The Noble Lie

Australian researcher and flu expert Adrain Gibbs has said that, while there are many possible origins for such a flu, the most likely based on its characteristics is that of an "escaped strain" from a lab. He is planning to publish his findings soon.

The claim is at least valid enough to warrant an investigation, and in fact one is taking place now. According to the Edmonton Sun, the World Health Organization is officially investigating claims that the H1N1 swine flu virus is a laboratory strain.

From the article:

TORONTO — The World Health Organization and leading influenza research groups are investigating unpublished claims that the new H1N1 swine flu virus may have evolved in a laboratory, not in nature.

The Geneva-based agency was informed of the pending publication over the weekend by the author, a retired Australian virologist named Adrian Gibbs.

It scrambled to draw in researchers from leading human and animal influenza laboratories around the world in a bid to determine if the claim has merit and if it does, whether that changes the advice WHO gives member countries on the threat posed by the new H1N1 swine flu virus.

The WHO’s leading flu scientist said the consultation is still ongoing and a conclusion hasn’t been reached, but the weight of evidence so far suggests the theory isn’t correct.

“I think the preliminary analyses certainly suggest there are other explanations and that the explanation suggested by the author is not the best one,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda, acting assistant director general for health security and environment, said in an interview from Geneva.

Fukuda said at least one WHO collaborating centre for influenza, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, has done an extensive analysis of available genetic sequence data for swine influenza viruses. That work does not support the claim made by Gibbs, he said.

Another interesting bit:

Gibbs apparently claims that the virus bears the hallmarks of having undergone “accelerated evolution” such as what happens when flu viruses try to adapt to growth in eggs.

But the head of the CDC’s influenza division, Dr. Nancy Cox, said her labs and others cannot find evidence to support the claim that the virus has undergone accelerated evolution.

Italian influenza researcher Dr. Ilaria Capua said there is too little known about swine influenza virus evolution to make the claim in the first place.

Here's some more flu news. The first three are all from Reuters. I'm not a news guy and these updates might stop at any time. This is more about just what's on my (and a lot of other people's) mind.

• WHO uncertain about declaring flu pandemic
• Will pandemic be mild, or kill millions?
• WHO head indicates a full (level 6) flu pandemic to be declared
• [BBC] Swine flu hotel guests frustrated (life under quarantine, 274 "guests" isolated even from one another)
• [WSJ] Accepting Confinement for 'Greater Good'
• [WSJ] Reporter tries to get tested for swine flu (not so easy or routine to become a "confirmed" case after all)

The media response runs the gamut from right-wingers who want to use this issue to close the border, to left-wing folks like Huffington, Olbermann and Maddow (the latter two being the only mainstream media I can stomach) who characterize just about any independent response to this outbreak as panic.

The most interesting story I found today is about how "newcomer" flu pandemics such as this one often overtake, out-compete, and end up becoming the new "regular" flu in subsequent years. This NPR piece talks about the history of the H1N1 flu strain, from the 1918 flu to its dominance during the 20s, 30s, and 40s, only to be wiped out in the 50s and 60s. The article goes on to explain that H1N1 was not see again until the late 70s... and how its re-emergence almost undoubtedly came out of a laboratory in Russia or China.

Michael Ruppert is also wondering about this virus's racial profiling. Being as well-researched as he is, he also brings up the fact that there were a number of microbiologists who died right after 9/11, one by the name of Dr. Don Wiley who was researching swine flu and DNA recombination, another named Dr. David Kelley who committed suicide not long after the 1918 Spanish Flu was resurrected.

Though I'm not nearly as pro-globalist as Ruppert is, I have to agree that some nations such as Russia and China who know better are using this as a pretext to cut more ties with the US.

In Egypt, the government has ordered the culling their whole swine stock, a move which is breaking the backs of local farmers in that nation (which is probably the intended purpose).

Ruppert has come out of his "retirement" and is releasing a new book on May Day about Peak Oil and the energy crisis. I believe the Peak Oil scenario is something we all need to think about, whether we truly run out of carbon energy or the powers that be simply turn off the spigot.

Finally, read on Democracy Now about why some people are calling this outbreak the NAFTA flu, pointing to abhorrent factory farming practices which the US has exported, practices which create a fertile paradise for pathogens.

I found some great audio clips on George Mason University's website, of folks recalling their experiences during the 1918 flu pandemic that killed a hundred million worldwide. These stories are tragic, moving, and strangely inspiring at times, as folks clung together even during the darkest times.

• "There wasn't a mine runnin' a lump o' coal": Kentucky Coal Miner
• "Please, let me put him in a macaroni box": Philadelphia
• "He'll come home in a box": Montana

Also wondering: Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet/Alex Jones fame

CNN runs an article which poses the question I've been asking: why are only Mexicans dying from this flu?

Some of the possible reasons posed by folks from the CDC and universities are: malnutrition, overcrowding, sanitation, genetic conditions, complications due to other diseases within that population, complications with medications(!) taken in that region, under-reporting of the number of infected there, and under-reporting of flu-related fatalities here, just to name a few possibilities.

