Category Archives: Avian flu

Obama administration, Fall flu shots, Fall 2009, three flu shots, 3 unprecedented, new swine flu virus, annual seasonal influenza, Washington Post article May 6, 2009, federal health officials, pandemic experts are working with the administration

Be on alert, the government is “watching out for us” again.

From the Washington Post, May 6, 2009:

“Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Obama administration is considering an unprecedented fall vaccination campaign that could entail giving Americans three flu shots — one to combat annual seasonal influenza and two targeted at the new swine flu virus spreading across the globe.
If enacted, the multibillion-dollar effort would represent the first time that top federal health officials have asked Americans to get more than one flu vaccine in a year, raising serious challenges concerning production, distribution and the ability to track potentially severe side effects.

Another option, said Dale Morse, chairman of the advisory committee on immunization practices at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is adding to the seasonal flu shot an ingredient targeted at the new virus.
Experts in and out of the administration are evaluating a raft of complicated issues, including who ought to receive an inoculation against the swine flu and whether private vaccine makers can simultaneously manufacture the standard 180 million doses as well as up to 600 million rounds of a new vaccine.

“We are moving forward with making a vaccine,” said Robin Robinson, a director with the Department of Health and Human Services who oversees pandemic response programs. Robinson said that although a formal decision about the swine flu vaccine has not been made, if the government goes ahead, it would probably produce two doses for all Americans. If the threat diminishes, he said, health officials could decide to produce doses for only a portion of the population.

Vaccine and pandemic experts are working with the administration to determine how to produce, test, track and educate the public about two different influenza vaccines in the same flu season.

“They have never tried this before, and there is going to be a great deal of confusion,” said William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Memories of the nation’s earlier experience with a swine flu vaccine present another challenge. In 1976, hundreds of Americans developed neurological disorders after they were vaccinated for a swine flu strain. The public was asked to receive one of two vaccines developed to combat the strain.

Health officials have asked manufacturers to ramp up production of the seasonal vaccine scheduled for rollout this fall to make way for the possible mass production of a swine flu vaccine.”

Read more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/05/AR2009050503378.html?hpid=topnews

Make certain you stay informed on this subject.

Microbiologists, experts on infectious diseases, Deaths, mysterious deaths, murders

The following list of microbiologists and experts on infectious diseases that died under mysterious causes was sent to me on March 20, 2009:

#43: David Kelly, age 59. Died: July 18, 2003.

British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed his own wrists while

walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of Defense’s chief scientific officer

and senior adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the

Foreign Office’s non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on biological

weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994

to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only

in this country, but in the world.

#1 Jose Trias, Died: May 19, 1994

wife were murdered in their Chevy Chase, Maryland home. They met with a

friend of theirs, a journalist, before the day of their murder and told him of their

plan to expose HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) funding of “special ops”

research. Grant money that goes to HHMI is actually diverted to special black

ops research projects.

#s22-24: Avishai Berkman, age 50

Amiramp Eldor

Matzner

All Died: November 24, 2001

the time of the Black Sea crash, Israeli journalists had been sounding the alarm

that two Israeli microbiologists had been murdered, allegedly by terrorists;

including the head of the Hematology department at Israel’s Ichilov Hospital, as

well as directors of the Tel Aviv Public Health Department and Hebrew University

School of Medicine. World experts in hematology and blood clotting. Five

microbiologists in this list of the first eight people that died mysteriously in

airplane crashes worked on cutting edge microbiology research; and, four of the

five were doing virtually identical research; research that has global political and

financial significance.

#16-#20: Five Unnamed Microbiologists. Died: October 4, 2001

Five unnamed microbiologists on a plane that was brought down by a missile

near the Black sea on the Russian border. Traveling from Israel to Russia;

business not disclosed. 3 scientists were experts in medical research or public

health. The plane is believed by many in Israel to have had as many as four or

five passengers who were microbiologists. Both Israel and Novosibirsk are

homes for cutting-edge microbiological research. Novosibirsk is known as the

scientific capital of Siberia. There are over 50 research facilities there, and 13 full

universities for a population of only 2.5 million people.

25: Dr. David Schwartz , age 57. Died: December

10, 2001

Loudon County, Virginia. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high

priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged. He was extremely

well respected in biophysics, and regarded as an authority on DNA sequencing.

Three teens that were into the occult were charged with murder in the slashing

death.

