Swine Flu:A new pandemic?

[christo-f]

Mexico making friends with the Chinese. Beijing loves it when people put shit on China....

 

 

Swine flu originated in Eurasia - Mexican ambassador to Beijing

 

30.04.2009, 10.54

 

 

 

 

MOSCOW, April 30 (Itar-Tass) - The media statement of the Mexican ambassador to Beijing to the effect that the deadly swine influenza virus originated not in Mexico, but in Eurasia, has passed practically unnoticed. At a meeting with Chinese journalists Jorge Guajardo referred to studies made by Mexican scientists.

 

“Somebody in Eurasia was the first to catch the swine flu infection and bring it to Mexico thus causing its outbreak,” said the ambassador.

 

Back on May 10, 2007, Itar-Tass correspondent in Beijing Ivan Kargapoltsev made the following report to the agency’s newswire: “Chinese epidemiologists have identified a mysterious disease a recent outbreak of which in the south of the country caused mass pigs’ mortality. It was the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome also known as blue-ear disease. The diseased animals lose appetite and run a temperature.”

 

This disease for the first time spread in the Chinese territory back in the middle of the 1990s. It can have a latent form and also pass in combination with other infections. The provincial health service reported that the vaccine to fight the disease had been developed and would soon be applied. Information about the outbreak of an unknown disease in the area of the Yunfu city in southern Chinese province Guangdong appeared on May 7. It was reported that at least 1,300 pigs got infected and more than 300 of them died. All the diseased animals were bred at private farms and their meat was not exported abroad.

 

Meanwhile, the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper reported on its website that Guajardo said that Mexico was being prepared for controlling the epidemic situation and avoiding more infections of swine flu at a press conference in the Mexican embassy in Beijing (Apr 27.)

 

The ambassador mentioned that since the first case broke out on April 13 of this year, Mexico Government reacted very quickly to set a nationwide alarm of epidemic prevention, confirm the new virus strain and apply relative necessary measures. And during the process, Mexican Government was trying their best to keep the transparent of information and the influence of communication with WHO, US and other countries, the report says.

 

The most important, the ambassador said, is that Mexico has enough effective vaccines to control and cure the swine flu. He also said that the Mexican government introduces the domestic situation and knowledge of prevention swine flu through kinds of measures. Not only the Health Ministry held press conferences, but also President Felipe Calderon himself made speech on TV. So, there is no panic caused in the Mexican people. At last, he said that Mexico was being prepared for the swine flu and confident to change the situation, the newspaper reported.

 

According to a UN press release of Wednesday, seeing the swine flu virus spread within a raft of countries, the United Nations health agency raised the international alert to Phase 5 on a six-point scale, signalling an imminent pandemic and urging all countries to intensify preparations.

 

“This change to a higher alert is a signal to Governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical and the business communities, that certain actions now should be undertaken with extreme urgency,” Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in announcing the move during a teleconference with the world press.

 

“All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic surveillance plans,” she said, calling on all to remain on high alert for clusters of influenza-like illness and pneumonia. Early detection and treatment of cases, and infection controls in all health facilities were also critical, she stated.

[lord_casek]

christo: that's what i was talking about. a new study by the cdc says that the bird/swine flu has a european flu gene in it.

[swordfish meatloaf]

WHY COULDNT IT JUST WIPE OUT ALL THE ELDERLY AND CALL IT QUITS?

 

ON ANOTHER NOTE THAT DR. PEPPER CHERRY LOOKS GOOD UP THERE.

[2342]

Thirty-Six Thousand People Do Not Die Each Year from "Regular Flu" (Confirmed)by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

 

(NaturalNews) Read just about any news report on swine flu deaths, and you'll come across a line that claims "36,000 people die each year from flu-related causes." It sounds authoritative. It's even a nice, round number. But where is this number coming from? And is it based on any actual science?

 

This statistic is being paraded around by almost everybody, as if to say that swine flu isn't so bad because regular flu kills so many people each year anyway. The truth is that the only standard by which the CDC and WHO are quoting deaths from swine flu is if they are confirmed deaths from a particular viral strain. To them, if a death has not been confirmed in their labs, it does not count as a death from that flu.

 

Got that? Only "confirmed" deaths count. And they must be confirmed in a laboratory using a rigorous method of comparing samples taken from the deceased with a known database of viral patterns.

 

As it turns out, virtually none of the 36,000 people said to die from regular flu each year have been confirmed in any lab whatsoever.

 

Thus, according to the guidelines of the CDC and WHO, they don't count. Based on their own rules, it is technically accurate to say that regular flu kills virtually no one. It's not true, of course, because people do die from the "regular flu" each year, but it is technically accurate according to the CDC and WHO rules for scientific evidence.

 

Again, that's because nearly all of these "regular flu" deaths aren't confirmed by a CDC or WHO-recognized lab. Thus, they have no scientific standing.

 

 

Infectious disease double standard

I find it interesting that when talking about swine flu, the criteria for inclusion in statistics is positive identification in a rigorous laboratory. But when talking about regular flu, the criteria for inclusion is -- technically speaking -- anybody's wild guess.

 

The 36,000 number, it turns out, was pulled out of thin air. It has no scientific validity whatsoever, even according to the CDC's own standards.

 

I tracked down the origins of this number on CDC.gov, by the way. Turns out it was an estimate derived by the CDC in 2003 (http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pres...).

 

It's an estimate, mind you, not a "confirmed" number of deaths. And that estimate has stayed exactly the same through 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Not a budge. Before the number was 36,000, it was 20,000 for many years. That tells you right off the bat this isn't some confirmed laboratory number -- it's a guesstimate!

 

I'm not disagreeing with the number. It's probably a fairly accurate guess (the CDC folks are a smart bunch). But it doesn't meet the criteria by which these infectious disease organizations report influenza deaths.

 

As the CDC even says on their own website, "This estimate came from a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), which looked at the 1990-91 through the 1998-99 flu seasons [10]. Statistical modeling was used to estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or circulatory disease. During these years, the number of estimated deaths ranged from 17,000 to 52,000."

 

In other words, they took a look at how many people died from respiratory or circulatory disease, and from that they extrapolated "flu-related deaths."

 

This is all accomplished through "statistical modeling," which is the equivalent of statisticians waving magic wands to create new numbers where none exist. Based on the sample size, it can be quite accurate (plus or minus a few percentage points), or it can be way off base depending on the accuracy of the statistical sample.

 

Notably, if the same methodology were used to calculate swine flu deaths, it might currently show 300 or more deaths (and such methodologies would be widely criticized, of course, for being "just wild guesses," which they are).

 

As the CDC admits itself, "CDC does not know exactly how many people die from flu each year."

