Bird Flu Epidemic is a Hoax
Following are four articles written by Dr. Mercola from 2005-2007…
Article #1 - Bird Flu Epidemic is a Hoax
A draft of the government’s plan to combat a potential super-flu estimates a death toll of up to almost 2 million Americans. The plan is being rewritten to designate who will run the country during a possibly chaotic period that could follow a mutation of a bird flu in Asia.
The draft is based on the last century’s three pandemics, and states that in the best-case scenario, about 200,000 people could die.
The government currently has enough of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu to treat 4.3 million people, and $100 million worth of bird flu vaccine is being manufactured. The draft indicates that tens of millions more doses of each would be necessary, far more than can be manufactured quickly.
Dr. Mercola’s Comment:
If you have been viewing the media you must have seen the scare the media and the president are seeking to orchestrate on you and the public. According to a draft of the government’s plan to fight a potentially cataclysmic pandemic, this new bird super-flu could kill nearly 2 MILLION Americans.
But I nearly fell out of my seat in the airplane as I was flying back from a conference in Ft. Lauderdale when I read that in the BEST-case scenario, only 200,000 people might die.
Then they post the frightening picture from the 1918 flu epidemic to heighten the fear. It just amazes me how they can get away with this type of reporting that is so obviously manipulated by the government and drug companies to scare you into taking the flu vaccine.
The popular media continues to reinforce this unbased fear. In the editorial section of the October 17, 2005 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Henry Miller, former director of the Office of Biotechnology at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeks to frighten the U.S. public by telling us that the bird flu virus can jump from birds to humans and produce, and is a fatal illness in 50 percent of those infected.
Ah, there’s the rub.
A 50 percent fatality rate sounds pretty scary to me. What Dr. Miller and the other experts fail to explain is how these numbers were derived. Did they examine everyone who contracted the bird flu and use those numbers, or did they examine the sickest of the sick who had come down with the bird flu and determine the mortality rate from there? Of course, it was the latter, and from the 60 people who have died from this in THIRD-world countries we are being told that anywhere from 200,000, AT BEST, to 2 million people at worst will die from the bird flu.
This is shoddy science at best and beyond belief that any reputable scientist could get away with such nonsense.
Daily Show Parody
Fortunately, contemporary comedians can see right through this nonsense. Here are the links to Jon Stewart’s scathing and brilliant Daily Show piece on bird flu. But I have to warn you that it may cause you to hurt yourself from laughing so hard, especially the World Health expert comments on the bird flu killing 150 million people and even funnier comment of George Bush on bird-to-people transmission.
Quicktime Link (106 MB) MP3 Link (6.7 MB)
What Happened to Common Sense?
The bird flu epidemic hoax reminds me just how uncommon “common sense” is. Folks, where is the sound basic science here? How do they make the giant leap of faith that 60 deaths will translate to 2 million or even 200,00 deaths in the United States from a virus that does NOT readily spread from birds to humans, or humans to humans?
Most of the people who acquired this infection were bird handlers who were in continuous contact with these sick birds. Does anyone in their right mind envision similar circumstances in the United States?
Research like this would typically be thrown in the trash if it did not strongly support some ulterior purpose.
What might the purpose of these scare tactics be you ask?
Well how about the United States purchasing huge quantities of antiviral drugs and an increase in flu vaccine production, along with purchasing 20 million doses of the highly questionably effective Tamiflu. Guess how much one treatment of Tamiflu costs? Give yourself a slap on the back if you guessed $100.
So those 20 million doses the government has authorized will cost U.S. taxpayers $2 BILLION.
If you haven’t yet read the lead story about Donald Rumsfeld[Article #2 below] in this issue, please do as you will where a significant portion of those funds are being directed to.
Now I think very few of us would mind if this drug actually worked and prevented even a few people from dying. But does it do that? Not really. About all anyone can expect from this drug is that it might make the symptoms a bit less severe. On the downside, (aside from setting you back $100) Dr. Tenpenny explained in her Flu TeleClinic last week that Tamiflu can actually cause the virus to mutate into a more dangerous and potent viral strain.
What they were really saying is they could care less about the public. What their primary focus was on was to not share their windfall profits mandated by the U.S. Congress.