#27: Dr. Don Wiley, age 57. Vanished: December 16,

2001

University, top Deadly Contagious Virus expert, abandoned rental car was found

on the Hernando de Soto Bridge outside Memphis, TN. He was heavily involved

in research on DNA sequencing, and was last seen at around midnight on

November 16, leaving the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Advisory Dinner at The

Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Associates attending the dinner said he showed

no signs of intoxication, and no one has admitted to drinking with him. Body

found floating one month later. Workers at a hydroelectric plant in Louisiana

found the body of Don Wiley on Thursday, about 300 miles south of where the

molecular biologist was last seen on Nov. 18 at a medical meeting in Memphis.

On January 14, 2002 (almost two months later) Shelby County Medical Examiner

O.C. Smith announced that his department had ruled Dr. Wiley’s death to be

“accidental”; the result of massive injuries suffered in a fall from the Hernando de

Soto Bridge. Smith said there were paint marks on Wiley’s rental car similar to

the paint used on construction signs on the bridge, and that the car’s right front

hubcap was missing. There has been no report as to which construction signs

Dr. Wiley hit.

#28: Dr. Vladimer Pasechnik, age 64.

Died: December 23, 2001

home. Two different dates have been reported: November 21 and December

23. Death ruled stroke. He had defected from Russia to UK. He had been the

#1 scientist in the FSU’s bioweapons program. It was thought he was involved

with exhuming the bodies of the 10 London victims of the 1919 Type A flu

epidemic. Pasechnik died six weeks after the planned exhumations were

announced. On November 23, 2001, Pasechnik’s death was reported in the New

York Times as having occurred two days earlier. Pasechnik’s death was made in

the United States by Dr. Christopher Davis of Virginia, who stated that the cause

of death was a stroke. Dr. Davis was the member of British intelligence who debriefed

Dr. Pasechnik at the time of his defection. Pasechnik was heavily

involved in DNA sequencing research. He had just founded a company like three

other microbiologists working to provide powerful alternatives to antibiotics. Dr.

Vladimir Pasechnik was the boss of William C. Patrick III who holds 5 patents on

the militarized anthrax used by the United States. Patrick is now a private

biowarfare consultant to the military and CIA. Patrick developed the process by

which anthrax spores could be concentrated at the level of one trillion spores per

gram. No other country has been able to get concentrations above 500 billion per

gram. The anthrax that was sent around the eastern United States last fall was

concentrated at one trillion spores per gram.

#33: Dr. Vladamir “Victor” Korshunov, age 56. Died:

February 9, 2002.

Korshunov was head of the microbiology sub-facility at the Russian State

Medical University. He was found dead in the entrance to his home with a head

injury. On Feb. 9 the Russian newspaper Pravda reported that Korshunov had

probably invented a vaccine protecting from any biological arm.

#38: Steven Mostow, age 63. Died: March 25, 2002.

the country’s leading infectious disease and bioterrorism experts and was

associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He died in

a plane crash near Centennial Airport. He was known as “Dr. Flu” for his

expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of

the country’s leading infectious disease experts.

#49: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, age 62. Died: January 24, 2004.

massive heart attack. Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class. It is

interesting to note, he had a good heart, but it “gave out”. Dr. Shope and Dr.

Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston lab for

Homeland Security. The lab would have to be secure to house some of the

deadliest pathogens of tropical and emerging infectious disease as well as

bioweaponized ones.

#48: Robert Shope, age 74. Died: January 23, 2004.

Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies died of lung transplant

complications. Later purported to have died of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

which can be caused by either environmental stimulus or a VIRUS. It would not

be hard to administer a drug that would cause Dr. Shope’s lung transplant to

either be rejected or to cause complications from the transplant. Dr. Shope led

the group of scientists who had an 11 MILLION dollar fed grant to ensure the

new lab would keep in the nasty bugs. Dr. Shope also met with and worked with

Dr. Mike Kiley on the UTMB Galveston lab upgrade to BSL 4. When the upgrade

would be complete the lab will host the most hazardous pathogens known to man

especially tropical and emerging diseases as well as bioweapons.

#50: Vadake Srinivasan, Died: March 13, 2004.

guard rail in Baton Rouge, LA. Death was ruled a stroke. He was originally from

India, was one of the most-accomplished and respected industrial biologists in

academia, and held two doctorate degrees.

#53: William T. McGuire, age 39. Found May 5, 2004, last seen late April

2004.

