Thread: Avian Flu: Bush's Call To Be On the Offensive Too Late ?

This one is an interesting read:

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=1320

BIRD FLU INTRODUCED VIA VACCINE?

Thursday, October 13, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com

Little known but much too broad, Project Bioshield is a $5.6 billion program Bush signed into law in July 2004 that would apparently strip U.S. citizens of any recourse in the event that the feds decide on certain health-care remedies. These would presumably include the mandatory application of unproven vaccines to counter real or perceived health threats worldwide.

Recent reports use the term "Bio-Fascism" to characterize initiatives such as Project Bioshield, describing it as "the merging of the military medical establishment with public health bureaucracies, to enforce the will of the ostensible federal regulator (the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)) and Big Pharma. The latter is a descriptive term for the gigantic transnational drug companies who have used their enormous clout to generate government programs that mandate the use of their products for so-called public safety purposes. Too often, as has been seen recently, what is initially perceived as a drug for the public good evolves into a danger because of unforseen side effects. Vaccines are usually rushed into production without prior testing, allowing side effects to manifest themselves only through broad application.

President Bush's recent remarks about mandating vaccinations for avian flu is further evidence of the militarization of public health care and would also seem to reflect a dangerous misunderstanding about disease and palliative methodologies. Medical science, especially in its initial stages, is replete with side effects and even ramifications that can carry over into the next generation. What is perhaps even more worrisome than Bush's plans to militarize public health care is his focus, one might say obsession, on martial law as a curative for almost every weighty issue of his second term.

According to an article recently posted on a major alternative news sight entitled Avian Flu Fright - Politically-Timed For Global 'Iatrogenocide,' Leonard G. Horowitz, DMD, MA, MPH writes that the current hysteria over Avian flu, which Bush seems to share, is actually resulting in its manufacture in military labratories in the United States and abroad. He points out that the Avian Flu, currently causing the slaughter of thousands of wild birds, has shown no propensity to "mutate" and jump to humans - and in fact such a mutation is highly unlikely. Rather, what will happen, he predicts, should the hysteria continue unabated is that the West will respond to public concerns by first creating and then making available a vaccine for which there is as yet no disease; in other words - since a vaccine is a weak form of what it is intended to combat - introduce into the real world the deadly virus that probably would not otherwise make its appearance.

"To make the human vaccine specific for the H5N1 mutant virus," he writes, "you must start with the human virus which does not yet exist, except in perhaps military-biomedical-pharmaceutical laboratories. In fact, this is precisely what is being prepared based on news reports. To produce the human pathogen, the avian virus must be cultured for lengthy periods of time in human cell cultures, then injected into monkeys and ultimately humans to see if these experimental subjects get the same feared flu. Thus, the flu virus the world currently fears most is either: 1) now being prepared in labs paid by industrialists with massive wealth-building incentives to "accidentally release the virus; or 2) has already been prepared in such labs to take advantage of this current fright and future sales following the virus's release. … Remember, to be effective against a virus, a vaccine is said to require specificity. If authorities were to now have the main H5N1 Avian flu strain feared to spread at some future date there's no assurance by the time they developed the vaccine the strain would remain sufficiently the same for the vaccine to be effective anyway due to expected viral mutations. Viral mutations over time is a function of the agent's newness. New man-made viruses, laboratory creations, like the ones currently being prepared for vaccine trials, are less stable not having evolved over the millennia. Thus, the entire vaccine effort is largely, if not entirely, a sham with ulterior motives."

And he adds, "Remember too, that a vaccine's reliability requires years, or at least months, of testing in the targeted population. Vaccine injury data must, or should, be meticulously collected over this period to assure the vaccine is not killing and maiming more persons than it is helping or saving. Can you seriously believe this assurance will be provided by government or pharmaceutical industry officials in this pandemic's wake? FEMA's failed Katrina response pales by comparison to this public health liability and vaccine-injury certainty." -ST
staff reports - Free-Market News Network

http://www.starnewspapers.com/star/spne ... 13-sp1.htm

Hospitals to treat avian flu epidemic same as terrorist attack


Thursday, October 13, 2005

By Patrick Ferrell, The Star

If the avian flu breaks out in the United States, area hospital officials say they will handle the matter much the same as they would a terrorist attack.

