recalls Webster.

By 1959, H5N1 bird flu was discovered in chickens in Scotland where it was isolated and used in experiments. It is a Type A influenza virus, able to infect a wide variety of species without acquiring new genetic material, including birds, fish, whales, humans and other mammals. Birds and whales both migrate, and flu viruses mutate constantly, which means H5N1 has been circulating around the world and mutating for almost 50 years. Scientists have been monitoring H5N1 and warning authorities about it for decades.

H5N1 likely started with humans, spread to fish via wastewater flushing into waterways, to domestic poultry in feed made from ground up contaminated fish, to migratory birds from poultry waste and only then back to domestic poultry, say experts like Germany’s Reichholf.

...the entry of faeces from infected poultry into the food chain via fish was a likely cause of the global spread of bird flu - and not migrating wild birds.

The virus may be spreading through contaminated feed, Munich-based ornithologist Josef Reichholf said, according to Focus magazine.

No one knows how many times this cycle has gone round or how many other animals are infected. But virologists do know that cats, leopards, lions and other land-based predators are at risk, along with chimpanzees and gorillas.

..."there is growing evidence that the H5N1 virus can infect and harm big cats like leopards and tigers, small cats such as civets and other mammals like martens, weasels, badgers and otters."

***

...the experts emphasised there was evidence pointing at the possibility for the H5N1 virus to be transmitted to wild animals such as cats, panthers and leopards in the jungle habitats. ...(and) stressed the need to give special attention to biodiversity-rich countries, particularly those with populations of chimpanzees and gorillas.

No one is saying outright that H5N1 bird flu is epidemic in fish, sharks or whales - never mind tuna. But scientists at the recent international Convention on Biological Diversity highlighted the possible links between H5N1 bird flu and the planet's sixth extinction event.

...(H5N1's) impact on biological diversity and on species may be far wider and more complex than might have been initially supposed," Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD executive secretary, told conference attendees.

* The average abundance of species declined 40 percent between 1970 and 2000 while species in rivers, lakes and marshlands have declined by 50 percent.
* Between 12 and 52 percent of species within well-studied higher taxa including birds, mammals and amphibians are threatened with extinction.
* In the North Atlantic, populations of large fish have declined 66 percent in the last 50 years.

H5N1 bird flu is "in many ways a threat of our own making," says Djoghlaf. Western agricultural practices - especially monoculture - have lessened domestic animals' ability to resist disease.

"... (H5N1) is in many ways a threat of our own making. For example, reduced genetic diversity in domestic animals like poultry in favor of a 'monoculture' in the last 50 years has resulted in a reduction of resistance to many diseases."

"There is also growing evidence that a healthy environment can act as a buffer against old and the emergence of new diseases whereas a degraded one favors the spread of infections.

***

Is there something in the environment that is constantly changing and can govern the genetics of appearance and health, leading, instead, to diversity? ..."More and more evidence indicates that the most changeable part of the environment consists of parasites, bacteria and viruses. All of these, especially viruses, evolve more rapidly than the hosts whose resources they live off of. The host will therefore always be in an important evolutionary race against its diseases," explains Mans Andersson, who directs the research team.

The findings not only enhance our understanding of why animals behave and look the way they do but also help explain why animals that choose their own mates produce healthier offspring than animals whose mates are selected by humans.

***

In poultry, influenza virus is released in respiratory secretions and excretions and droppings of infected birds where it is protected by organic material. The virus is labile in warm conditions, but can survive for months in a cold environment. Once AI is introduced into the poultry industry it is transmitted from farm to farm by direct and indirect contact. AI viruses are transmitted by movement of poultry and manure and on contaminated shoes, clothing, crates, and other equipment. Thus, people and equipment coming in contact with poultry and poultry manure are associated with spread of the disease. Influenza virus has been isolated from turkey eggs and semen, but there is no evidence of egg transmission. Improper disposal of infected eggs could potentially expose other susceptible birds...

African countries are being warned to take steps to prevent their cattle from becoming infected with H5N1 bird flu.

African countries, notably the Seychelles and Mauritius, have been advised to suspend their poultry imports from Hawaii (US) in order to make sure their cattle are not contaminated by avian flu.

North American authorities recognize two "pathotypes" of bird flu or Avian Influenza (AI): low or mildly pathogenic(LPAI or MPAI) and highly pathogenic (HPAI). A strain is not categorized as highly pathogenic until it kills 75% of birds infected.

