
Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ? Brent Jessop \|\| March 15, 2006 Expect H5N1 virus in Canada soon: UN. This is the headline at CBC News the other day. The article begins with “The dangerous H5N1 form of the bird flu virus could reach Canada and the rest of North America within six to 12 months” and this essentially sets the tone of the article which is filled with all kinds of examples from around the world where birds and the odd person have died. Links to previous articles like how the Bird flu now bigger challenge than AIDS, says WHO are also included. Is this really a concern, or is this just a bunch of fear mongering? I am no expert on the bird flu, but I can connect a few dots here and there. First of all the bird flu has killed 96 people in about three years. Most of those people were living in direct contact with the birds. Let’s try and put this number in a little perspective. H5N1 Bird Flu – 3 years and 96 people dead worldwide. Regular Influenza – 36,000 people die each year in the US alone. AIDS – Worldwide 3.1 million died in 2005 including 570,000 children. From this perspective it does not look like the bird flu is currently anything to fear. But could this bird flu change into something contagious between humans? Gary Butcher has been an extension veterinarian at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1988. He was trained as a veterinarian specializing in avian diseases, and has a Ph.D. in poultry virology. He said, "for it to become dangerous to humans, it has to go through a pretty significant genetic change. If you put this in perspective, it's not going to happen. For a person to be infected now, it appears that the exposure level has to be astronomical" [Source] Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist and associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, is one physician who isn't buying into the scare scenario. "If anything is contagious right now, it's judgment clouded by fear," Siegel said. And if Americans are scared of avian flu now, Siegel continues, "imagine what will happen if a single scrawny, flu-ridden migratory bird somehow manages to reach our shores." That, he maintains, is how the fear epidemic - as opposed to a flu pandemic - spreads. [Source] "The idea of a pandemic among humans is something from science fiction," Spanish Agricultural Minister Elena Espinosa said on the private radio station Cadena Ser. Currently the bird flu is "solely and exclusively a veterinary problem," said Espinosa. So why would anyone hype up a disease like this if it is not a real threat to people? The two most obvious beneficiaries would be the media and the drug manufacturers. More people are going to watch the news if there is a pandemic of biblical proportions on its way. The drug was developed by a Californian biotech company, Gilead Sciences. It is now made and sold by the giant chemical company Roche, which pays it a royalty on every tablet sold, currently about a fifth of its price. “The firm made a loss in 2003, the year before concern about bird flu started. Then revenues from Tamiflu almost quadrupled, to $44.6m, helping put the company well into the black. Sales almost quadrupled again, to $161.6m last year. During this time the share price trebled.” [Source] Donald Rumsfeld is also in on the action, he has sold about $5 million of Gilead Science stock and still owns about $25 million worth. He was on the board of directors before leaving for Washington. Just remember all of the other society destroyers that came before the bird flu: SARS, West Nile, Mad Cow, African Killer Bees… Related - Tamiflu 'useless' against avian flu Related - Jabs for everyone if avian flu pandemic strikes? About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ?

Brent Jessop || March 15, 2006

Expect H5N1 virus in Canada soon: UN. This is the headline at CBC News the other day. The article begins with “The dangerous H5N1 form of the bird flu virus could reach Canada and the rest of North America within six to 12 months” and this essentially sets the tone of the article which is filled with all kinds of examples from around the world where birds and the odd person have died. Links to previous articles like how the Bird flu now bigger challenge than AIDS, says WHO are also included.

Is this really a concern, or is this just a bunch of fear mongering?

I am no expert on the bird flu, but I can connect a few dots here and there. First of all the bird flu has killed 96 people in about three years. Most of those people were living in direct contact with the birds. Let’s try and put this number in a little perspective.

H5N1 Bird Flu – 3 years and 96 people dead worldwide.

Regular Influenza – 36,000 people die each year in the US alone.

AIDS – Worldwide 3.1 million died in 2005 including 570,000 children.

From this perspective it does not look like the bird flu is currently anything to fear. But could this bird flu change into something contagious between humans?

Gary Butcher has been an extension veterinarian at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine since 1988. He was trained as a veterinarian specializing in avian diseases, and has a Ph.D. in poultry virology. He said, "for it to become dangerous to humans, it has to go through a pretty significant genetic change. If you put this in perspective, it's not going to happen. For a person to be infected now, it appears that the exposure level has to be astronomical" [Source]

Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist and associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, is one physician who isn't buying into the scare scenario.

"If anything is contagious right now, it's judgment clouded by fear," Siegel said.

And if Americans are scared of avian flu now, Siegel continues, "imagine what will happen if a single scrawny, flu-ridden migratory bird somehow manages to reach our shores."

That, he maintains, is how the fear epidemic - as opposed to a flu pandemic - spreads. [Source]

"The idea of a pandemic among humans is something from science fiction," Spanish Agricultural Minister Elena Espinosa said on the private radio station Cadena Ser. Currently the bird flu is "solely and exclusively a veterinary problem," said Espinosa. Rumsfeld Poo

So why would anyone hype up a disease like this if it is not a real threat to people? The two most obvious beneficiaries would be the media and the drug manufacturers. More people are going to watch the news if there is a pandemic of biblical proportions on its way. The drug was developed by a Californian biotech company, Gilead Sciences. It is now made and sold by the giant chemical company Roche, which pays it a royalty on every tablet sold, currently about a fifth of its price.

“The firm made a loss in 2003, the year before concern about bird flu started. Then revenues from Tamiflu almost quadrupled, to $44.6m, helping put the company well into the black. Sales almost quadrupled again, to $161.6m last year. During this time the share price trebled.” [Source]

Donald Rumsfeld is also in on the action, he has sold about $5 million of Gilead Science stock and still owns about $25 million worth. He was on the board of directors before leaving for Washington.

Just remember all of the other society destroyers that came before the bird flu: SARS, West Nile, Mad Cow, African Killer Bees…

Related - Tamiflu 'useless' against avian flu

Related - Jabs for everyone if avian flu pandemic strikes?