"We've all made some type of provisions for how we would handle it. We're correlating it to a weapon of mass destruction type thing," said Bernie Heilicser, an Ingalls Memorial Hospital doctor and medical director of South Cook County Emergency Medical Services.

Heilicser said hospitals have been practicing and preparing for bio-terrorism attacks for many years, so things should run smoothly if the deadly avian flu virus impacts the United States.

Since 2003, a strain of avian â€â€

Originally Posted by greyparrot

I have the stocked pantry, the water, and the gun. The gun I already had and the stocked pantry and water took months to accumulate (since I was laid off, mortgage and basics stretch us VERY thin). No, I am NOT fully prepared but, I expect, better prepared than most.

What really scares me is the timing. Winter is approaching and the cost of utility bills alone are going to bring many, many hard working Americans to their financial knees. They are the first that will be doomed if this thing hits anytime soon. How could anyone struggling to put dinner on the table on a daily basis be expected to pay for a weeks worth of stockpiled supplies, let alone a few months worth?

The devastating pandemics in the past claimed rich and poor alike. Somehow I think the next will be VERY different in terms of who lives, and who dies.

I'm working too on the water and pantry. The gun is on my list but haven't gotten to yet.

What really scares me the most with this possible flu disaster is my nine-year old daughter has Type I diabetes, and not having enough medications and supplies stockpiled. She does have an HMO-type insurance under her father's health plan at work, but the insurance company is very strict and stingy with when and how much medication is dispensed. Without the insurance - and medications/supplies including those for the insulin pump too would still require doctor's written prescriptions - the costs of several types of medications and supplies she needs are extremely expensive - the co-pays alone are expensive in and of themselves. Plus, some supplies like the insulin have expiration dates and need refrigeration. Once we take out of the frig a bottle of insulin and open it, it must be used within 30 days.

Anyone with a chronic, life-threatening illness is much more susceptible to serious reactions to the flu or other viruses. Viruses, fevers, vomiting and the like play havoc with glucose levels and diabetes management and can send a diabetic to the ER within a short period of time.

Then at the ER, we have to deal with very long waits because of all the illegal aliens flooding the waiting rooms and mainly using them as medical clinics because they don't have health insurance (unless, of course, they've already applied for Medicaid and usually get without being asked their legal status).

http://english.aljazeera.net

Bird flu exposes online drugs loophole
by
Tuesday 18 October 2005 3:29 PM GMT


There is already increased demand for Tamiflu

Health watchdogs fear demand for Tamiflu will prompt people worried by bird flu to get the coveted drug over the internet, a practice fraught with risks for the purchaser and the medication itself.


The web is studded with so-called online pharmacies that promise to ship Tamiflu - as well as Viagra, painkillers and a whole range of other powerful drugs - to anywhere in the world, with few and sometimes no questions asked.

Some of these companies are legal and fulfill a useful social role by pushing down prices, especially in the United States where tens of millions of poor people have little or no health insurance.

Yet many operate illegally, using the border-free realm of the internet to make a fast and potentially dangerous buck.

They promise to sell these drugs without first requiring a doctor's prescription or even a cursory assessment of any symptoms; all that's needed is a mailing address and a credit-card number.

The goods are readily dispatched across frontiers, in itself an illegal act in some jurisdictions.

Risk of scams

Health experts and many in the pharmaceutical industry itself are aghast at seeing vital drugs peddled like sweets.

They say people are being exposed to the risk of scams, of bogus medication and of possible side-effects from complex drugs that often should only be taken under a doctor's supervision.

"It is a concern, a real concern, and we are taking it very seriously," said David Reddy, a senior executive at Tamiflu's maker, Roche, who is in charge of the company's strategy for a flu pandemic.

"Tamiflu is a prescription drug. People should go to their physicians, get their prescriptions and get it from a bona-fide pharmacy, because no one can vouch that what they obtain from the internet is in fact the real drug."