University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He emerged as one of the world’s

leading microbiologists and an expert in developing and overseeing multiple

levels of biocontainment facilities.

#55: Antonina Presnyakova, age 46. Died: May 25, 2004.

scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia died after an

accident with a needle laced with ebola. Scientists and officials said the accident

had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of

Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized

in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading

recipient of aid in an American program.

#57: Dr., age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

Assefa Tulu

department in 1997 and served for five years as the county’s lone epidemiologist.

He was charged with trackcing the health of the county, including the spread of

diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for

detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often

coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as

the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media

to inform the public. Found face down, dead in his office. The Dallas County

Epidemiologist died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

#58: Dr. Paul Norman, age 52. Died: June 27, 2004.

Wiltshire. Killed when the single-engine Cessna 206 he was piloting crashed in

Devon. Expert in chemical and biological weapons. He traveled the world

lecturing on defending against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction. He

was married with a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and was the

chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at the Ministry of Defense’s

laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. The crash site was examined by officials

from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the wreckage of the aircraft was

removed from the site to the AAIB base at Farnborough.

#61: Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53. Died July 2, 2004

was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam

spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax

scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an

expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against

biological and chemical agents.

#64: Dr. John Badwey, age 54. Died: July 21,

2004.

waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Suddenly developed pneumonia

like symptoms then died in two weeks. Biochemist at Harvard Medical School

specializing in infectious diseases.

#68: John R. La Montagne, age 61. Died:

November 2, 2004.

pulmonary embolism. PhD, Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie

Thompson. Was NIAID Deputy Director. Expert in AIDS Program work and

Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Died while in Mexico, no cause stated, later disclosed asScientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewagefrom unknown causes. HeFrom SalisburyDr. Tulu joined the healthA RussianBody found in three suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay. He was NJMicrobiologist crashed car intoDied ofOne ofFound dead on a Moscow street. Head was bashed in.. Found dead in Wiltshire, England, a village near his. Molecular Biologist with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard. Murdered by stabbing with what appeared to be a sword in rural home. Four of, age 59 Yaacov, age 54. (no photo). Another airplane crash kills 3 scientists. At about. Trias and his #43: David Kelly, age 59. Died: July 18, 2003.

British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed his own wrists while

walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of Defense’s chief scientific officer

and senior adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the

Foreign Office’s non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on biological

weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994

to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only

in this country, but in the world.

#1 Jose Trias, Died: May 19, 1994

. Trias and his

wife were murdered in their Chevy Chase, Maryland home. They met with a

friend of theirs, a journalist, before the day of their murder and told him of their

plan to expose HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) funding of “special ops”

research. Grant money that goes to HHMI is actually diverted to special black

ops research projects.

 

#s22-24: Avishai Berkman, age 50

.(no photo)

Amiramp Eldor

, age 59 YaacovMatzner

, age 54

All Died: November 24, 2001

. Another airplane crash kills 3 scientists. At about

the time of the Black Sea crash, Israeli journalists had been sounding the alarm

that two Israeli microbiologists had been murdered, allegedly by terrorists;

including the head of the Hematology department at Israel’s Ichilov Hospital, as

well as directors of the Tel Aviv Public Health Department and Hebrew University

School of Medicine. World experts in hematology and blood clotting. Five

microbiologists in this list of the first eight people that died mysteriously in

airplane crashes worked on cutting edge microbiology research; and, four of the

five were doing virtually identical research; research that has global political and

financial significance.

#16-#20: Five Unnamed Microbiologists. Died: October 4, 2001

. Four of

Five unnamed microbiologists on a plane that was brought down by a missile

near the Black sea on the Russian border. Traveling from Israel to Russia;

business not disclosed. 3 scientists were experts in medical research or public

health. The plane is believed by many in Israel to have had as many as four or

five passengers who were microbiologists. Both Israel and Novosibirsk are

homes for cutting-edge microbiological research. Novosibirsk is known as the

scientific capital of Siberia. There are over 50 research facilities there, and 13 full

universities for a population of only 2.5 million people.

25: Dr. David Schwartz , age 57. Died: December

10, 2001

. Murdered by stabbing with what appeared to be a sword in rural home

Loudon County, Virginia. His daughter, who identifies herself as a pagan high

priestess, and three of her fellow pagans have been charged. He was extremely

well respected in biophysics, and regarded as an authority on DNA sequencing.

Three teens that were into the occult were charged with murder in the slashing

death.