Worthless Flu Shots
Of course, let us not forget the flu shots that many will get when they confuse bird flu with the regular flu. Please understand, even if you believe the flu shots work, the flu shot you can now purchase is in no way, shape or form designed to protect you against the bird flu. They are completely different strains. (Bird flu is H5N1 strain).
But rest assured the makers of flu vaccines will not lose this unusal opportunity to rape the American public for even more profits. Recently we learned that those getting the flu shotsmay see a 25 percent increase in prices at clinics, doctors’ offices and medical centers because of increases in the wholesale cost of the vaccines.
History Repeats Itself
Investigative journalist Ida Honorof for decades published a consumer newsletter and broadcast a regular radio program. Honorof received a first prize award from Associated Press for investigative journalism. The Los Angeles Times and other publications credited her with breaking some of the biggest horror stories of our time.
Ida Honorof wrote, “The most brazen, obscene electioneering ploy ever” and added that it was proposed by the President “and his coterie of scientific hacks, fabricated to cause pure unadulterated panic and guarantee political capital, rammed through without consideration of people’s health and lives and approved by a band-wagon Congress” eager to make the nation’s “health” a bipartisan concern.
The above quote was not written about the bird flu epidemic but the 5 million swine-flu vaccine program of 30 years ago. The hastily contrived program for swine flu resulted in hundreds of Guillain Barre Syndrome paralysis victims as well as countless deaths for a flu pandemic that never materialized.
The pocketbook purloining proposed by the Senate is more than 3,000 percent greater than that of 30 years ago! Has your paycheck increased 3,000 percent in the last 30 years?
Practical Options
First step for anyone caught up in this bird flu hype nonsense is to take a deep breath and relax and realize the truth here. Unless you are a full-time bird handler in a third-world country who has a seriously challenged immune system you probably have a much better chance of wining the lottery than dying from the proposed bird flu epidemic.
More importantly, The Great Bird Flu Hoax exposes what you should REALLY be worried about (truths that have a profound impact on the health and safety of you and your loved ones) and provides you with health solutions to optimize your immune system … so you need not worry about bird flu hype or about the real health threats such as cancer, heart disease and other genuine health issues.
Source: www.mercola.com - 2005
Article #2 - Rumsfeld To Profit From Bird Flu Hoax
Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up. Not long ago, President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic, but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.
This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations.
So the U.S. placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion.
We are being told that Roche manufactures Tamiflu and, in a recent New York Times article, they were battling whether or not they would allow generic drug companies to help increase their production.
But if you dig further you will find that a drug was actually developed by a company called Gilead that 10 years ago gave Roche the exclusive rights to market and sell Tamiflu.
Ahh, The Plot Thickens…
If you read this link from Gilead, you’ll discover Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was made the chairman of Gilead in 1997.
Since Rumsfeld holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2 billion of Tamiflu.
Finally Medical Journal Admits the Truth
This week’s British Medical Journal has an editorial on the bird flu in which they state the following:
“The lack of sustained human-to-human transmission suggests that this AH5N1 avian virus does not currently have the capacity to cause a human pandemic”
While they do go on to say the virus could mutate with the influenza A virus and has the potential to acquire the means for rapid human to human transmission, it does NOT have this ability now. All the preparation and fear being created in the media is about a theoretical speculation.
Now I am a former Boy Scout and fully believe in being prepared, but this is nothing even close to following recommendations made by experts to New Orleans that if implemented would have saved 1000 lives and half a million homes and well over 100 billion dollars from Hurricane Katrina.
No this is all about creating fear and panic to benefit the drug companies. Now, I am still not opposed to being prepared for this potential bird flu pandemic. It is POSSIBLE it might materialize. But if it did there is no way that the flu vaccine or Tamiflu will mitigate its damage. No way.
Source: www.mercola.com - 2006
Article #3 - Donald Rumsfeld Rakes in $5 Million For Tamiflu
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has made more than $5 million from selling shares in the firm that discovered and developed the flu drug Tamiflu.
He also retains shares worth $25 million or more. Tamiflu is bought in mass quantities by the government in order to treat a predicted outbreak of avian flu.
The drug was developed by Gilead Sciences. Mr. Rumsfeld was on the board of Gilead between 1988 and 2001, and was chairman starting in 1997. When he left to join the Bush administration, he retained a large shareholding .
In 2003, the year before concerns about bird flu began, the company took a loss. But in 2004, Tamiflu sales nearly quadrupled, and then nearly quadrupled again in 2005.