HPAI strains typically are detected as a result of poultry deaths... The designation of high pathogenicity generally is based on what happens to healthy chickens when they're exposed to the virus. If the virus kills at least 6 out of 8 chickens in a challenge trial, it is deemed highly pathogenic.

Mild bird flus are known to mutate into highly pathogenic forms. However, only an HPAI diagnosis triggers government intervention in North America. US scientists have recommended eradication programs for mild forms of H5 and H7 bird flu, but the experts have been ignored and their recommendations dismissed for "economic" reasons.

History has proven that prevention of HPAI is based on successful control of H5 or H7 LPAI.

***

There is little disagreement that all outbreaks of MPAI should be controlled with some urgency. However, there are no government policies to help with control. Further, there is no indemnity program in most states or countries to fund aggressive killing and destruction of MPAI infected flocks.

Once MPAI is introduced into the poultry industry, control is largely dependent on voluntary efforts, since there are no official government eradication programs (Poss, 1986).

...It has been suggested that [www.cvm.umn.edu...]a change in policy from ignoring to eradicating H5 and H7 MPAI should be considered[/url] (Capua et al 2000a).

***

Various forms of low pathogenicity avian influenza have existed in the United States since the early 1900's.

Meat and eggs from poultry with MPAI are sold legally as food in the USA, Canada and other countries. The evidence suggests that humans infected with MPAI serve as "mixing vessels" to create more virulent and deadly mutations.


SYMPTOMS

High path flu is very quickly fatal: symptoms include severe internal bleeding, organ damage, and sudden death.

Gastrointestinal manifestations, raised liver enzymes, renal failure unrelated to rhabdomyolysis, and pancytopenia were unusually prominent.

Clinical features and rapid viral diagnosis of human disease associated with avian influenza A H5N1 virus. Lancet. 1998 Feb 14;351(9101):467-71. PMID: 9482437

***

Symptoms of bird flu in humans have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and muscle aches, to eye infections (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia, and other severe and life-threatening complications.

FACTBOX: Bird flu's rapid march around the globe

***

"This virus spreads outside the lungs to the central nervous system ...[The animal] gets hind-leg paralysis and dies. This is the first influenza virus we've seen that does this in a mammal."

Low path flu is less obvious. H5N1 bird flu pathology is found in connective tissue of the blood vessels, lungs, gut, heart, brain and other organs, and is known to infect "apidose" or fat cells. The symptoms generally depend on the severity of the infection, its length, and the locations of infection in the body.

With LPAI outbreaks in poultry there is mild to moderate inflammation of the trachea, sinuses, air sacs and conjunctiva. In laying birds there often is ovarian atresia and involution of the oviduct. Various degrees of congestive, hemorrhagic, transudative, and necrotic lesions have been described.

Chronic infection with low path bird flu is not recognized in humans. However, the chronic disease pandemic sweeping the globe has the same pathology as H5N1 bird flu: the proliferation of abnormal myofibroblasts in connective tissue and smooth muscle cells throughout the body with aberrant wound healing and "tissue remodelling."

ATSNN. Bird Flu and Beyond: Chronic Disease to Kill 400 Million
ATSNN: Bird Flu, and the "Neglected Epidemic"


TESTING

Diagnosing H5N1 bird flu requires molecular diagnostic testing - which is not routine. 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


TREATMENT

There is no vaccine available for H5N1 bird flu. Reverse genetic engineering technology allows viruses to be scanned and vaccines to be developed in 3 to 4 weeks. But the licensing costs for patents and Intellectual Property Rights are blocking this technology's use. Vaccine makers are forced to use old, slow technology where the virus is grown in chicken eggs, and batches are ruined with regularity. So production takes 6 months or more.

See ATSNN. Flu Vaccine Technology: Who’s Blocking its Use?

People with bird flu need to be put on ventilators. But purchasing ventilators was not a budget priority. The USA has nowhere near enough ventilators for an epidemic.

Tamiflu is the anti-viral back-up treatment plan. But doctors combating H5N1 on the front lines say Tamiflu is 'useless' for avian flu - and that's the last, less virulent form they're talking about.