#27: Dr. Don Wiley, age 57. Vanished: December 16,

2001

. Molecular Biologist with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard

University, top Deadly Contagious Virus expert, abandoned rental car was found

on the Hernando de Soto Bridge outside Memphis, TN. He was heavily involved

in research on DNA sequencing, and was last seen at around midnight on

November 16, leaving the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Advisory Dinner at The

Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Associates attending the dinner said he showed

no signs of intoxication, and no one has admitted to drinking with him. Body

found floating one month later. Workers at a hydroelectric plant in Louisiana

found the body of Don Wiley on Thursday, about 300 miles south of where the

molecular biologist was last seen on Nov. 18 at a medical meeting in Memphis.

On January 14, 2002 (almost two months later) Shelby County Medical Examiner

O.C. Smith announced that his department had ruled Dr. Wiley’s death to be

“accidental”; the result of massive injuries suffered in a fall from the Hernando de

Soto Bridge. Smith said there were paint marks on Wiley’s rental car similar to

the paint used on construction signs on the bridge, and that the car’s right front

hubcap was missing. There has been no report as to which construction signs

Dr. Wiley hit.

#28: Dr. Vladimer Pasechnik, age 64.

Died: December 23, 2001

. Found dead in Wiltshire, England, a village near his

home. Two different dates have been reported: November 21 and December

23. Death ruled stroke. He had defected from Russia to UK. He had been the

#1 scientist in the FSU’s bioweapons program. It was thought he was involved

with exhuming the bodies of the 10 London victims of the 1919 Type A flu

epidemic. Pasechnik died six weeks after the planned exhumations were

announced. On November 23, 2001, Pasechnik’s death was reported in the New

York Times as having occurred two days earlier. Pasechnik’s death was made in

the United States by Dr. Christopher Davis of Virginia, who stated that the cause

of death was a stroke. Dr. Davis was the member of British intelligence who debriefed

Dr. Pasechnik at the time of his defection. Pasechnik was heavily

involved in DNA sequencing research. He had just founded a company like three

other microbiologists working to provide powerful alternatives to antibiotics. Dr.

Vladimir Pasechnik was the boss of William C. Patrick III who holds 5 patents on

the militarized anthrax used by the United States. Patrick is now a private

biowarfare consultant to the military and CIA. Patrick developed the process by

which anthrax spores could be concentrated at the level of one trillion spores per

gram. No other country has been able to get concentrations above 500 billion per

gram. The anthrax that was sent around the eastern United States last fall was

concentrated at one trillion spores per gram.

#33: Dr. Vladamir “Victor” Korshunov, age 56. Died:

February 9, 2002.

Found dead on a Moscow street. Head was bashed in.

Korshunov was head of the microbiology sub-facility at the Russian State

Medical University. He was found dead in the entrance to his home with a head

injury. On Feb. 9 the Russian newspaper Pravda reported that Korshunov had

probably invented a vaccine protecting from any biological arm.

#38: Steven Mostow, age 63. Died: March 25, 2002.

One of

the country’s leading infectious disease and bioterrorism experts and was

associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He died in

a plane crash near Centennial Airport. He was known as “Dr. Flu” for his

expertise in treating influenza, and expertise on bioterrorism. Mostow was one of

the country’s leading infectious disease experts.

#49: Dr. Michael Patrick Kiley, age 62. Died: January 24, 2004.

Died of

massive heart attack. Ebola, Mad Cow Expert, top of the line world class. It is

interesting to note, he had a good heart, but it “gave out”. Dr. Shope and Dr.

Kiley were working on the lab upgrade to BSL 4 at the UTMB Galvaston lab for

Homeland Security. The lab would have to be secure to house some of the

deadliest pathogens of tropical and emerging infectious disease as well as

bioweaponized ones.

#48: Robert Shope, age 74. Died: January 23, 2004.

Virus Expert Who Warned of Epidemics, Dies died of lung transplant

complications. Later purported to have died of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

which can be caused by either environmental stimulus or a VIRUS. It would not

be hard to administer a drug that would cause Dr. Shope’s lung transplant to

either be rejected or to cause complications from the transplant. Dr. Shope led

the group of scientists who had an 11 MILLION dollar fed grant to ensure the

new lab would keep in the nasty bugs. Dr. Shope also met with and worked with

Dr. Mike Kiley on the UTMB Galveston lab upgrade to BSL 4. When the upgrade

would be complete the lab will host the most hazardous pathogens known to man

especially tropical and emerging diseases as well as bioweapons.