 

And... "It has been recognized for many years that influenza is infrequently listed on death certificates [12] and testing for influenza infections usually not done, particularly among the elderly who are at greatest risk of influenza complications and death. Some deaths – particularly in the elderly – are associated with secondary complications of influenza (including bacterial pneumonias)." (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/diseas...)

 

In other words: Influenza isn't listed on death certificates and influenza testing isn't even done on most patients! Thus, it is not possible for these 36,000 influenza deaths to be confirmed at all.

 

 

Swine flu may escape detection, too

What else is interesting in all this is when the CDC explains that viral strains aren't even detectable in patients after the first few days of infection:

 

"Influenza virus infection may not be identified in many instances because influenza virus is only detectable for a short period of time and many people don't seek medical care until after the first few days of acute illness." - The CDC

 

If this is true, then isn't it also true that most swine flu patients can NEVER be confirmed in a lab?

 

I find this quite curious, because according to what the CDC is saying here, it is impossible to ever get an accurate "confirmed" count of swine flu patients because the influenza virus isn't detectable after a "short period of time." Thus, by limiting swine flu death reports to only those patients who have been confirmed in a laboratory, the CDC is essentially eliminating the very possibility that many swine flu patients will ever be tested and identified as carrying the strain.

 

Put another way, the criteria for identifying and reporting swine flu deaths is, itself, limiting the number of swine flu deaths that will ever be counted. Essentially, the system is rigged to under-report swine flu deaths by eliminating anyone who wasn't tested in time to identify the strain.

 

This, I believe, is why the swine flu death count remains magically low even as doctors on the ground in Mexico City are reporting much larger numbers of real-world swine flu deaths.

 

 

Different strains

The other important thing to realize here is that the 36,000 figure is not talking about just one strain of influenza: It's a cumulative figure from ALL the other strains of influenza combined!

 

"Regular flu," you see, isn't just one flu. It's a collection of potentially hundreds of different flu strains. So assigning the 36,000 deaths a year figure to "regular flu" is misleading because it makes it sound like a single strain of influenza.

 

The truth is that nobody really knows how many deaths each year occur from the different strains of flu circulating in the wild. Some top-notch CDC officials can probably take a pretty good guess at it, but it's still just that: A guess. The real numbers are, frankly, unknown.

 

It's also unknown how many people die from the viral load vs. how many die from secondary infections (such as bacterial pneumonia) that often follow viral infections. Technically, a lot of those 36,000 people (or so) might have been killed by various strains of common bacteria, not by the viruses.

 

Yesterday morning, Mexico was reporting 159 deaths from swine flu. According to the WHO, that number is not only 7. How does 159 magically become 7? By including the word "confirmed" in front of it.

 

Fine. Let's all go with the "confirmed" modifier. All infectious disease deaths must now be confirmed in a CDC or WHO laboratory in order to count. So that means the 36,000 number needs to be revised down to however many have been "confirmed" in that group.

 

And how many is that? Only the CDC knows. I'm guessing it's a two-digit number.

 

So much for the myth of "36,000 flu-related deaths a year." If you believe that number, I'm sure there's a job waiting for you at the U.S. Treasury Dept., too, where numbers are materialized out of thin air on a daily basis in order to finance the national debt.

[lord_casek]

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,3606923.story

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

Fairly wild and accusatory claims based on pure speculation is something that elected officials (and people on internet forums!) should steer clear of no matter what the issue, that's the basic premise.

 

Second, there is an election coming up in Indonesia where coalitions must be formed to take power. There are a number of small religious parties that are a little anti-US and this was a comment made to gain their support., nothing more.

 

So, what are the officials meant to do, talk the issue down and risk society being unprepared? They either get accused of risking riots or withholding crucial information....

 

Talking something down? Like what pretending we're on The View and just discussing the situation without taking action?

 

I don't remember making any comments of the sort. Clearly steps needs to be made to stop the spreading of this strain of the flu and find a cure. Those are the only two things that matter at the present time.

 

However if this disease WAS man made, which I 100% believe at this point it was. Than their should already be some sort of anti-toxin that should be available for world wide distribution. If I was a leader of a developing nation, that struggles with health care as it is. I would like to get to the bottom of said possibility and find out how to take care of my people.

 

Fuck the politics. I can't lead a nation if there are no people in it.

 

I also would like to make it clear that I am not bugging out over this yet. So any sort of tin foil hat talk should go out the window. In fact, until I hear of someone I know catching Swine flu (which of course I don't want to happen) then I'm not bugging out about it.

 

Something funny I heard while I was at work passing by a TV that happened to be on the local news station. They were making claims as to Queens(NYC) being the epicenter of the outbreak, because the most known cases are there(don't know how true any of this is, I'm just repeating what I heard). Than some agency in NYC replied(imo to keep people calm) that the reason that it seems that, is the case is because we have a more modernized system capable of handling a situation like this better than everywhere else in the world, and we are just quicker at diagnosing people than everywhere else on the globe.

 

L O FUCKING L.

 

Still I hope that everyone stays healthy, and safe.

[acer910]

i think my little brother has this shit.

 

but in all honesty im not too worried about this. the regular flu has killed 36k people(not sure exactly) and jon stweart did a pretty good job of making this sound like no biggie.

[LadyNapua]

also, a-h1n1 contains some shit that doesn't exactly make a whole lot of sense.

bug genes, a strain of euro flu, human genes, pig genes....

 

btw: these docs, as i stated, saying that this probably came from a lab are very highly respected. only the foolish would laugh.

 

engineering bioweapons isn't new.

 

 

 

I agree. This shit just doesn't add up.

[russell jones]

To be perfectly honest I am quite worried about this, it's probably just because i'm in China at the moment and will be travelling around the world for the next year and thus will be far more exposed to this kind of shit than usual. I always said bird flu was a crock of shit but I don't have that same confidence about this.

 

 

I have to agree yum, considering the history of flu pandemics, it's hard not to be concerned.

 

Have fun traveling! Keep us posted about what your doing.

[russell jones]

Mexico making friends with the Chinese. Beijing loves it when people put shit on China....

 

 

Swine flu originated in Eurasia - Mexican ambassador to Beijing

 

30.04.2009, 10.54

 

 

 

 

MOSCOW, April 30 (Itar-Tass) - The media statement of the Mexican ambassador to Beijing to the effect that the deadly swine influenza virus originated not in Mexico, but in Eurasia, has passed practically unnoticed. At a meeting with Chinese journalists Jorge Guajardo referred to studies made by Mexican scientists.

 

“Somebody in Eurasia was the first to catch the swine flu infection and bring it to Mexico thus causing its outbreak,” said the ambassador.