A Vietnamese doctor with experience in treating avian flu says Tamiflu, the drug being stockpiled for treatment of avian flue is useless against the virus. ...Dr. Nguyen Tuong Van of the Centre for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi has treated 41 victims of H5N1, following World Health Organization guidelines and administering Tamiflu to her patients. She told the Sunday Times of London the medicine had no effect.

"We place no importance on using this drug on our patients," she said. "Tamiflu is really only meant for treating ordinary type A flu. It was not designed to combat H5N1."

Also see: ATSNN Report: Tamiflu "Useless" Against H5N1 Bird Flu

***

Reddy said that from Roche’s experience with seasonal flu, the drug was known to be most effective when given within 48 hours of symptoms first appearing. He declined to give any timeframe for administering the drug to treat bird flu, but noted the virus was more aggressive in nature.

Animal tests find Tamiflu effective if given early enough, drug maker says

***

Bird flu in Vietnam resisting Tamiflu

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stands to make a fortune from Tamiflu.

ATS: Donald Rumsfeld Makes $5 Million Killing on Bird Flu Drug

***

Tamiflu was developed and patented in 1996 by a California biotech firm, Gilead Sciences Inc. ...In 1997, before he became US Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld was named Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences, where he remained until early 2001 when he became Defense Secretary. Rumsfeld had been on the board of Gilead since 1988 according to a January 3 1997 company press release.

An as-yet-unconfirmed report is that Rumsfeld while Secretary of Defense also purchased an additional stock in his former company, Gilead Sciences, worth $18 million, making him one of its largest if not the largest stock owners today. ...President Bush has ordered the US Government to buy $2 billion worth of Gilead Science’s Tamiflu.

Ordinary Americans will have access to Tamiflu in emergency porta-clinics, courtesy of your tax dollars and Halliburton's KBR-contract, the same bunch who handled Katrina construction and brought you gas in Iraq at $5 per gallon. Halliburton is US Vice President Dick Cheney's baby.

See ATSNN. US Medical Care for H5N1 Bird Flu: Your Options

US Health and Human Services poobah Mike Leavitt is touring the states and giving everyone a heads-up about the coming pandemics. If it's not H5N1 bird flu, it will be something else. Guaranteed. Predictably, the federal plan focuses on "Personal Responsibility" in health.

..."any community that fails to prepare - with the expectation that the federal government can offer a lifeline - will be tragically wrong." To assist local efforts, HHS is holding planning summits in all 50 states and providing checklists to local and state governments, businesses, schools, home health care providers, faith-based and community organizations and individuals and families.

Bush had Congress put aside $350 million for "pandemic flu preparedness" - nowhere near enough. But the war in Iraq is sucking up trillions and trillions of dollars. There's not much left for the home front.

Leavitt announced North Carolina will get $2.5 million of $350 million approved by Congress for pandemic flu preparedness.

But N.C. Gov. Mike Easley ...said, "That will not cut it."

PREVENTION

Preventing killer epidemics is not the primary goal here apparently. Nations today, including the USA, are supporting huge populations of aging and disabled people. Preventing fatal diseases increases healthcare costs:

Elimination of fatal diseases ...increases healthcare costs. ...In countries with low mortality, elimination of fatal diseases by successful prevention increases healthcare spending because of the medical expenses during added life years.

* In countries with low mortality prevention of fatal diseases adds life years predominantly to old age, when disabling conditions are prevalent
* If fatal diseases are eliminated, the medical costs of life extension at old age will generally be higher than the costs prevented.

Full text

Unfortunately, H5N1 bird flu is different from most common flus. It targets the young - including adolescents and young adults. So it looks like the plan will backfire.

Early on, the H5N1 bird flu epidemic could have been prevented by culling (killing) poultry infected with low path MPAIs. But that would have cut into corporate profits. And it's too late now to take that route. The North American strategy is to wait until the pandemic hits, then use live vaccines. Using live vaccine in poultry is extremely dangerous but much, much cheaper than using killed vaccines. Live vaccines can recombine with other viruses and make something worse.

...scientists may turn toward a hitherto unthinkable option: a live influenza vaccine for poultry. ...Such vaccines have long been considered too risky in poultry. "Because these viruses are so unstable, the concern was that they could recombine with some other virus that's there and make something worse," he said.

Live vaccines ...require less antigen (active ingredient) than killed vaccine. A live vaccine may contain too few copies of the weakened virus to trigger an immediate immune response, but once inside the host, the virus replicates to the point where the immune system detects and responds to it. A killed virus must be injected in larger doses, because it doesn't multiply inside the recipient.