#50: Vadake Srinivasan, Died: March 13, 2004.

Microbiologist crashed car into

guard rail in Baton Rouge, LA. Death was ruled a stroke. He was originally from

India, was one of the most-accomplished and respected industrial biologists in

academia, and held two doctorate degrees.

#53: William T. McGuire, age 39. Found May 5, 2004, last seen late April

2004.

Body found in three suitcases floating in Chesapeake Bay. He was NJ

University Professor and Senior programmer analyst and adjunct professor at the

New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. He emerged as one of the world’s

leading microbiologists and an expert in developing and overseeing multiple

levels of biocontainment facilities.

#55: Antonina Presnyakova, age 46. Died: May 25, 2004.

A Russian

scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia died after an

accident with a needle laced with ebola. Scientists and officials said the accident

had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of

Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized

in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading

recipient of aid in an American program.

#57: Dr.Assefa Tulu

, age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

, age 45. Died: June 24, 2004.

Dr. Tulu joined the health

department in 1997 and served for five years as the county’s lone epidemiologist.

He was charged with trackcing the health of the county, including the spread of

diseases, such as syphilis, AIDS and measles. He also designed a system for

detecting a bioterrorism attack involving viruses or bacterial agents. Tulu often

coordinated efforts to address major health concerns in Dallas County, such as

the West Nile virus outbreaks of the past few years, and worked with the media

to inform the public. Found face down, dead in his office. The Dallas County

Epidemiologist died of a hemorrhagic stroke.

#58: Dr. Paul Norman, age 52. Died: June 27, 2004.

From Salisbury

Wiltshire. Killed when the single-engine Cessna 206 he was piloting crashed in

Devon. Expert in chemical and biological weapons. He traveled the world

lecturing on defending against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction. He

was married with a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and was the

chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at the Ministry of Defense’s

laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire. The crash site was examined by officials

from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the wreckage of the aircraft was

removed from the site to the AAIB base at Farnborough.

#61: Dr. Larry Bustard, age 53. Died July 2, 2004

from unknown causes. He

was a Sandia scientist in the Department of Energy who helped develop a foam

spray to clean up congressional buildings and media sites during the anthrax

scare in 2001. He worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. As an

expert in bioterrorism, his team came up with a new technology used against

biological and chemical agents.

#64: Dr. John Badwey, age 54. Died: July 21,

2004.

Scientist and accidental politician when he opposed disposal of sewage

waste program of exposing humans to sludge. Suddenly developed pneumonia

like symptoms then died in two weeks. Biochemist at Harvard Medical School

specializing in infectious diseases.

#68: John R. La Montagne, age 61. Died:

November 2, 2004.

Died while in Mexico, no cause stated, later disclosed as

pulmonary embolism. PhD, Head of US Infectious Diseases unit under Tommie

Thompson. Was NIAID Deputy Director. Expert in AIDS Program work and

Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Bird Flu Distributed by Dept. of Homeland Security, video, Abany NY, Menands New York, Fattah Muslim, 3 Star retired African American General, Power hour radio, Driver had shot to protect himself and family, 109th Air Guard, FEMA trains

This is from Repubx May 2, 2009:

“This report is chalk-full of explicit details. Notice the person reporting mentions a Muslim named “Fattah”, over-seeing the pick-ups of this stuff along with a 3 Star *retired* African American General.

The driver, Fattah, and the retired General all get paid handsomly in cash from funds at the Bank of America.

Bank of America just bought Countrywide Home-loans, who took the biggest hit during housing crisis that triggered the rest economy break-down. The Housing crisis was generated by Fannie Mae using the identical predatory lending scheme mastered by Obama’s Mother, Stanley A. Dunham, and her boss at the Ford Foundation – Tim Geithner’s (new Treasury Secretary) Dad – Paul Geithner.

Everything is done at night – trips to cities all over the US. Driver had shot to protect himself and family. He isn’t told any details of what he is transferring.

Everyone handling (pick-ups) the stuff are in full White suits – completely protected.

Higher-up NYPD officials were notified and replied by saying “This is bigger than both of us and we’re not touching it with a 10 foot Pole”.”