 

Back on May 10, 2007, Itar-Tass correspondent in Beijing Ivan Kargapoltsev made the following report to the agency’s newswire: “Chinese epidemiologists have identified a mysterious disease a recent outbreak of which in the south of the country caused mass pigs’ mortality. It was the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome also known as blue-ear disease. The diseased animals lose appetite and run a temperature.”

 

This disease for the first time spread in the Chinese territory back in the middle of the 1990s. It can have a latent form and also pass in combination with other infections. The provincial health service reported that the vaccine to fight the disease had been developed and would soon be applied. Information about the outbreak of an unknown disease in the area of the Yunfu city in southern Chinese province Guangdong appeared on May 7. It was reported that at least 1,300 pigs got infected and more than 300 of them died. All the diseased animals were bred at private farms and their meat was not exported abroad.

 

Meanwhile, the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper reported on its website that Guajardo said that Mexico was being prepared for controlling the epidemic situation and avoiding more infections of swine flu at a press conference in the Mexican embassy in Beijing (Apr 27.)

 

The ambassador mentioned that since the first case broke out on April 13 of this year, Mexico Government reacted very quickly to set a nationwide alarm of epidemic prevention, confirm the new virus strain and apply relative necessary measures. And during the process, Mexican Government was trying their best to keep the transparent of information and the influence of communication with WHO, US and other countries, the report says.

 

The most important, the ambassador said, is that Mexico has enough effective vaccines to control and cure the swine flu. He also said that the Mexican government introduces the domestic situation and knowledge of prevention swine flu through kinds of measures. Not only the Health Ministry held press conferences, but also President Felipe Calderon himself made speech on TV. So, there is no panic caused in the Mexican people. At last, he said that Mexico was being prepared for the swine flu and confident to change the situation, the newspaper reported.

 

According to a UN press release of Wednesday, seeing the swine flu virus spread within a raft of countries, the United Nations health agency raised the international alert to Phase 5 on a six-point scale, signalling an imminent pandemic and urging all countries to intensify preparations.

 

“This change to a higher alert is a signal to Governments, to ministries of health and other ministries, to the pharmaceutical and the business communities, that certain actions now should be undertaken with extreme urgency,” Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said in announcing the move during a teleconference with the world press.

 

“All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic surveillance plans,” she said, calling on all to remain on high alert for clusters of influenza-like illness and pneumonia. Early detection and treatment of cases, and infection controls in all health facilities were also critical, she stated.

 

 

Thanks for injecting this thread with some much needed reality Christo. Could we blame at least one thing on nature instead of our puppet masters?

[christo-f]

However if this disease WAS man made, which I 100% believe at this point it was.

 

Being that I doubt you are an expert on communicable diseases or that you have access to definitive information that we do not, I can only assume that you feel this way because you want to and it is your habit to do so.

 

It's a flu dude, they happen.

[lord_casek]

"...For the year, we forecast sales of Tamiflu to reach ¥53.0

billion, up 531.0%, due to expected resumption of government

stockpiling in FY2009 and the ongoing recovery

of the prescription rate for seasonal influenza..."

http://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/pdf/annual_report/2009/eAR2009_12_04.pdf

 

 

 

[lord_casek]

The internal genes were of swine, human, and avian influenza virus origin, similar to those of contemporary U.S. cluster III H3N2 SIVs. The recovery of H3N1 is further evidence of reassortment among SIVs and justifies continuous surveillance.

"

 

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-127713245.html

 

Serologic evidence of human and swine influenza in Mayan persons.(Dispatches)

January 1, 2005

Antibodies against influenza viruses were detected in 115 serum samples from indigenous Mayan persons from Kochol, Yucatan. Seropositivity rates were 26.9% to A/Bayern/7/95, 40.8% to A/Sydney/5/97, 1.7% to A/Swine/ Wisconsin/238/97, and 79.1% to A/Swine/Minnesota/ 593/99.

 

This report is the first in Mexico of the prevalence of antibodies to swine influenza virus in humans.

 

 

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1472084

 

Isolation and Genetic Characterization of New Reassortant H3N1 Swine Influenza Virus from Pigs in the Midwestern United States

Received July 26, 2005

 

Abstract

 

Since the introduction of H3N2 swine influenza viruses (SIVs) into U.S. swine in 1998, H1N2 and H1N1 reassortant viruses have emerged from reassortment between classical H1N1 and H3N2 viruses.

 

In 2004, a new reassortant H3N1 virus (A/Swine/Minnesota/00395/2004) was identified from coughing pigs. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a hemagglutinin segment similar to those of contemporary cluster III H3N2 SIVs and a neuraminidase sequence of contemporary H1N1 origin.

 

The internal genes were of swine, human, and avian influenza virus origin, similar to those of contemporary U.S. cluster III H3N2 SIVs.

 

The recovery of H3N1 is further evidence of reassortment among SIVs and justifies continuous surveillance.

....

In October 2004, a 1,000-head swine farm in Minnesota experienced a severe respiratory disease outbreak in 14-week-old pigs, which was characterized by coughing and increased mortality. The morbidity was approximately 80%, and the accumulated mortality reached 5% during the episode. Normal death loss in the index farm was less than 1% prior to the outbreak. Tissues from two dead pigs were submitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota for respiratory-disease diagnostic tests.

...

 

This suggests that A/Swine/Minnesota/00395/2004 H3N1 influenza virus is a reassortant containing genes from triple-reassortant H3N2 and contemporary H1N1 SIVs.

The clinical implications of this reassortant remain to be determined.

..

 

The recovery of an H3N1 subtype is further evidence of reassortment and antigenic shift in SIVs, justifying ongoing surveillance of animal populations for influenza A viruses that could represent a direct health threat, not only to swine populations, but also to humans. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of molecular technologies for such monitoring.

 

 

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-127713245.html

 

Serologic evidence of human and swine influenza in Mayan persons.(Dispatches)

January 1, 2005

Antibodies against influenza viruses were detected in 115 serum samples from indigenous Mayan persons from Kochol, Yucatan. Seropositivity rates were 26.9% to A/Bayern/7/95, 40.8% to A/Sydney/5/97, 1.7% to A/Swine/ Wisconsin/238/97, and 79.1% to A/Swine/Minnesota/ 593/99.

 

This report is the first in Mexico of the prevalence of antibodies to swine influenza virus in humans.

