F*ck the bozos!
Posted on 04/25/2009 5:51:39 AM PDT by FreedomFighter1013
In a discussion this morning with a cell biologist and medical doctor working at Johns Hopkins, my friend thought this 4-part flu combination is highly unusual and looks like it could be man-made. Especially because it has an avian strain. My doctor friend (he's Taiwanese) explained that in Asia, it's common for a avian-swine-human flu to happen naturally, but this virus first showed up in Mexico, where pigs and ducks are not usually raised together. Also, recombination of more than 2-different flu viruses is extremely rare. I'm just repeating what he said as an expert in the field. He says the CDC needs to explain if there is a possibility that we are under a bio-weapon attack.
From CDC via Wikipedia: Anne Schuchat, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that the American cases were found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses -- North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza A virus subtype H1N1, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe. For two cases a complete genome sequence had been obtained. She said that the virus was resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, but susceptible to oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza).[22][23][24] Preliminary genetic characterization found that the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was similar to that of swine flu viruses present in U.S. pigs since 1999, but the neuraminidase (NA) and matrix protein (M) genes resembled versions present in European swine flu isolates. Viruses with this genetic makeup had not previously been found to be circulating in humans or pigs, but there is no formal national surveillance system to determine what viruses are circulating in pigs in the U.S.[25] The seasonal influenza strain H1N1 vaccine is thought to be unlikely to provide protection.[26]
“If we get slammed with a major flu pandemic, things will get nasty quickly.”
Not all that long ago, we were seeing a lot of PSAs being run regarding a flu pandemic. They were produced in such a manner that they were scary to kids and the adults were wondering why the need for such drama as opposed to just stating facts in a non-dramatic way. Did anyone else see them? I haven’t seen them run lately but then again, I’ve been staying away from the television.
It could be another Baptism - of TERRORISM.....!
Ping for later
I didn’t care for the movie much either, but Brad Pitt cracked me up doing his nut case schtick.
You are probably right, and the vaccine given to them would just be wasted, in the process diverted from someone it might actually help.
Vaccines merely activate the immune system. HIV/AIDS people essentially have no immune system to activate.
Paraphrasing from one of the many articles about concerns of security at bio-labs throughout the world
It is worrying that WHO & CDC cannot account for whereabouts of live virus samples within and outside the US. Chances of virus ending up in hands of terrorists or just simply incompetants is troubling.
So, what are you saying, we shouldn’t be concerned? At all? I’m not saying panic, just saying it might be man-made. This virus has mutated in a very deadly way at least twice before, 1918 and 1976.
Bump to myself
I read in another related article somewhere that some of those NY school kids were in Mexico for Spring Break.
_______________________
There were warnings everywhere not to go to Mexico. Maybe if the media had done their job instead of fawning over Obama for (pick a reason), those warnings might have been better received.
Here’s some proof:
On antigenic drift, from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigenic_drift
“As in all RNA viruses, mutations in influenza occur frequently because the virus’ RNA polymerase has no proofreading mechanism, providing a strong source of mutations. Mutations in the surface proteins allow the virus to elude some host immunity, and the numbers and locations of these mutations that confer the greatest amount of immune escape has been an important topic of study for over a decade[3][4][5].
Antigenic drift has been responsible for heavier-than-normal flu seasons in the past, like the outbreak of influenza H3N2 variant A/Fujian/411/2002 in the 2003 - 2004 flu season. All influenza viruses experience some form of antigenic drift, but it is most pronounced in the influenza A virus.
Antigenic drift should not be confused with antigenic shift, which refers to reassorment of the virus’ gene segments. As well, it is different from random genetic drift which is a very different but important process in population genetics.”
“In the influenza virus, the two relevant genes are the surface proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. The hemagglutinin is responsible for entry into host epithelial cells while the neuraminidase is involved in the process of new virions budding out of host cells. The host immune response to viral infection is largely determined by the immune system’s recognition of these influenza antigens. Vaccine mismatch is a potentially serious problem. Antigenic Drift is the continuous process of genetic and antigenic change among flu strains.?
F*ck the bozos!
You are right; he earned a PHD in Biology in the early 1980’s and constantly talked about the subject yesterday on his show. Says that the BORDERS should have been closed immediately.
I don't recall such urgent statements about crossover viruses in the past.
Of course we should be concerned. I was merely pointing out that a random mutation does not have a 50% chance of making the disease more deadly to humans. I don’t know what the numbers are, but the chance is a great deal lower than that. The reason pandemics are rare is that only an occasional mutation is able to easily infect people.
Flu is a poor choice for a bio-weapon, since it mutates so readily. You could come up with a highly efficient killer and it promptly mutates to relative harmlessness when released.
An efficient bio-weapon would lock in the deadly characteristics. There are a great many other organisms that are more likely as a basis for such a weapon.
Holy crap!
“Interesting perspective but it looks like there is only a 2% mortality rate so far. I would think a bio terrorist bug would kill more people. Unless of course this is just a test run.”
Even if it isn’t an attack or a test run for an attack — terrorists have been given yet another bright idea for attacking us...and for doing so in a way that doesn’t require passports or going through U.S. background checks.
2. Seal the Mexican border.
3. Nuke Beijing and Tehran.
4. Waterboard Immelt and a few of the other "free traitors"; follow up with Predator strikes on Soros and a couple of others.
5. Cancel the H1-B and L1 visa programs.
6. Stealth bomber strikes on the U.N. building.
7. Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Robert Bork on the Supreme Court.
8. Rush Limbaugh as the Presidential Press Secretary.
9. Lock Jack Kevorkian and Ted Kennedy in a room together. Sell the video feed on pay-per-view.
10. Repeal the 13th Amendment.
11. Vote Massachusetts, Vermont, and the San Franciso-to-Seattle portion of the Northwest out of the Union: cede them to Canada.
12. Abolish Roe v. Wade by Executive Order.
/sarc>
(Hey, if the left can take advantage of a crisis, so can we!)
I had scarlet fever as a child as well. Nasty stuff, isn’t it? I remember hallucinating for days and people’s voices sounded like that teacher on Charlie Brown..’Wha..wha wha’.
Well, it’s probably border AND boarder.
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