...live viruses don't have to be injected into each bird individually; they can be put into drinking water or sprayed into the air in a chicken coop. That way, hundreds or thousands of birds can be immunized quickly. Killed viruses, by contrast, must be injected, because there's no other way to administer them that will bring them into contact with the immune system.

The Bush administration will keep an eye on migratory birds and test 100,000 to 150,000 bird and water samples. China is launching an RFID tracking system to monitor bird flu.

Because Alaska is at the crossroads of bird migration flyways, scientists believe the strain of highly pathogenic H5N1 currently affecting Southeast Asia would most likely arrive there if it spread to North America via migratory birds. Thus, the plan recommends a prioritized sampling system with emphasis in Alaska, elsewhere in the Pacific Flyway and the Pacific islands, followed by the Central, Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways. In 2006, USDA and its cooperators plan to collect between 75,000 to 100,000 samples from live and dead wild birds. They also plan to collect 50,000 samples of water or feces from high-risk waterfowl habitats across the United States.

***

China to monitor bird flu with RFID. An RFID tracking system designed to slow the spread of avian flu will be tested this month by China’s poultry industry... The technology, developed by Canadian company Smart-tek Communications, was unveiled to government, academic and industry experts at a conference in Beijing last week.

The RTAC-PM ('RFID Tracking Alert Containment and Poultry Monitoring) system was designed for the livestock - and specifically poultry - industry to help governments monitor poultry movement. ...“At its core, the RTAC-PM System uses the Internet to report detailed, real-time information about events in the poultry supply-chain to a central monitoring station," said Law.

THE CONSPIRACY

It looks like the deadly 1918 flu was introduced into American soldiers and convicts via mass vaccinations. When US soldiers went to the front, they infected enemy troops and won WWI. Conveniently, infected troops also decimated the USA's unwanted immigrant population when they came home.

The influenza epidemic of 1918... may have begun in the United States as an epidemic that was confined largely to military bases and prisons. ...When American troops took the virus to Europe during World War I, it quickly became established in Europe and spread to Russia, North Africa, India, China, Japan, the Philippines, Brazil, and New Zealand.

It also looks like this flu has been spreading, mutating and recombining for the last century - with a lot of help from corporate industry.

According to University of Ottawa flu virologist Earl Brown, lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially produced poultry in Italy in 1878. The highly pathogenic H5N1 is descended from a strain that first appeared in Scotland in 1959.

People have been living with backyard flocks of poultry since the dawn of civilization. But it wasn't until poultry production became modernized and birds were raised in much larger numbers and concentrations that a virulent bird flu evolved. Somehow, the virus that arose in Scotland found its way to China, where, as H5N1, it has been raging for more than a decade.

Purposefully unleashing a bioweapon of such power would have been heartless, cruel and callous. But that wouldn't have stopped the kind of men who make such plans. Even if they had understood the implications of what they were doing.

Nature - and a few ill-advised experiments - did the rest.


THE COVER-UPS

The main goals were and are to profit - to control the economy, manipulate people and play everything as a business opportunity. Recent cover-ups have been unusually draconian, even for these guys. But in order for international corporate industries to profiteer, and profit from the death, disaster, and devastation of the bird flu pandemic, the following criteria must be met:

1) The pandemic must materialize unhindered, and

2) Take its course, while

3) Critical scientific information remains privately owned as Intellectual Property for "trade" purposes, and protected under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act.

This is a business strategy, at odds with humanitarian principles. And the real issue is about Open Source versus private Intellectual Property Rights. People versus profits.

CDC locks up flu data

Amid growing concerns that avian influenza will develop into a deadly pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is under fire by some in the scientific community for hoarding data crucial for vaccine development. The allegations come as CDC has issued new and controversial rules on what data, documents and other information it will - and will not - share with the public. Open government advocates are critical of the CDC's "Information Security" manual, the 34-page document that gives officials 19 categories to shield data from public scrutiny without obtaining a "secret" classification.

***

Flu researchers slam US agency for hoarding data

Flu researchers slam US agency for hoarding data.

ATSNN: Flu Researchers Slam US for Hoarding Data

ATS: US Reluctant To Share Important Flu Samples

Scientists who are researching influenza say their work is being hindered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is withholding data on most of the flu strains that scientists sequence, Reuters reports.