**********

Influenza virus type A has the capacity to infect humans, birds, swine, and other animals. Studies have repeatedly shown that influenza virus can move from 1 species to another

 

http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/influenza/Kistner.pdf

 

WHO Meeting on Development and Evaluation of Influenza Pandemic Vaccines, Geneva, November 2 – 3, 2005

 

Baxter‘s Serum Protein Free Vero Cell Technology

 

Titers of Different Influenza A Virus Strains of Human or

Animal Origin in Serum Protein Free Vero Cell Cultures:

 

Human A/PR/8/34 256

H1N1 Human A/USSR/90/77 256

Swine A/Swine/1976/31 256

Duck A/Duck/Bavaria/2/77 256

H2N2 Human A/Singapore/1/57 128

Human A/Hong Kong/1/68 128

H3N2 Swine A/Swine/Hong Kong/3/76 128

Swine A/Swine/Hong Kong/127/82 256

Duck A/Duck/Hong Kong/24/75 256

H5N3 Duck A/Duck/Singapore/3/97 256

H7N1 Fowl A/FPV/Rostock/34 256

H9N2 Fowl A/Quail/Hongkong/G1/97 128

Human A/Hongkong/1073/99 256

H5N1 Human A/Hong Kong/213/2003 256

A/Viet Nam/1203/2004 1024

A/Viet Nam/1194/2004 1024

A/SP83/2004 (Thailand) 512

 

Which says they can put these all together and hope for recombinations....

 

http://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v8n2/v8n2p79.pdf Diagnosis of swine influenza

 

keep finding more... Swine vaccines for farms.... Humm...

 

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1899867

2007 July;

 

Efficacy of swine influenza A virus vaccines against an H3N2 virus variant

Jee Hoon Lee, Marie René Gramer, and Han Soo Joo

Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

 

We compared the efficacy of 3 commercial vaccines against swine influenza A virus (SIV) and an experimental homologous vaccine in young pigs that were subsequently challenged with a variant H3N2 SIV, A/Swine/Colorado/00294/2004, selected from a repository of serologically and genetically characterized H3N2 SIV isolates obtained from recent cases of swine respiratory disease. The experimental vaccine was prepared from the challenge virus...

 

In the United States, H3N2 SIV isolates have been triple-reassortant viruses containing genes of human, swine, and avian lineages.

...

Reports from veterinary diagnostic laboratories also show an increasing number of H3N2 isolates with low serologic cross-reactivity to reference virus A/Swine/Texas/4199-2/98 antiserum. As well, there have been anecdotal reports from US swine operations of apparent vaccination failure with current commercially available bivalent SIV vaccines. Therefore, we investigated whether 3 commercially available bivalent vaccines provide satisfactory protection against an H3N2 variant of SIV.

...

Vaccination against SIV is now a routine method of respiratory disease control in swine farms because SIV has become 1 of the common causes of respiratory disease in pigs. The vaccines used are mostly bivalent, containing both H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes. Several cross-protection studies with various SIV vaccines in Europe and the United States have shown the vaccines to be effective under experimental conditions (15–20).

 

However, there have been debates on the efficacy of commercial SIV vaccines (7,15), since SIV isolates with antigenic and genetic diversity have been recovered from diseased pigs, and insufficient protection by the vaccines used on swine farms has been reported.

 

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12639

 

Vaccination of Pigs against Swine Influenza Viruses by Using an NS1-Truncated Modified Live-Virus Vaccine

 

Journal of Virology, November 2006, p. 11009-11018, Vol. 80, No. 22

0022-538X/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.00787-06

 

Received 18 April 2006/ Accepted 22 August 2006

 

Swine influenza viruses (SIV) naturally infect pigs and can be transmitted to humans. In the pig, genetic reassortment to create novel influenza subtypes by mixing avian, human, and swine influenza viruses is possible.

 

An SIV vaccine inducing cross-protective immunity between different subtypes and strains circulating in pigs is highly desirable.

 

Here are the details on targets for commercial product sold by Schering Plough (although they don't give the exact composition of their vaccine)

 

http://www.xl3.info/

MAXIVAC EXCELL® 3

Like all of our swine products, MAXIVAC EXCELL® 3 is supported by a highly trained, experienced team of sales and technical service professionals who can assist with your vaccine decision-making.

 

http://www.intervet.com/

 

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is a global leader in the research, development, manufacturing and sale of veterinary medicines. We offer one of the industry's broadest, most innovative portfolios, spanning products for the prevention, treatment and control of disease in all major farm and companion animal species.

 

http://www.xl3.info/pdf/interview3.htm

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/9887193

 

TITLE Genetic characterization of H3N2 influenza viruses isolated from pigs in North America, 1977-1999: evidence for wholly human and

reassortant virus genotypes

JOURNAL Virus Res. 68 (1), 71-85 (2000)

 

Just so people uunderstand the danger of "reassortment" and "Antigenic shift"

 

http://www.avian-influenza.com/Disease/intro/genetic_reassortment_through_antigenic_shift.asp

 

Genetic Re-assortment of Influenza A Viruses - 2008 Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health

 

Immunity against Influenza viruses

 

A host is infected with a particular influenza virus strain.

Antibodies are formed against that strain.

The antibodies formed protect the host against re-infection by the same virus strain.

The Emergence of “New Viruses” through Antigenic Shift and Drift

 

On the influenza virus, the surface proteins haemagglutinin and neuraminidase are important in inducing the formation of antibodies.

 

Changes in the surface proteins result in antigenic changes in the virus. The immune system no longer recognizes the virus strain and the host is susceptible to re-infection.

 

Influenza viruses can change in two different ways.

 

Antigenic drift

Gradual changes in an already circulating virus

Eventually the virus changes enough so that most of the population is susceptible to re-infection. There is then an influenza epidemic.

Size and severity of the epidemic is dependent on the degree to which the virus is different from those already experienced by the population.

Influenza viruses are constantly changing by antigenic drift

Type A and Type B influenza viruses undergo changes by antigenic drift.

The WHO Global Influenza Programme monitors antigenic changes and the adjustments required in influenza vaccines

 

 

Antigenic shift

The sudden emergence of new antigenically different influenza A sub-type.

The host population has no immunity against the new sub-type and an influenza pandemic follows.

Antigenic shift only occurs occasionally

Only Type A Influenza viruses change by antigenic shift

Antigenic shift is of public health concern as subtypes from different species may then be able to infect humans.

Mechanisms of Antigenic shift

 

Antigenic shift in man probably occurs through one of these mechanisms:

 

Direct transfer of a virus from another species.

 

Genetic re-assortment of avian and human influenza viruses infecting the same host.

 

Believed to take place in pigs. See swine influenza.

 

New evidence indicates that it may also take place in humans.

The new virus that emerges may be an avian virus containing enough human influenza genes to allow human to human transmission.

 

Re-emergence of a virus that may have caused an epidemic years earlier.

For more information see:

The Center for Disease control and prevention, Influenza information. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

 

....

 

So Schering-Plough has animal health pharmaceutical MFR in mexico... and R&D? Worldwide possibilities...