Reddy, in a phone interview with AFP, said Roche had heard of
reports of internet sales "of a drug that was purported to be Tamiflu but in fact was not". He declined to give details until the matter had been investigated.

"It is a risk that exists for all drugs, not just Tamiflu," World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Maria Cheng told AFP.

"It's a very clear loophole ... it's obviously something that needs to be regulated."

Vigorous campaign

The American Medical Association (AMA) and its British counterpart are campaigning vigorously about online drug sales.

"Consumers who turn to illegal internet pharmacies to fill prescriptions run the risk of exposure to drugs that may be counterfeit, altered or contaminated," says the AMA.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has taken an even tougher line, warning the public not to buy drugs anywhere online.

"One of the reasons is of course that the patient does not have the benefit of a full medical consultation and nor does the supplier have certainty that the information supplied by the buyer is correct," the BMA said.

Governments around the world are building up stockpiles of Tamiflu in fear that the H5N1 avian influenza virus, currently restricted to poultry and wild birds and to humans in close proximity, may eventually mutate into a global killer.

No one knows how many prescription drugs are sold online or how many companies or individuals have been punished for illegal sales.

Web pharmacies rarely show an address or even a telephone number.

"There's no way of monitoring purchases over the internet," a spokesman for Britain's Department of Health said. "There's no way you could come up with even a guess."

Booming business

The anecdotal evidence is that the business is booming in the US - a figure of 1% of the total market for prescription drugs is aired by people in the industry.

Interest in Europe appears to be far smaller, explicable because of universal health coverage and the far lower cost of medications there.

Despite this, and repeated pledges by European governments that no one will go short of Tamiflu if the pandemic erupts, there seems to be a clear eagerness for buying Tamiflu online in Europe.

Several online pharmacies pitching to clients in France said on Tuesday that they could not cope with transactions because of their payment system was overloaded.

Governments are aware of the problem of online abuse but turn a blind eye to it, especially if it involves a cross-border case where prosecution is costly and may be impossible, said a source in the French pharmaceutical industry.

I know this is different then the bird flu but it appears it has done what they worry might happen with the bird flu in the future. It has jumped from one species to another and can be transmitted to other dogs.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/stor ... 4511c.html

Researchers seek help battling dog flu
By Edie Lau -- Bee Science Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 24, 2005
California veterinary specialists are hustling to get a handle on a new form of flu that infects dogs, identified only a few weeks ago and which since has been found in pets from coast to coast.
A pair of researchers at the University of California, Davis, put out a call Friday for help from the state's veterinarians in developing a diagnostic test for the bug, the first influenza strain known to afflict dogs.

Up to now, vets who have found suspected cases of canine influenza have been sending samples to the scientists who identified the virus, at the University of Florida and Cornell University in New York.

"I'm hearing that diagnostics are taking quite awhile, because they're backed up," said Laurel Gershwin, an immunologist in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "We decided, you know what, we just need to try to get our own."

Tests performed at Cornell show the virus has infected dogs in 13 states and Washington, D.C. While most of the animals have been in Eastern states, cases have occurred in California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona, as well.

Like people, dogs with the flu develop runny noses, sneezes, coughs and fever. And, as with the human flu, the illness can be mild, moderate, severe and even lethal. The mortality rate so far has been low, about 5 percent to 8 percent.

Dog flu first broke out in racing greyhounds in Florida in January 2004. But because no flu strain was known to infect dogs, veterinarians did not know what was sickening and, in some cases, killing the greyhounds.

It wasn't until late September of this year that a team of researchers from Florida, Cornell and elsewhere published research showing dogs are susceptible to a form of influenza almost identical to that of a horse flu strain known as H3N8.

Ruben Donis, a flu geneticist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who collaborated on the research, said this is the first known instance in 100 years of research that a flu strain has became established in a completely new species.

The timing is notable. The species jump happened just as the world is jittery over an avian flu strain known as H5N1 that originated in Asia and recently spread to Europe. Although that flu largely affects birds, 118 people have been sickened since December 2003, according to a World Health Organization count. Of those, 61 died.