Read more:

http://216.221.102.26/blogger/post/Oops-Busted!-Compelling-video-report-says-Bird-Flu-Distributed-by-Dept-of-Homeland-Security.aspx

Obama, swine flu, H1N1 virus, CDC, United States, 1918 H1N1, Germany latest country, US scientists race to prepare a vaccine against new strain of flu

From ABC News, Friday, May 1, 2009:

“Overreaction? Will Swine Flu Become a Run-of-the-Mill Outbreak?

More Schools Continue to Close, Even if They Don’t Have Confirmed Cases of Flu”

“President Obama said today that while the United States is still preparing for the worst in the wake of the swine flu scare, the outbreak could end up falling short of a pandemic and run its course just “like ordinary flus” that pass through the country every winter.

“I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to manage this effectively,” Obama said.

“We don’t know for certain that this will end up being more severe than other flus,” he said. “It may turn out that H1N1 runs its course like ordinary flus.”

The head of the CDC’s influenza division Dr. Nancy Cox, said today that preliminary research suggests that the make up of this current virus is lacking some key components of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed between 30-50 million people and to which the new strain has recently been compared.

“What we have found by looking very carefully at the sequence of the new H1N1 virus is that we’re not seeing the markers for virulence that we saw in 1918 virus,” she said. But she added that scientists still may not know all they need to know about the 1918 H1N1 strain and are “continuing to look for virulence markers.”

Dr. Julie Gerberding, former head of the CDC, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that we “have to be careful not to over-rely on that kind of information because these flu viruses always evolve.”

“Officials still remain cautious about the outbreak. Friday afternoon a United Airlines flight from Germany to Washington D.C. was diverted to Boston after a passenger complained of flu-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, as more schools across the United States close in response to the swine flu outbreak, some estimate that a quarter of a million schoolchildren were out of school this morning.”

The CDC reports a total of 141 cases and one confirmed death in the United States, with more flu cases likely to come as state and federal health officials analyze samples.

 

The latest state to join the list of state-confirmed cases as of this afternoon was Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist said two cases of swine flu — an 11-year-old boy and the 17-year-old girl in different counties — had been verified.

On Friday, Germany became the latest country to report a swine flu infection. A total of 11 countries now have at least one case, and the number of confirmed cases is 331, according to the World Health Organization, up from 257 Thursday.

U.S. authorities have promised to produce enough swine flu vaccine for the country, but the it won’t be available until fall at the earliest.”

“U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Craig Vanderwagen told lawmakers that it would take several months before pilot tests on humans could ensure that any vaccine would be safe and effective against the flu. Assuming that everything goes well, mass production of the vaccine could begin in the fall.

“We think 600 million doses is achievable in a six-month time frame” from that fall start, he said, adding, “I don’t want anybody to have false expectations. The science is challenging here.”

Until then, the government has stockpiled anti-viral medicines to help ease symptoms of the flu and prevent further infection. So far, the medications are said to have worked effectively.

In the midst of concerns that the current outbreak could resurface as a new flu strain in the fall, U.S. authorities are now shipping millions of doses of anti-flu drugs to all states.”

“Did an Obama Staffer Bring the Virus to the U.S.?

The Obama administration may have had a brush with the swine flu outbreak after a member of the White House advance team on Obama’s recent trip to Mexico apparently came down with the disease.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the staff member, whom he did not identify, began to feel ill April 16 after he accompanied Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to Mexico in advance of Obama’s arrival. Two days later, Gibbs said the staff member returned to the United States on a United Airlines flight to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

On April 28, the individual’s wife, son and nephew tested positive for H1N1, Gibbs said, adding that samples had been sent to the CDC to determine if it is the same strain of H1N1 that now threatens to spark a global pandemic.”

“The first death from swine flu in the United States occurred Wednesday, when a 22-month-old baby boy in Texas died.

The worst hit state so far is New York, with 51 confirmed cases.”

“Swine Flu Ground Zero

With the flu spreading quickly in the United States and across the globe, the actions of Mexican health officials are under the microscope. Many health experts question whether the government has done enough to contain the flu.

Oscar Barrera, who was diagnosed with the flu Monday and prescribed Tamiflu, said he was sent home by medical officials and simply told to keep away from other people.

Barrera claimed that health officials did not test his pregnant wife and three-year-old son, or anyone in the cell phone shop where he worked, for the flu.

“What worries me most is if the officials don’t do enough to protect my family,” Barrera told ABC News.

According to Mexico’s health ministry, there now have been 12 confirmed deaths of the swine flu in Mexico, but roughly 176 deaths are suspected of having been caused by the virus. There are nearly 3,000 suspected cases.”