 

yes, they could handle the pandemic NWO contract job.

"Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals is the worldwide pharmaceutical research and marketing unit of Schering-Plough Corporation "

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/70050&EDATE=

 

President of Mexico Keynote Speaker As Schering-Plough Mexico Dedicates Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility

 

XOCHIMILCO, Mexico, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo was the keynote speaker at a ceremony held here today to formally dedicate Schering-Plough Corporation's (NYSE: SGP) new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at the Xochimilco campus of the company's Schering-Plough Mexico subsidiary.

 

The 100,000-square-foot, $50 million manufacturing plant provides Schering-Plough Mexico with the latest in facility and equipment design for producing a wide range of human and animal health pharmaceutical and health care products for sale in Mexico and Latin American countries.

 

President Zedillo, addressing Schering-Plough employees, local officials, members of the medical community and guests at today's dedication ceremony, said, "I want to congratulate Schering-Plough and its employees on this new manufacturing facility. The construction of this impressive facility during

difficult economic times for Mexico demonstrates Schering-Plough's commitment to scientific innovation and to providing unique products that meet the health care needs of today as well as those of the future."

 

"The opening of this new manufacturing facility is an important milestone for Schering-Plough and our subsidiary in Mexico," said Alfredo M. Blanco, president, Latin America and Far East, Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals. "This plant represents a major capital investment for Schering-Plough and is a sign of the company's commitment to Mexico and our faith in the country's future economic development," he said.

 

The new manufacturing facility meets Schering-Plough's Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements and U.S. and Mexico industry standards, and is designed to provide increased production capacity with the capability of handling a broad range of processes of varying complexity and scale.

 

Several of the company's leading prescription products will be manufactured at the new facility, including the nonsedating antihistamine CLARITIN®, the prostate cancer treatment EULEXIN® and many dermatological products. The company will also manufacture several of its leading over-the-

counter products at the facility, including AFRIN® nasal spray, LOTRIMIN® antifungal products and COPPERTONE® sun care products.

 

The Xochimilco facility, located on a 60-hectare site, features a three- story building that incorporates some of the most advanced facility design features available, including:

-- High-quality architectural designs and surface finishes approaching "clean room" standards to minimize potential for product contamination;

-- Solar orientation for maximum utilization of natural light;

-- Vertical gravity feeding of bulk manufacturing materials for maximum energy efficiency;

-- Utility systems that provide air, water and nitrogen of the highest purity for use in processing and operations;

-- High-efficiency particulate air filtration and differential pressurization systems to produce and maintain a high-quality air supply for product manufacturing areas;

-- Environmental safeguards, including high-efficiency natural gas boilers for reduced air emissions, dust collectors with terminal filtration for particulate material control, air exhaust systems and water treatment facilities new construction in Singapore, Shanghai and the United States. These initiatives are increasing production capacity to meet future marketing needs in regions expected to experience the greatest growth, while also improving operating efficiency and reducing operating costs.

 

Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals is the worldwide pharmaceutical research and marketing unit of Schering-Plough Corporation of Madison, N.J., a research-based company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical and health care products worldwide.

 

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/poultrynews/14871/intervet-scheringplough-animal-health-appoints-executive-team

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health appoints Executive Team

May 14, 2008

The new combination Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health strengthens the animal health portfolio in several areas and brings together complementary lines of pharmaceuticals, biologicals and innovative services. Intervet / Schering-Plough Animal Health is not only the world market leader in the production of animal health vaccines, but is also one of the world’s leaders in the field of animal health—with offices in more than 50 countries and products marketed in over 120 countries

[2342]

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/501/1?rss=1

 

Exclusive: Interview with Head of Mexico's Top Swine Flu Lab

By Jon Cohen

ScienceNOW Daily News

1 May 2009

 

Microbiologist Celia Alpuche heads the laboratory in Mexico that has become ground zero for the country's outbreak of swine flu. Alpuche spoke to Science yesterday from her office at the Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos (InDRE) in Mexico City.

Many people have raised questions about whether Mexico could have detected this outbreak earlier and contained it before it spread elsewhere. But as Alpuche explains, InDRE had a confusing situation because the virus surfaced in the middle of flu season--and it may not have originated in Mexico anyway. Alpuche also sets the record straight about why it took several weeks to link the outbreak to the first case with symptoms, a 4-year-old boy from La Gloria in Veracruz state. And she frankly describes the limitations of her own lab.

 

InDRE has worked closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify the virus as the cause of the outbreak, and Mexico continues to collaborate to test samples of suspected cases. As of 1 May, Mexico had 156 confirmed cases and nine deaths, more than any country in the world. Mexico has identified another 1918 suspected cases, as described in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report yesterday, and InDRE is rushing to sort out how many are actually swine flu.

 

Influenza is caused by two strains, A and B, and several different subtypes that are designated by the two proteins that stud the viral surface, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, followed by a number. The outbreak is caused by an influenza A virus of the subtype H1N1.

 

Science: There have been many questions about the origin and the timing. When was there an indication that there were an unusual number of respiratory cases?

 

Alpuche: On April 7, we heard that the National Institute of Respiratory Disease was having unusually severe cases of pneumonia in young adults who were previously healthy. Immediately, we started to get the data around this cluster. We also started to do a retrospective analysis of the influenza data we had.

 

We looked at all data that we had regarding influenza detection since January up to this month and also to compare to the past season of influenza. In addition to the unusual pneumonia, we started to have rumors there were other cases that were not pneumonia, it was like a respiratory disease, an influenza-like illness.

 

Science: Did you see anything from your analysis of influenza trends that told you anything?

 

Alpuche: The first thing that it told us is that we were still detecting influenza in the country, not just in Mexico City. It was pretty much the same as we see every year except it was a prolongation of the flu season. Then we analyzed the subtypes of the strains of influenza, and one of the unusual things we saw was that in this season, we had the first peak in the last part of November and December and another one in February. Over the season, we started having more influenza B than we had the year before.

 

Science: Which had nothing to do with this outbreak.

 

Alpuche: Nothing to do with this. It was very confusing. We found that 37% of cases were B and the year before we only found up to 15% were B. Then we looked at data that they have in the influenza surveillance system at CDC to see if were having something unusual. We saw also in United States something kind of similar--a prolonged period of influenza and increases of strain B. So we thought that we were having something related to influenza, and we were still concerned about the pneumonia cases. We went back immediately to look at all the influenza outbreaks we had in the country since the season started to see if this was more related to the prolonged influenza or there was something else we were seeing. We had small outbreaks in some states in the central part of Mexico, Tlaxcala, and then the last outbreak we had was in Veracruz state, in the town of La Gloria, near Perote. That was in the last 2 weeks of March.