***

More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.
More than half of the biologists and other researchers who responded to the survey said they knew of cases in which commercial interests, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies, had applied political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions deemed harmful to their business.

"The pressure to alter scientific reports for political reasons has become pervasive at Fish and Wildlife offices around the country," said Lexi Shultz of the Union of Concerned Scientists. ...A biologist in Alaska wrote in response to the survey: "It is one thing for the department to dismiss our recommendations, it is quite another to be forced (under veiled threat of removal) to say something that is counter to our best professional judgment."

***

The U.S. government is making it harder for scientists to speak to their global colleagues... Rep. Henry Waxman said he has a letter showing that the Health and Human Services Department has imposed new limits on who may speak to the World Health Organization. ...Under the new policy, WHO must ask HHS for permission to speak to scientists and must allow HHS to choose who will respond.

"This policy is unprecedented. For the first time political appointees will routinely be able to keep the top experts in their field from responding to WHO requests for guidance on international health issues,... This is a raw attempt to exert political control over scientists and scientific evidence in the area of international health," Waxman wrote.

"Under the new policy the administration will be able to refuse to provide any experts whenever it wishes to stall international progress on controversial topics."

WHO WILL PROFIT?

The CDC has partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry; research is funded partly from tax coffers and partly by private companies. While the National Institutes of Health mandates Open Access publication of any research that receives any public funding, the CDC obviously does not. The CDC claims that it cannot keep up with information requests, but David Webster, president of Webster Consulting Group Inc., a health-industry consulting firm, says that the CDC may be concerned that sharing data might negatively affect its industry partners.

Concern grows over secrecy at CDC

Nature quoted Michael Deem, a scientist at Rice University, as saying: "Many in the influenza field are displeased with the CDC's practice of refusing to deposit sequences of most of the strains that they sequence." ...Nature's own analyses found that the CDC deposited less than a tenth of the 15,000 influenza A sequences in the gene database Genbank and the influenza sequence database at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. By comparison, a consortium led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases deposited more than 2,800 sequences this year alone.

One concern the CDC may have about sharing data is how it would affect any partnership it might have with vaccine manufacturers, said David Webster, president of Webster Consulting Group Inc., a health-industry consulting firm.

The CDC might be concerned that those manufacturers might not be able to recoup their investment if the information is widely available.

The decision was made early on not to eradicate mild disease, or to prevent its spread and mutation. Instead, the developing pharmaceutical industry focused on treating secondary symptoms. Today, the drug industry is the largest and most profitable industry in the world, surpassing even the oil industry.



Also see: ATS: Rats, flies likely to spread avian influenza


SURVIVAL

CBC: AVIAN FLU

www.emergencypreparednessweek.ca...

www.ready.gov...

www.pep.bc.ca...

www.fluwikie.com...

www.ccep.ca...



[edit on 27-3-2006 by Thomas Crowne]

[edit on 27-3-2006 by Thomas Crowne]

Unbelievable, Soficrow! Amazing work....this is gonna take hours for me to wade through...

Good job!

Cliff Notes

Hey sofi, could you elaborate on that a little?



Edit: And um, one-line kidding aside, the point about H5N1 being a waterborne threat is definitely worth taking note of.

That's a huge resource sofi, but I doubt I'll have time to study all of it.

What do you recommend members do to protect themselves?

[edit on 3/27/2006 by Majic]

Crow and Loam,
You two should tag team this stuff. Amazing research considering its free...
Between the flu and the mad cow thing you guys will be busy with this stuff for a bit.

Sofi,

No more oneliners, ok?

I think you are extremely knowledgeable in this area, Sofi, but can you look at this and tell me what you think?
Thanks!

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

I respect your opinion.

Sorry if you already wrote about this theory. I didnt see it.

[edit on 27-3-2006 by dgtempe]

Thanks loam, DaFunk, dgtempe. ...And you, Majic. Hah!

FYI - The links at the end of the article are for detailed emergency and pandemic "preparedness" plans (government sanctioned).

We are facing a return to the "old days" IMO - and need to develop the kinds of survival skills our ancestors had. Like, learn how to boil water before using it; grow sprouts and other veggies; etc.

There are some good survival threads here at ATS - sorry I didn't include them. ...I had to edit out tons of stuff and got to the point where I just really wanted to finish. Maybe someone can post a few "survivalist" links here?