Divestiture of his stocks in the corporation is not required by the Office of Government Ethics or the Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office.
Common Dreams.org March 12, 2006
Dr. Mercola’s Comment:
Some people may feel I have a grudge against the US Republican party. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a non-partisan issue.
The fact is that government is controlling the media that justifies them purchasing large amounts of drugs for an non-existent epidemic that personally benefits the current U.S. Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. The issue would be the same whatever his political party.
This is nothing new here for Mr. Rumsfeld as he has a long history of dabbling in health chicanery. At G.D. Searle he facilitated FDA approval for Nutrasweet.
More recently he served as head of Gilead Sciences, the company that developed, then leased the rights to Roche Pharmaceuticals, to the worthless flu drug Tamiflu.
When I wrote about Rumsfeld in December it was unclear just how much stock he held and how much it was worth. Now we know.
So far, Rumsfeld has made a “killing” (pun intended) on the stock market, and the estimations that set the current value of his remaining stock at $25 million are likely to be well under their actual value, considering Roche’s decision to expand Tamiflu production.
Sadly, current ethics rules in American government don’t prevent Rumsfeld from owning stocks or making money from health-harming substances like Tamiflu or aspartame, even though he likely has some say in their purchase or approval by the government, and therefore their stock value.
No surprise, since drug companies use their largesse to buy favors and influence from Congress and the White House.
The most ironic thing about all of this is that not only is the “avian flu pandemic” a hoax for which there is no evidence, but Tamiflu can actually cause the flu virus to mutate into a more dangerous and potent viral strain, and may have even worse side effects.
Avian flu does NOT readily spread from birds to humans or humans to humans. Most of the (very few) people who have acquired this infection were bird handlers who were in continuous contact with sick birds.
Does anyone in their right mind envision similar circumstances in the United States? Research like this would typically be thrown in the trash if it did not strongly support some ulterior purpose.
Source: www.mercola.com - 2006
Article #4 - More Evidence Bird Flu is a Hoax
An international conference of 400 experts in Verona, Italy concurred that there is no sign yet that the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus has mutated to allow person-to-person infection.
H5N1 has killed scores of people worldwide, and has been found in 11 countries this year, but almost all the people who have come down with the virus have been shown to have been infected through contact with domestic birds.
It was also noted at the conference that the H5N1 virus has been found in only a few birds in Italy itself, even though the country is a major migration route for birds traveling from Africa to Europe.
Heartland Outdoorsman.com March 23, 2007
Dr. Mercola’s Comment:
It’s been nearly a year since I asked rhetorically, whatever happened to the bird flu epidemic that never came? And, we’re still waiting.
President Bush warned that in the United States alone anywhere from 200,000 (at best!) to 2 million people at worst would die from the bird flu. How do they make the giant leap of faith that the very few deaths so far worldwide will translate to 2 million or even 200,000 deaths from a virus that does NOT readily spread from birds to humans, or humans to humans?
To this date the has not been one single person who has caught this from another human. Virtually every reported case was in a third-world country in which those who were infected had close contact with sick birds.
And why were these birds sick? Not because of some terrible lethal virus. Quite the contrary my friends. It was largely because they were raised under factory-farming conditions that, combined with the terrible food they were given, weakened their immune systems and allowed them to come down with this deadly infection.
Interestingly, this is very similar to the way that many humans actually get sick. The take-home message here, folks, is that it is in no way, shape or form the virus that is the cause of the infection, it is the weakened immune system that results from following or choosing an unhealthy lifestyle.
But the drug companies and secondarily the governments they control will rarely miss an opportunity to use these scare tactics.
Even though the experts at the Italian conference knew this, that fact didn’t stop them from discussing ways to prevent the avian flu from spreading, namely by using vaccines nobody needs that don’t work anyway. They also conveniently forgot that even vaccinating poultry wasn’t a foolproof solution either.
All of which neatly points to the reason for the scare tactics — kickbacks to drug companies. Their drugs may be useless, but the massive windfall from government contracts to help “prepare” against avian flu has helped their bottom lines nicely, not to mention the profits of their allies in the government.
You’ll learn more about the hidden agenda behind the avian flu epidemic that never came after reading The Great Bird Flu Hoax: The Truth They Don’t Want You to Know About the “Next Big Pandemic.”
Source: www.mercola.com - 2007