The only thing agreed upon is that it's still a mystery. CDC spokesman Von Roebuck wraps it up by saying, "We're making every effort to truly understand this virus, but some of the reasons for what's happening we may never figure out."

I can't say that I was happy to hear that somebody in the United States had died, but I was hoping to invalidate my "this flu is only killing Mexicans" observation. Turns out it was a Mexican child in the US.

• [Reuters] Mexican boy was receiving flu treatment in Texas
• [ABC] WHO raises pandemic alert for swine flu
• [WSJ] Swine flu at Alert Stage 4: 'Mitigation,' not 'Containment' (Phase/Stage 6 is like Defcon 1 in global epidemic management)
• [CNN] Earliest case of swine flu tucked away in Mexico, officials say
• [UK Guardian] Egypt orders slaughter of all pigs over swine flu (I wonder what the real reason is?)
• [CTV] Swine flu approaching 'Phase 5' pandemic
• [Sydney Morning Herald] Only 7 swine flu deaths, not 152, WHO says (thanks Cryptogon)

I wondered if anybody else is wondering about this, so I googled for swine flu and race specific. One of the first hits was a Stormfront forum piece, a guy was asking if anybody thinks this swine flu thing might be race specific? Pretty much every response was along the lines of, "Nah, they're Mexicans, they were probably throwing their own feces at each other."

Panic might be even more infectious than influenza, and I certainly don't think panic is warranted. However, times like this do remind us to think about how personally prepared we are for these kinds of situations. Having some masks and gloves might not be bad precautions, for general preparedness if not for this situation.

• [Reuters] US swine flu cases rise, more expected
• [WaPo] WHO raises global threat level as reports of swine flu increase
• [Newsday] Scientists face questions on swine flu vaccine
• [Bloomberg] Glaxo, Roche meet swine flu drug needs; vaccine is months away
• [MSNBC] Swine flu outbreak tracked with Twitter

What do you think about the fact that there have been so many outbreak/pandemic themed movies and TV shows in the past few years? Has the public been set up to panic? Is it benevolent propaganda to get us numb Americans to prepare? Are these movies foreshadowing an ominous future of large-scale death? Is it inevitable? Are all the pandemic films a coincidence? Have they started a meme which has us freaking out about otherwise typical flu activity? No answers here, but I have lots of questions.

I made a comment to my co-workers about how the big pharma companies and holders of such stocks must have been salivating all over themselves this weekend at the prospect of big money developing vaccines for this new threat.

Of course, it didn't take long for reality to confirm my cynicism, as drug company stocks are carrying Wall Street upward today. Of course, this is no good news to holders of pork commodities, who are watching their shares plummet even though this is just as much a bird flu as a swine flu, and even though influenza does not live in cooked food. Such is the power of popular  perception, not to mention how well-trained we are now not to eat food which shows up on our nightly news.

As for the flu itself, don't panic. Baxter Laboratories is working on a vaccine. Of course, it might unnerve you to remember that this is the same company that shipped vaccine materials with live bird flu virus payload in them.

There are some indications that this new swine flu overstimulates the immune system, making it more dangerous for those with healthier immune systems. It was this particular feature from the 1918 Spanish flu that made it so lethal, killing over a hundred million worldwide. We know this because scientists in Canada literally recreated the 1918 Spanish Flu virus in a laboratory. The SARS virus that targeted particular races of Asians exhibited the same characteristics, too.

Calling it a "swine flu" is quite the misnomer, as this particular flu virus contains a combination of two different swine flus, a bird flu, and a human flu. This strain either had to do some pretty amazing gymnastics (not unheard of), or was designed in a lab.

More links

• [WSJ] How Bush prepared for the outbreak
• [BBC] Swine Flu prompts travel warning (now we're the danger spot)
• [Bloomberg] Swine flu warning raised as virus crosses continents
• [US News] Swine flu delcared public health emergency

In California, Texas, and most tragically in Mexico City, a strange new form of the flu virus has emerged which combines parts of human, swine, and bird flus and seems to be transmissible from one person to another.

As of the time of my research, it had not claimed any lives in the US, but in Mexico City there have been 20 and likely more lives claimed by this new strain. Sanitations and health care services in Mexico City leave a lot to be desired, and this is probably the reason for the disparity.

But, as usual, I'm concerned that something more sinister may be going on. I will be watching the news closely. It is not lost on me that the SARS flu turned out to be a race-specific virus. Especially with the very unusual profile of this flu virus, especially if this turns out to be a race-specific killer also, we have to face the ugly but disticnt possibility that somebody cooked this thing up in a lab.

The best protection against influenza of any kind (at least the kind that aren't cooked up in biowarfare labs) is to wash your hands.

Headlines

• [AP] Mexico City suspends schools over flu epidemic
• [MSNBC] Mexico flu deaths raise fear of global epidemic
• [Toronto Sun] Mexico flu deaths raise spectre of SARS
• [Reuters] World Health Organization calls emergency meeting on swine flu
• [WaPo] Swine flu could cause pandemic, WHO says