Donis said the emergence of canine influenza and a lethal strain of avian influenza in people at the same time likely is a coincidence. "I think it's just the probability game," he said.

Most of the people who have contracted bird flu have been in close contact with sick chickens and other poultry. As a bug that passes to people only from birds, it would not fan an epidemic because for the most part, people can avoid contact with sick birds.

What health officials fear is that the virus may evolve to spread from person to person, potentially causing a global epidemic, because it would be a new strain in humans to which they have not developed immunity.

The emergence of canine influenza likewise has raised fears about the potential of a new flu bug for people coming from dogs.

And while folks in Western countries tend not to live in close proximity to chickens and other domestic fowl, Westerners certainly live closely with their dogs. As Donis offered: "A friend of mine has a St. Bernard, and I swear, this guy slobbers half a gallon a day all over the place."

To date, however, there is no evidence that people can catch the dog flu.

Eric Weigand, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association, said that flu or no flu, it's not a good idea to kiss your dog.

"I always worry about people who allow their dogs to kiss them on the face, for a lot of reasons," said Weigand, a veterinarian in Claremont. "It's not just influenza. There's potential for parasites to be transmitted and so on."

"It's fine to love your dogs and hug them, but make sure they're not licking your eyes and your nose and your mouth. And wash your hands," he said.

As for protecting pets, Weigand and other veterinarians advised keeping dogs home if they seem ill, and keeping them away from dogs that appear ill.

The prevalence of dog flu is unclear. Cornell University had logged 176 cases as of Thursday. But that's probably just a fraction of all cases.

For example, California is listed with 15 cases, but Bill Grant, a veterinarian in Orange County, said he treated an outbreak of flu among 60 dogs in a single kennel in late August and early September.

At first, Grant said, he didn't know why the dogs were sick. It wasn't until the sickness had mostly passed that he learned about canine influenza.

"I read an article about it and felt that was exactly what we had seen," he said.

Grant said he sent diagnostic samples to Florida and received results that confirmed his hunch.

Grant said the flu struck indiscriminately, infecting everything from a miniature dachshund to a large Labrador, and dogs ranging in age from 8 months to 10 years. Some were only mildly ill; 15 to 20 had to be hospitalized.

The really sick ones coughed terribly. "Some dogs required sedation just so we could get them to stop coughing," Grant said.

In the end, all recovered, Grant said.

At UC Davis, veterinarian Gershwin said she and her colleague, Christian Leutenegger, are seeking blood samples and nasal swabs from dogs that have been sick and from those currently infected in order to isolate the virus and viral antibodies.

Once they develop diagnostic tests, the university will offer regular testing, with the goal of returning results to the state's veterinarians more quickly.

UC Davis veterinarians who have been tracking the disease say they know of no cases in Northern California.

Pet owners certainly are aware of it, though. Larry Harris, general manager of VCA Greenback Pet Resort in Fair Oaks, said he's getting calls daily from clients asking about dog flu.

Yes, he tells them, he's heard of it. Yes, he's concerned. But no, there's nothing he can do.

Harris said he goes through 30 to 35 cases of bleach each month to keep the kennel clean and disinfected. But he figures the bug still could strike.

"It's just like taking your kids to school," Harris said. "You can't stop the flu from going around."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Help for veterinarians
• Veterinarians who see suspected cases of canine influenza are being asked to send blood samples and nasal swabs from their dog patients to UC Davis researchers, who are trying to develop a diagnostic test.
• To request the materials needed to send samples, call (530) 752-7373 during business hours.

• For veterinarians only, more information is available by calling (530) 752-6643.


About the writer:

www.10news.com


Deadly Bird Flu Reaches Britain

POSTED: 12:00 pm PDT October 23, 2005

LONDON -- It's the type of news British health officials don't want to hear.

It turns out that the bird flu that killed a parrot in quarantine is the same deadly type of the disease that has plagued Asia.

The strain -- known as H5N1 -- has recently spread to Europe and to Turkey.