Read more:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/story?id=7477216&page=1

WHO to stop using swine flu name, H1N1 influenza A, World Health Organization announcement, April 30, 2009, confusion over the danger posed by pigs, Egypt slaughter of pigs, UN food agency concerns

From the Chicago Tribune April 30, 2009.

“WHO to stop using ‘swine flu’ name to avoid confusion over risk from pigs”

“The World Health Organization announced Thursday it will would stop using the term “swine flu” to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs. The policy shift came a day after Egypt began slaughtering thousands of pigs in a misguided effort to prevent swine flu.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency had expressed concerns that the term “swine flu” was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to ban pork products and order the slaughter of pigs.

“Rather than calling this swine flu … we’re going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A,” Thompson said.

The swine flu virus originated in pigs, and has genes from human, bird and pig viruses. Scientists don’t know exactly how it jumped to humans. In the current outbreak, WHO says the virus is being spread from human to human, not from contact with infected pigs.

 

Egypt began slaughtering its roughly 300,000 pigs Wednesday even though experts said swine flu is not linked to pigs and not spread by eating pork. Angry farmers protested the government decree.

In Paris, the World Organization for Animal Health said Thursday “there is no evidence of infection in pigs, nor of humans acquiring infection directly from pigs.”

Killing pigs “will not help to guard against public or animal health risks” presented by the virus and “is inappropriate,” the group said in a statement.”

“WHO also reported the number of confirmed swine flu cases rose to 257 worldwide Thursday, with cases in Mexico rising to 97 from 26, with seven deaths. The WHO confirmed tally from the United States now stands at 109, with one death.

Other confirmed cases include 34 in Canada, 13 in Spain, eight in Britain, three each in Germany and New Zealand, two in Israel and one each in Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/swineflu/sns-ap-un-who-swine-flu,0,7922234.story

Flu, avian flu, Baxter International, Indonesia avian flu, H5N1 virus, World Health Organization, WHO, Indonesia signed a memorandum of agreement with Baxter, February 7, 2007

Here is an interesting  tidbit about Baxter International, a company enmeshed in the controversy surrounding the swine flu pandemic. This news is from the NY Times dated February 7, 2007 and is another connection in common with Obama, Indonesia.

“Indonesia May Sell, Not Give, Bird Flu Virus to Scientists

Published: February 7, 2007”

“Indonesia, which has had more human cases of avian flu than any other country, has stopped sending samples of the virus to the World Health Organization, apparently because it is negotiating a contract to sell the samples to an American vaccine company, a W.H.O. official said yesterday.

The strains of the H5N1 virus circulating in Indonesia are considered crucial to developing up-to-date vaccines and following mutations in the virus. The official, Dr. David L. Heymann, said the agency was “clearly concerned” about the development and was in talks with Indonesia.

Dr. Heymann, the agency’s chief of communicable diseases, said he was not blaming the company involved, Baxter Healthcare of Deerfield, Ill. “But now that this has happened,” he said, “we have to sit down and figure out how to rectify it.”

Indonesia signed a memorandum of agreement with Baxter today.

A Baxter spokeswoman said the company had not asked Indonesia to stop cooperating with the W.H.O. She added that the agreement under negotiation would not give it exclusive access to Indonesian strains.

The virus has not yet mutated into a strain easily transmitted among humans. But it has infected 81 people in Indonesia, 63 of them fatally. It killed more people in 2006 than in any previous year and is out of control in poultry in Indonesia, Egypt and West Africa, so experts fear it as much as ever.”

““The W.H.O. should be their biggest friend. Indonesia has a virus with a 70 percent case fatality, and we don’t know why. If they want to work with the best laboratories in the world, they should make sure that virus samples can get out.”

With human cases breaking out in Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere, new pandemic flu vaccines could be produced from other strains, Dr. Monto added. Indonesia’s Asian neighbors are the most threatened by its outbreak and may press it to back down, he said.”

“The strains are usually rendered harmless by laboratories that consult with the W.H.O., and the genes responsible for the ability of the virus’s outer coat to invade cells are spliced to older, well-known strains. Then this “seed virus” is given free to private companies that produce millions of doses. ”

“The release of sequences — not the virus itself, but the pattern of nucleotides in its genes, which shows what mutations it has made — is a touchy subject because some scientists try to keep the data secret until they can publish scientific papers.”

Read more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/world/asia/07birdflu.html?ref=world