 

Science: Why didn't that trigger concern in the last 2 weeks of March?

 

Alpuche: It was influenza-like illness, no fatalities and no pneumonia cases. This outbreak was deeply studied with state epidemiologists. The secretary of health of Veracruz did a wonderful job during the outbreak in the last 2 weeks of March.

 

Science: What capability did they have for typing subtypes?

 

Alpuche: The influenza, laboratory-based surveillance network in Mexico is using immunofluorescence--that's the screening test, and it's using antibodies against A and B. So that's what the public health state lab is doing.

 

Science: So they don't have subtype tests and had to refer the samples to you?

 

Alpuche: Yes. Not immediately, because if there's nothing unusual, they wait to get accumulated cases and then send to the national referral center. One of the interesting things in this outbreak is they were testing, but the onset of symptoms was after 4 or 5 days. The sensitivity of the immunofluorescence test is low after 72 hours. Most of the tests, which were nasopharyngeal swabs, were negative.

 

Science: You later did more sampling from La Gloria, right?

 

Alpuche: In the last part of the outbreak in La Gloria, children started having symptoms April 1. They took the samples April 3. They sent the samples to the public health state lab, and they were processed April 4. These arrived at my lab on April 8.

 

Science: What were the positive ones?

 

Alpuche: They only identified three influenza strains at the end of the period. One turned out be H3N2. The other was A, but it was not heartening. Here at our lab, we were considering that it could be H1, but it looked indeterminate. To be honest, we were not able to type it. And then we had a B.

 

Science: The one that you weren't able to type, did you send that anywhere else? Were you concerned that you couldn't type it?

 

Alpuche: At that moment, we didn't have any information about the untypeable A's that they saw in the California children.

 

Science: In the surveillance program here in California, if you cannot type it, you send it on to CDC.

 

Alpuche: That's what we do. Our collaboration center is CDC. We have three different deadlines to do the accumulation of samples to send to CDC during the season. When we had that first indeterminate strain from La Gloria, we were not worried. By that time, the outbreak was controlled.

 

Science: On April 12, Mexico notified the Pan American Health Organization as per the International Health Regulations about the influenza-like outbreak in Veracruz. Initially, did you think these cases looked like influenza?

 

Alpuche: No, our initial thinking, as we reported according to the International Health Regulations, was that we were having intensification and prolongation of the influenza period. We thought the outbreaks of Tlaxcala and Perote were nothing unusual in terms of the pneumonia. Those were later on, and then we started to consider that there was something unusual.

 

Science: On 17 April, Mexico started to increase its surveillance for influenza. What triggered the switch to enhanced, active surveillance?

 

Alpuche: We got a notification of an isolated case, a 37-year-old woman, diabetic, who died because of respiratory disease and pneumonia in Oaxaca. The woman had onset of symptoms April 4. There was no connection at all with Perote. We got samples, and it was a lung biopsy because the relatives didn't allow an autopsy. They intensively investigated the contacts around these deaths. They found some with respiratory diseases but no fatalities. Nothing unusual, okay? They were tested, and all were negative for influenza and other viruses.

 

Science: When did you first contact Frank Plummer, head of the National Microbiology Lab at the Public Health Agency of Canada?

 

Alpuche: I contacted him April 17 by e-mail, and he answered immediately. He wanted to know more about this, and we had a long conversation on Saturday, April 18.

 

Science: Frank told me that he initially didn't think influenza. He thought it would be an unknown pathogen.

 

Alpuche: Exactly. And we discussed that with Dr. Plummer. In fact, I was the one who called him because I'm the lab person. I met him through the Global Health Security Action Group. And we've been talking about different collaborations, and immediately when we began discussing this and the epidemiology, we wanted to rule out everything we could.

 

Science: Why did you contact him?

 

Alpuche: Canada had a lot of experience with the screening of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, of unknown pathogenesis.

 

Science: When did you learn of the first two California cases of swine flu that were reported in the MMWR on April 21.

 

Alpuche: CDC sent me a preprint. I'm not sure exactly when.

 

Science: When were samples sent to Canada and CDC?

 

Alpuche: April 21. We asked for help from both at same time. The CDC is my collaborating center in the WHO network. They always help us, doing quality assessment for us, giving us reagents, doing training, transferring technology. But to do shipping for both of them, it was kind of hard. It was a little delayed to get all the permission from the U.S.

 

Science: Was your decision to send it to Canada also because U.S. authorities were holding up your samples?

 

Alpuche: No, not at all. I sent these samples to the CDC because they are my collaboration center. That's the way to do it. We get all the help we need from the CDC.

 

Science: But I think it's important for the United States to learn from this. How long were your samples held up and why?

 

Alpuche: It was just 1 day difference. I cannot tell you if this is because it is more difficult to send things from Mexico to the U.S. instead of Canada. To be honest, I cannot explain that.

 

Science: I imagine you were frustrated by the delay.

 

Alpuche: Yeah, but we knew we were going to get the help that we needed, and we got it. It was just a small difference.

 

Science: When did you first hear back from Frank Plummer about your samples?

 

Alpuche: We got the preliminary results April 22. Dr. Plummer got the samples at 3:00 in the afternoon, and by midnight he was calling me to say we had influenza A. Some of the samples I sent him, we knew they were influenza A. That week, we started seeing the A's and we started to change our mind about this influenza B prolongation of the seasonal influenza.

 

Science: When did you learn that they were positive for a new swine flu virus?

 

Alpuche: I first learned that it was swine from Frank Plummer; that was in the afternoon of April 23. And later that night Dr. Nancy Cox [of CDC] in a teleconference we had with Mexican experts, we were discussing this and she gave us the preliminary results that we have some swine strains, the ones that just arrived that day at CDC.

 

Science: What do you think of the criticism that Mexico didn't do enough earlier on to catch this? It's coming from both the Mexican press and the international press.

 

Alpuche: There's always going to be something to find guilty people in everything. This is a new, unknown virus. We've been growing so much in terms of diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance lately. We still have limitations, that's for sure. We really need to accept that. And we're working very hard to overcome those limitations. We, along with all the health authorities, did everything possible to try to define this as soon as possible.

 

We're working so hard to try and control this. And we were very open since the beginning. When I received the confirmation from Dr. Frank Plummer, I was immediately in contact with my superior Dr. Mauricio Hernández, and he spoke immediately with Secretary Córdova and he was basically open.

 

Science: Many laboratories in Mexico City I've visited are very sophisticated. What are the limitations that prevented your lab from identifying the new H1N1? What did CDC and Canada have that you didn't have?