Thanks, sofi

This is a first rate report, soficrow, and outshines anything I've seen anywhere else (magazines, newspaper reports, etc).

A worthwhile read for basically any human being still drawing breath today.

If your post isn't a massive 'heads up', then I don't know what it will take for people to start taking at least some of the minimal precautions.

Thanks for all your hard work on this. it's going to take me half a day to digest all of it...
.

The new plan is to replace old-fashioned chickens with newer, genetically engineered models resistant to H5N1 flu - following the now-established tradition of planned obsolescence.

British scientists are reportedly genetically engineering chickens to produce birds resistant to the lethal strains of the H5N1 virus devastating poultry in the Far East. Laurence Tiley, Professor of Microular Virology at Cambridge University and Helen Sang of the Roslin Institute in Scotland are involved in developing ‘transgenic chickens’ which would have small pieces of genetic material inserted into chicken eggs to allegedly make the chickens H5N1 resistant. ...Tiley told the Times of London on October 29, ‘Once we have regulatory approval, we believe it will only take between four and five years to breed enough chickens to replace the entire world (chicken) population.’

The same plan is in the works for Mad Cow resistant cattle. Kinda like Terminator seed, but it moves. And of course, disease-resistant engineered products need to be replaced when new diseases mutate and rise up...


Lest we forget:

"God not only plays dice. He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen." - Stephen Hawking

mod edit to fix quote tags


[edit on 29-3-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Thanks sofi. Despite my initial reaction (yes, Majic the Long-Winded was wagging his finger at a long post like a hypocrite), I'm already starting to work my way through the article.

It's truly a brilliant magnum opus, and I think the instant ATSNN upgrade to "Exclusive" and crowding of your U2U inbox with compliments say it all.

Very nicely done.

Hmm...you seem to overlook [or I can't see it in your post] but how much of this is based on the area?

Poor Health, Lack of a National or Private Health Service and lack of ability to be treated along with by the time they're found to have it, it is too late. In Nation's with a faster response time, National Health Service and a higher standerd of Personnel Health care these statistics might drop. It's a bit unfair to take the results from one Nation which is dependent on that Nation and generalise it to the rest of the World.

[To Clear it up: I'm not making a shot at their Health Service, however Vietnam, etc, do not have the greatest system in the World. Along with the standard of living many of these farmers are stuck with - which must have played some importance.]

Excellent post soficrow!!! Thank you for your hard work. It is much appreciated.

Originally posted by soficrow
Maybe someone can post a few "survivalist" links here?

What I have done is gone to these sites and read about what I was interested in and printed a few things out to have on hand.

Comprehensive Survival Site (On-line book)
The Big List
The Old-Timer Page
Wilderness Survival
Survival and Preparedness Information
Survival Skills

And don't forget:

Nrky's PODcast - Survivalism 101

Odium - bird flu is spreading like wildfire around the world right now.

Bird Flu: 29 New Countries in the Last Seven Weeks

Besides that - my research tells me that it's already endemic world wide in various forms.

This pandemic is not about hygeine and personal habits - although the poor will take a real beating because they can't access healthy food, clean water and fresh air.

At the least, this pandemic was caused by making "the right to profit" a priority over individual human and civil rights.

.

I see that there have been FIFTEEN applauses given to Sofi for this article, and the whole world hasn't had time to wake up since this article has been posted here.

Sofi, take a bow, girl; you worked your rear off in making this article and it really really shows!

Make that 16.

Great thread, with way too much information to digest in one sitting. I'll have to come back after a short walk to read some more.



[edit on 27-3-2006 by WyrdeOne]

Soficrow:

Tell me this doesn't make your heart skip a beat: (All from articles in the last two or three weeks...)

Pigs dying of unknown disease

During the last fortnight more than 3,000 domestic pigs and 19 hens have died in the district due to some unknown disease. Even after these deaths, the Veterinary department has not initiated any action. Domestic animals in Bamhori, Simri and Chandi Chopra village have fallen victim to some disease.

And...

Pigs die of mysterious disease in eastern Nepal

Over 2,000 pigs have died of an unidentified disease in some villages of Morang district in eastern Nepal in the past two months, an official said Sunday.

