Posted on 11/24/2005 2:51:06 PM PST by Termite_Commander
A respected Japanese scientist, who works with the World Health Organization, says 300 people have died of H5N1 bird flu in China, including seven cases caused by human-to-human transmission.
He says he was given the information in confidence by Chinese colleagues who have been threatened with arrest if they disclosed the extent of the problem.
The allegations, which he revealed at a meeting in Germany, contrast sharply with China’s official position. It reports three confirmed cases of H5N1 in people: a boy in Hunan province who recovered, and two women who died in Anhui province, the latest of which was announced on Thursday. There may be another probable case in Hunan.
But Masato Tashiro, head of virology at Tokyo’s National Institute of Infectious Disease – a WHO-collaborating centre for bird flu – told the meeting of virologists in Marburg, Germany, on 19 November that “we have been systematically deceived”. His comments were reported in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
He told the stunned meeting, called to mark the retirement of a senior German virologist, that there have been “several dozen” outbreaks in people, 300 confirmed deaths and 3000 people placed in isolation with suspected cases.
Severe restrictions Tashiro could not be reached for comment today. The newspaper reported that he said the numbers came from sources he trusted, while he was in Hunan province for the WHO, working with Chinese investigators on the recent H5N1 outbreak there.
He said five Chinese medical personnel had been arrested for trying to report these cases, according to the paper. China enforced severe restrictions on the investigation and reporting of suspected cases of bird flu in June 2005.
“These rumours have been investigated, and we’ve been told by the Chinese Ministry of Health that there’s no foundation to them,” Dick Thompson, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, told New Scientist.
Emergency workers Virologists consider the relative absence of human cases of bird flu in China unusual, given its widespread infection in birds. China has reported poultry outbreaks in twenty counties all across the country since mid-October, the latest being on Thursday.
The WHO told the official Chinese news agency Xinhua last week that the virus causing the outbreak in Hunan is the same as the one in Vietnam and Thailand, where H5N1 has caused 113 confirmed human cases and 55 deaths so far.
There are other unconfirmed reports of human cases in China. Boxun News, an independent Chinese website, reported this week that 77 workers brought in to help control rampant H5N1 outbreaks in poultry in Liaoning province in November have died of the virus, listing 14 names.
Boxun reported the extent of the outbreak in wild birds at Qinghai Lake in central China in May, and alleged then that 120 people had been put in stringent hospital isolation in a nearby town, possibly with bird flu.
lol
Duck tape... does that work like flypaper?
You'll have to go out and throw the tape out once it's covered with H5N1-infected ducks.
=P
So they've still got like a billion more of the chain-smoking commie buggers, right? It's not like they're going to run out.
Whoever chose the location for a meeting of the H5N1 'pandemic' meeting sure has a sense of humor.
*snicker*
That's not a very nice thing to say.
I noticed that too.
(I'm glad it's not "goose tape". I loathe geese...)
Here's the link to the Avian Flu Preparedness thread, lots of home remedies, links to stuff like N95 mask purveyors and essential oils, articles about various drugs, and even a recipe or two.
Oh, about elderberries - apparently there is an elderberry based flu remedy called Sambucol that has a very good reputation. Judith Anne has them growing wild, and posted her recipe. I got dried ones, now have to figure out how to make some extract out of it...probably simmer them, strain, add vodka and sugar or honey, and bottle up and put in the fridge. If it helps, why not? I can't afford Tamiflu and I'm the type to always get all the bad side effects!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453571/posts?q=1&&page=201
Avian Flu Preparedness Project
(Reminds me I need to put a couple of links about herbs on there.)
Happy Thanks Giving! Hope everyone got pumpkin pie, I didn't (sniff).
If I'm not mistaken (and I have been known to be, once or twice...), Marburg has some big virology study center or something, and that's why the Marburg virus got it's name. Some researchers there got it, IIRC one died, so "Marburg virus" got noticed.
You are correct.
If you click the two links I just posted on the Surveillance thread (link a couple of comments above), an herb guy explains that we should want our immune systems up and running enough to not get sick, and if we do, there's stuff that can curb the over-reaction. I can't remember any more, gotta read it again.
But that's something that I've been wondering about for a while. I usually get the flu almost every year, and I'm usually out for several weeks. Crummy immune system. So I should be just fine with the Avian Flu! Maybe? Anyway, I'm going to study up and see if I can grasp the concept.
One thing I note for those preparing at home is that the flu expert says that when one family member gets the bird flu, Tamiflu should be immediately given to all the OTHER family members. That it would work best that way. Interesting.
I did get the cold. Once I felt that fatigue and tickle, I knew I was in for my usual 3-kleenex-box-burner of a week. I started taking the Sambucol 3-4x a day. And to my surprise, I never got any cough, and I only used about 1/4 of one Kleenex box. I slept well. I was extra tired, of course, and had that "sick, fevery" feeling (though I didn't run an actual fever) from time to time, but in 3 days all symptoms were gone. It was a tremendous improvement over all previous colds.
Thanks for that link. I made some comments on the other thread, the Avian Flu Surveillance Thread, about the articles.
I thought I was asleep for the night, but the dogs woke me up. *sigh*
Thanks for your report! I need to brew up my elderberries. When I actually get sick is not the time.
I also did an experiment. I started coming down with either a very bad cold or a flu-like thing about a week ago. I had a new batch of herbs (I'm something of an amateur herbalist) so I made a new formula. I'm kind of skating through this illness much, MUCH easier than I usually do. I'm the kind that gets sick first, stays sick the longest, and has the worst symptoms.
Come ON!.
I thought we already had a translation on some of this account?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1524497/posts
Sorry; I didn't see that.
Glad your herbal thing is working for you. At least the Sambucol doesn't taste too bad. I definitely will use it again when the next cold comes around. Why didn't I try any of these natural remedies before? "Thank you, Avian Flu!" LOL. (Not that it's really a laughing matter...)
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