 

Alpuche: The only place in Mexico doing subtyping is this lab here. We are able to sequence and subtype, but we are overwhelmed with samples of influenza and other things from all around the country. It's a little bit slower than in the U.S. or Canada.

 

Science: But what were the limits in your lab to isolate the virus and sequence it?

 

Alpuche: Since this week, we have experts from CDC and Canada helping us to set up a real-time PCR [polymerase chain reaction] technology to test for swine H1N1 directly.

 

Science: Is your lab the only lab in the country at this point that can do the confirmatory test with the real-time PCR machines?

 

Alpuche: At this point, yes, but we're working with CDC and Canada to train molecular biologists in different institutions in six different states in Mexico. We have two real-time PCR machines we were able to get immediately--we borrowed one from the company. And now we bought 10 more machines. We are working full-time to speed up the diagnostics.

 

Science: How many samples do you have waiting to be tested?

 

Alpuche: Right now, we have a backlog of around 1000 tests that we're rushing to do on time. We're having three shifts of people working, during the morning, afternoon, and overnight.

 

Science: You have 1000 samples waiting to be tested, but there are nearly 2000 suspected cases.

 

Alpuche: Not all of the cases that were tested at the hospitals had samples that were referred to us. And not all of the 1000 samples we have are suspected cases.

 

Science: Are you still sending samples to CDC and Canada?

 

Alpuche: Yes, we sent more samples to Canada this week, and we are just arranging with the person here from CDC to send more samples to CDC. We want to rule out all these samples we're holding so that we can keep going with the new ones.

 

Science: A lot of Mexican press and now press outside of Mexico has written about La Gloria and the large pig farm in nearby Perote, Granjas Carroll. There are all these allegations and even conspiracy theories.

 

Alpuche: I don't know, there are so many rumors.

 

Science: What about the boy in La Gloria who has received so much attention?

 

Alpuche: It was mild disease, no problem.

 

Science: Is it accurate that he is the index case?

 

Alpuche: We're not sure about that. By the onset of symptoms, he's the first we're seeing in our database, that's all.

 

Science: What's the onset for him.

 

Alpuche: April 1.

 

Science: There have been all these stories of Perote as the epicenter, or the originator. Do you believe that?

 

Alpuche: We've been asking agriculture authorities, and they ensured us that they didn't detect any problems with outbreaks with animals in these farms near Perote. And the farm is 80 kilometers from La Gloria.

 

Science: So it's very far.

 

Alpuche: Even far for a person working there to make the commute. But we are investigating that. We are doing epidemiological surveillance. And we asked the other authorities, and there was basically nothing wrong.

 

Science: Is there a confirmed case in any employee of Granjas Carroll?

 

Alpuche: Not that I know so far.

 

Science: One of the theories is that this originated in the United States or elsewhere and a human came to Mexico, possibly a migrant. The assumption that it was a big pig farm could be very misleading.

 

Alpuche: Could be. That's the same thought we have. We need more data to prove it. One of the interesting thing is, we're seeing these cases isolated in Oaxaca and Perote, they are well-known for migration. And also the other state that we're seeing several cases now during the active epidemic is San Luis Potosí, and it's like the corridor for migration. It's hard to believe that it's going to be associated with this farm, but I know that the authorities are thoroughly investigated it.

 

Science: Do you think if this surfaced somewhere other than Mexico it would have been contained, or does influenza just move too quickly anyway?

 

Alpuche: Considering it was the end of the season, maybe that confused the fact a little that something else could grow, but probably influenza moves too quickly anyway.

 

Science: The United States detected cases very early, and the United States was not able to contain it. It tells me that the virus is smarter.

 

Alpuche: Yes, that's for sure.

 

Science: One last thing. How many hours a night are you sleeping.

 

Alpuche: [laughter] At the most two.

 

Science: This has been going on for 2 weeks now.

 

Alpuche: Yeah, so some days we're getting 2 hours and then a nap of half an hour. And there's Latte. Double shots. Espresso.

 

Science: Anything you need, anything right now from the international community?

 

Alpuche: We're okay now in the way we're working, and our collaborators. But at some point if we need it for sure I'll ask. But now, we're okay.

[WORDISM45]

As nice as it is to come on here and know without a doubt that you will be entertained with conspiracy theories on any topic of interest, it does get really old hearing the same people come out with the same predictable responses to any event.

 

ILOTSMYBRAIN: It is really indicative of your intelligence level that you can say you are "100% certain that this is man made" when you obviously know nothing about either the flu in general or H1N1 in specific. I am amazed at how little evidence (if any at all) you need on a subject to be made 100% certain of the truth of the matter. This is a sign of an uninquisitive and easily manipulated mind, you should probably go to your library and do some reading on critical thinking and basic logic and reasoning.

 

It is so funny that, like Christo and Russ said, this kind of viral infection has been happening at least as long as complex organisms have existed on the planet, yet you instantly and without any evidence claim that it is an NWO conspiracy for population control. You people are far more foolish than those who during past pandemics, like the black plague, thought it was a result of gods wrath or some other bullshit. At least they had the excuse of not knowing any better.

[Sluser]

Sometimes I feel like I'm a genius and everyone else is an idiot. This thread helps.

[acer910]

ok, im not going to try and get into this conversation because that was too much reading to do in one sitting but here in NC everyones fucking freaking out.

 

at school we had a "quarantine drill" which was basically just a lockdown where they told us what to do incase of an infectious disease spread through our town, not to touch anyone ETC and they handed out flyers assuring us our county cares about the children. then everyones parents were called (except mine, i have my cell number as my moms number in their contact list) with a prerecorded messege rehashing the flyer and stating that there has been a confirmed death but no confirmed cases in NC yet. also stating that if there IS a reported case in any of the neighboring counties or ours that attending school will be optional and everyones grades will be frozen. i thought that was interesting since we were the only school in the county to attend on a day with snow (it NEVER snows here and when it does, even flurries, school is closed) because someone broke a bunch of windows the night before the first day and the school was closed for repairs because it was raining that week so we already lost alot of days off spring break.

 

so that kinda worries me. but ive never had a cut get infected and ive never worn a bandaid so ive got this weird Stephen King type thing going on (in a book but better illustrated in a movie he is "cursed" with not being sick so he lives for a long time having to deal with some bad thing he did. i totaly forgot the rest of the movie and book except that.)

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

For a bunch of people that have never met me, you sure do know a lot about me, lol.

 

Whatever though. I make my decisions for myself, and I am always open to evidence to change those opinions, unlike some people around here. I'm never grounded into a position. As of now, I think that way. Will it be that way next week?

 

Only time will tell.

 

Some of you guys should get into the profiling business, YUM, you should holla at the CIA. I'm sure they got a position open for someone of your caliber.