Health officials in London said they've determined that the parrot died of the type of avian flu that has devastated poultry stocks in Asia over the past couple of years, and killed 61 people.

It's spread by migrating wild birds, and is transmitted easily between birds. It's hard for humans to contract it. But experts are afraid it could mutate into a form of flu that would be easy for humans to catch.

Looks like I'm a dead man because I hate sauerkraut!


www.10news.com

Sauerkraut Bites Into Health Food Market
Cabbage Product Promoted As Bird Flu Medication

POSTED: 10:40 am PST November 4, 2005

Sauerkraut, anyone?

There's a lot of health buzz about the food many folks associate with brats, hot dogs and Reuben sandwiches.

Sauerkraut is made from cabbage. It falls under the cruciferous vegetable category, which also includes cauliflower and brussel sprouts. Health and nutrition experts have always said such veggies are good for you.

According to a BBC report, scientists in Seoul claim some chickens started to recover from avian flu, when fed an extract of kimchi, a Korean dish somewhat similar to sauerkraut.

And a recent study by University of New Mexico researchers indicated that sauerkraut may reduce the risk of breast cancer by up to 74 percent.

Ryan Downs, the co-owner of Great Lakes Kraut in Wisconsin, said recognition of sauerkraut's benefits is long overdue. Downs said such health reports are creating a great demand.

"Other studies have shown that sauerkraut fights all forms of massy tumor cancer, including cancer of the lung, colon, prostate, breast and liver," Downs said in a news release. "It's also been shown to manage digestive problems like irritable bowel syndrome and may work to prevent heart disease."

Men's Health magazine is helping feed the growing craze, with an article listing cans of sauerkraut as among essential supplies for surviving a flu pandemic.

And Downs said sauerkraut use is going beyond hot dogs.

"People are now trying sauerkraut in a lot of different ways -- they no longer see it simply as a hot dog topping," Downs said. "People have sent us sauerkraut recipes for everything from sushi to salads."

www.10news.com

Deadly Strain Of Bird Flu Confirmed In Kuwait
China Reports 2 More Outbreaks

POSTED: 8:00 am PST November 11, 2005

KUWAIT CITY -- The deadly strain of bird flu that has devastated poultry and killed more than 60 people in Asia has moved to Kuwait. It's the first known outbreak of the virus in the Gulf region.

An agricultural official told The Associated Press a migrating flamingo found on a Kuwait beach had the lethal and virulent H5N1 strain. A second bird quarantined at the airport had a milder strain.

Bird flu has ravaged poultry flocks throughout Asia and jumped to humans, sickening more than 100 and killing 64. That's raised fears that it could mutate into a form easily passed from human to human and cause a global pandemic.

The Middle East region has been at risk because it sits on important migratory routes for birds.

Kuwaiti officials said the are no indications of any bird flu symptoms among humans or local poultry and eggs.

China Reports 8th Bird Flu Outbreak

China has reported two more outbreaks of bird flu.

Officials said one of the outbreaks hit a northeast province, where bird flu has already cropped up several other times this month. Officials worry that counterfeit flu vaccines sold there may be exacerbating the situation.

Official state media said the Agriculture Ministry confirmed that the other outbreak hit a central region that had been clear of the disease in this round of infections.

Officials said millions of birds have been culled across the country.

The latest outbreaks reported raise the total to eight in China. No human cases have been reported in the nation.

Hi friends
Before three months i also have got the bird flu infection, and I took proper treatment of it. I had got lot information about it that time, because of my patience i was feeling ok that time because my friend told me the proper drug name related to bird flu that drug was very good, the name of the drug is tamiflu drug for more inquiry see [mod edit removed spam link] here you will be able to find more information
, I wish you will continue your efforts.

Originally Posted by dicosta

Hi friends
Before three months i also have got the bird flu infection, and I took proper treatment of it. I had got lot information about it that time, because of my patience i was feeling ok that time because my friend told me the proper drug name related to bird flu that drug was very good, the name of the drug is tamiflu drug for more inquiry see [mod edit removed spam link] here you will be able to find more information
, I wish you will continue your efforts.

Nice knowing you spammer.