The disease, first seen in Dangihat and Karanari village of Morang district, some 300 km east of Kathmandu, claimed the lives of over 1,000 pigs in Letang village alone, Shambhu Yadav, an official of the District Livestock Services Office (DLSO), said, adding that eight boars and four buffaloes also died of the disease.

"The disease is believed to be air borne but we have not launched any investigation into it," Yadav noted.

Haven't launched and investigation yet!!!!

And...

Mysterious disease kills pigs

After chickens in Maharashtra, it's pigs and peacocks in MP. A mysterious disease has struck the swine population and over 500 pigs have died in the past fortnight in Mhow and Indore city.

There are also reports of pigs dying in districts of Khandwa (bordering Maharashtra) and Guna in northern MP. In fact, peacocks have also been dropping dead in rural areas of Indore over the past week.

I particularly love this line from the same article:

...the state government said there was no need to panic as humans don't get infected by pig diseases...

What??? Are they INSANE???

Tell me the cauldron is not full yet...


[edit on 27-3-2006 by loam]

Originally posted by loam

Tell me this doesn't make your heart skip a beat: (All from articles in the last two weeks...)

Jeez. A mysterious flu-like epidemic in pigs. Wonder what that could be.

Good work loam.

Also, wonder how much more of this is going on around the world?

Damage control keeps people ignorant. Then we all pay.

BTW, did you know that cats are NOT supposed to get flu? But they get H5N1 bird flu. ...and that show dogs (at least) in North America are plagued by a new canine flu?

"The disease is believed to be air borne but we have not launched any investigation into it," Yadav noted.

Haven't launched and investigation yet!!!!

Truthfully, do you really think it's that much better here in the good ol' US of A? Where people can't afford health insurance never mind vet bills?

I particularly love this line from the same article:

...the state government said there was no need to panic as humans don't get infected by pig diseases...

What??? Are they INSANE???

Nahh. They're learning from the best. It's the old "Problem? What problem?" gambit. Kinda like "They have weapons of mass destruction," but reversed.

Type A influenza - such as H5N1 bird flu - used to be unusual because it could cross species barriers without getting new genetic material. Now, it seems like we're overrun with a growing number of diseases with the ability....


[Remember that misfolded a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) protein I keep ranting about? The one that is like a master key that can enter virtually any cell of any living thing on this planet? 'Cuz all lifeforms have actin proteins in every cell? And that bit about how a-SMA and other prions hitchhike on viruses? ...We're talkin mechanism.]

Originally posted by soficrow
[Remember that misfolded a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) protein I keep ranting about? The one that is like a master key that can enter virtually any cell of any living thing on this planet? 'Cuz all lifeforms have actin proteins in every cell? And that bit about how a-SMA and other prions hitchhike on viruses? ...We're talkin mechanism.]

But I don't want to remember that!

*inserts fingers in both ears*

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...... I CAN'T HEAR YOU! ....la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Originally posted by soficrow
Odium - bird flu is spreading like wildfire around the world right now.

And where are the deaths? As your title states "91% Fatality Rate in Humans", it is a bit misleading to post information on where birds have been found with it. The cases in the Western world are tiny. Especailly, since the virus has been around for 9 years now as one of your sources shows us.

The fact still remains, the majority of the deaths are in Nation's with a poor Health infrastructure. Those who do have a fast response time, as well as a much better level of care in general the results will drastically change. It's like comparing the rate by which AIDs goes from being caught to "full onset", in Sub-Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom.

All I can say is "Oh buggerations...."


Great post Sofi

You have voted soficrow for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Great job Sofi in compiling all that, A+ w/wats!
It's the one stop shop for bird flu info!



Ottawa has a new pandemic website:
www.pandemicinfluenza.gc.ca...

Flu spreads to a new region:
Bird flu case reported in Czech Republic for first time

Looks like containment is a lost cause:
Avian culling doesn't stop spread of bird flu



Culling doesn't work, so what's next?

AS BIRD FLU SPREADS, UN HEALTH AGENCY SAYS
PROPERLY COOKED POULTRY POSES NO RISK





•African bird flu 'set to spread'
•Bird flu situation worsening in Russia: chief veterinarian
Trade winds will be shifting soon along with northern migratory birds coming into the US. Blowing dust from Africa with moist tropical air pushing into the southeast US coupled with migratory birds from Alaska and Canada, would mean avian flu could make its appearance in the US this summer.

Anyone else making a timeline prediction?

[edit on 27-3-2006 by Regenmacher]