[Baron Von Counterculture]

http://www.theage.com.au/national/mild-cases-help-reduce-fears-over-swine-flu-20090502-aquy.html

 

Some selected quotes for the ones preparing the y2k bunkers again...

 

"THE swine flu outbreak that has caused panic around the world may not be as bad as first feared, with fewer than half the suspected cases tested in Mexico returning a positive result."

 

"Mexican health officials said 381 people tested in that country were infected, with 16 deaths confirmed. About 176 Mexican deaths have previously been blamed on the virus."

 

I think since the bird flu panic some people have become hyper sensitive to the 'threat' of a pandemic. The world will go on, if you live in the first world and are no more than 48 hours from reasonable medical treatment you will be fine... the number of deaths/temporary incapacitations may increase by a relatively small amount (in comparison to other 'natural' events like mudslides, earthquakes, wildfires etc.) but this is not as dramatic as some here are trying to make out. Perspective people.

[shai]

Some people want to be scared.

 

It doesn't really matter where this flu came from, because in all likelihood this is not going to be that big of a deal. In six months to a year, there will be some new Disease of the Month that no one will really understand but will be afraid of...ignorance and fear are two very easy power points to play, since most people don't want to have to be faced with their own mortality.

[acer910]

indeed^

[shai]

And having said that, I'm a lot more interested in watching how the media plays this out than I am in the swine flu per se.

 

I have a feeling that there's a lesson to be learned here if you pay attention to how this is being covered in the news. Not to mention all of the things that AREN'T being talked about that don't add up- the high fatality rate in Mexico and nowhere else, the train incident in Switzerland, the rush to declare this a pandemic when there's been less than a thousand reported deaths, not very much news about what's being done in Africa and Russia...something about this whole panic (not the cause, but the event) seems very contrived and orchestrated.

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

Some people want to be scared.

 

It doesn't really matter where this flu came from, because in all likelihood this is not going to be that big of a deal. In six months to a year, there will be some new Disease of the Month that no one will really understand but will be afraid of...ignorance and fear are two very easy power points to play, since most people don't want to have to be faced with their own mortality.

 

 

Just to be clear, I was never in a "panic" about this at all. Perhaps I was also jumping the gun with my judgment. In fact on a individual level I was never even worried about it.

 

Still think it was man made though.

 

:cool:

[shai]

I think it's man-made in the sense that nowadays it's possible for things like the flu to mutate in such crazy, unexpected ways thanks to factory farming, overuse of antibiotics, and jet travel.

 

But do I think it was brewed up in a laboratory? I doubt it, but I wouldn't rule it out. When you head down that path it begins to create too many "what ifs" that, when viewed as a whole, make the world look like one big conspiracy.

 

As I said before, if you're looking for a conspiracy the real mystery is how the story is being handled. The sensational details are there in force to distract people, but if you look at everything that's going on and how it's being portrayed you'll start to notice some pretty big gaps in the story (see above). There's just enough information being released through the mainstream media to get people wound up, but to get any real news or information you have to actually look around, do some heavy reading here and there...and most people either don't have the time or the wherewithal to do that. The vast majority of people end up only being somewhat informed and afraid because they don't know exactly what's going on.

 

Overall, it seems like a very skilled manipulation of the facts surrounding an event to achieve a desired effect, whether it's to subtly coerce people into getting flu shots or to get them used to the idea of restricted travel for their own good.

[ThuggedOutGypsyz]

niggas it al-Qaeda!!! remember they were gonna bring the weapons through the mexican boarder!!! theyre going to kills us all omg!!! put chips in your children!!! oh yeah different prez different spin but still fear!FEAR!FEAR! sorry i know this isnt ch0... im just kinda fed up... not to say the flu isnt real, its just every fucking year the same bullshit different packaging..

[acer910]

someone can summarize a paragraph!

i bet your mommy is proud!!

[2342]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2009/05/taxi-driver-philosophizing-on-swine-flu.html

 

Quick Links: Cuba. Current affairs. Immigration. Mexico.

« Mexican alt-rockers Zoe are tearing down musical borders | Main | Mexico's illegal-reefer madness »

 

Taxi-driver conspiracy theory on swine flu outbreak

If you've spent any time in Mexico, especially Mexico City, then you'll be acquainted with Mexicans' love of conspiracy theory.

 

As Ken Ellingwood wrote last year, "many Mexicans feel their leaders have lied so many times about so many things over the years that it's hard to believe them, even when they might be telling the truth."

 

The H1N1 / swine flu outbreak that descended on Mexico more than a week ago has provided an abundance of inflammable fuel for those partial to conspiracy theories here in Mexico City.

 

You don't have time to read, and I don't have time to write, all of the theories that I've heard over the last 10 days. But I would like to share my favorite with you, which came out during a conversation I had with Raul Camacho, a 62-year-old taxi driver, on Tuesday last week.

 

I asked him why he wasn't wearing a face mask. At the beginning of last week, face masks and plastic gloves were yet to be mandatory for taxi drivers (that happened on Thursday), but everyone had been asked by the government to cover their noses and mouths as a precaution.

 

Camacho said he wasn't worried about protecting himself because he didn't believe the risk was as high as both the federal and city governments would have us believe.

 

"People in power do or say whatever they like to get what they want," he said.

 

Camacho then went on to explain to me that Mexico President Felipe Calderon was, in fact, making up the whole flu story to give Mexicans the impression that he was taking care of them and saving them from certain and gruesome death.

 

Camacho referred back to Mexico's controversial 2006 elections during which Calderon beat the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in a voting process that many still claim was fraudulent and referred to Calderon as "el espurio" (the illegitimate one). Calderon is trying to gain legitimacy with this swine flu "story," Camacho said.

 

OK, I asked, if that's the case, why is Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, also a member of the opposition PRD party, going along with Calderon's flu-stopping strategy of closing schools and nonessential services?

 

Camacho had an answer for that.

 

"It's not convenient for Ebrard to fall out with Calderon right now. There are elections coming up in July, and he doesn't want any trouble before then."

 

My ride came to an end before I could ask Camacho why the World Health Organization was also in on the plot, but no doubt he'd have had an explanation for that too.

 

— Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

[lord_casek]

it's obviously a conspiracy of sorts. how many have died? how many die from the normal flu?

why are we at level 5 possibly going on level 6 soon if this is no more harmful than the regular flu?

[ThuggedOutGypsyz]

someone can summarize a paragraph!

i bet your mommy is proud!!

 

^^^lol,this nigga... lil E.wiseguy, id say the same about you. It was a little rant nigga, next time I'll put it in CAPS for you...

[shai]

Now the story is swinging back the other way-

 

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/03/1920229.aspx

 

Hmmmm, didn't see that one coming.