UNEX WHO, flu experts looking into claim H1N1 swine flu evolved in lab, not nature

[Spirit Of Truth]

WHO, flu experts looking into claim H1N1 swine flu evolved in lab, not nature

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hyqTxJlWHlv1yLyo-yETVjbOFroQ

1 hour ago

TORONTO — The World Health Organization and leading influenza research groups are investigating unpublished claims that the new H1N1 swine flu virus may have evolved in a laboratory, not in nature.

The Geneva-based agency was informed of the pending publication over the weekend by the author, a retired Australian virologist named Adrian Gibbs.

It scrambled to draw in researchers from leading human and animal influenza laboratories around the world in a bid to determine if the claim has merit and if it does, whether that changes the advice WHO gives member countries on the threat posed by the new H1N1 swine flu virus.

The WHO's leading flu scientist said the consultation is still ongoing and a conclusion hasn't been reached, but the weight of evidence so far suggests the theory isn't correct.

"I think the preliminary analyses certainly suggest there are other explanations and that the explanation suggested by the author is not the best one," Dr. Keiji Fukuda, acting assistant director general for health security and environment, said in an interview from Geneva.

Fukuda said at least one WHO collaborating centre for influenza, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, has done an extensive analysis of available genetic sequence data for swine influenza viruses. That work does not support the claim made by Gibbs, he said.

Researchers at Cambridge University who specialize in the evolution of influenza viruses also challenge the hypothesis, Fukuda said. "They also feel that there are alternate explanations for this."

Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Gibbs plans to publish online a scientific report saying the never-before-seen virus may have evolved in eggs.

Eggs are used in laboratories and in vaccine manufacturing to grow up quantities of influenza viruses.

If the virus had spent time evolving in eggs, it would suggest it was not solely the creation of nature but may have been accidentally or deliberately engineered in a lab.

If that were the case, it would of course raise questions about how something constructed in a lab ended up circulating in humans in at least 30 countries around the globe.

"If there was evidence that it was an egg-derived isolate, then that means it's been handled in a laboratory. And if it's been handled in a laboratory, then there are different possibilities that you have to think of," Fukuda said.

"Was this developed in part as a vaccine virus? Was this developed as some sort of research project? And in those instances, was it released on purpose? Was it an accidental release? What would be the circumstances?"

Gibbs apparently claims that the virus bears the hallmarks of having undergone "accelerated evolution" such as what happens when flu viruses try to adapt to growth in eggs.

But the head of the CDC's influenza division, Dr. Nancy Cox, said her labs and others cannot find evidence to support the claim that the virus has undergone accelerated evolution.

Italian influenza researcher Dr. Ilaria Capua said there is too little known about swine influenza virus evolution to make the claim in the first place.

Capua, who runs an international reference laboratory for avian influenza in Padua, said Gibbs argues that the virus had accumulated mutations known to be seen in laboratory manipulation of viruses, specifically growth in eggs.

But she said the same mutations have been noted in a swine flu virus isolated from a pig in Italy. "So it can occur spontaneously in nature."

"There is not enough scientific evidence to build this reasoning," Capua said. "This virus could have generated itself by many ways: In swine or in another host or God or laboratory manipulation or whatever. But we just cannot say."

"This is not how science works. Science works by building a case. And in this case, at least from what I've read, there isn't enough information to build that case."

--------------------

Here are my blogs on the possibility that the Swine Flu is man-made:

http://thespiritoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-swine-flu-pandemic-man-made.html

http://thespiritoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/04/pandemic-alert-possible-bioterrorism.html

 

[Richard]

Probably true but a failure!

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Probably true but a failure!

Possibly. It is still spreading exponentially, so this bug could be a disabling force....especially in the world economy. However, the apparently low mortality rate is indicative of 'failure' in terms of biological warfare, although the mortality rate in Mexico is the same as that as the 1918 Spanish Flu up to now....2.5%. However, Mexico's confirmed cases might only be hospitalized or seriously ill flu victims, so the numbers are skewed.

It is also possible that the swine flu to-date is simply laying the groundwork for something more vicious in the future....a highly lethal variant, for example. Certainly, if this is a man-made flu strain, then there are likely more concoctions at the biowar-maker's disposal.

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

H1N1 swine flu virus is a man-made product, claims scientist

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/pil...virus-is-a-man-made-product-claims-scientist/

Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 21:34

WHO has begun probing the claim that H1N1 may have evolved while growing virus in labs for making vaccines.

The swine flu causing H1N1 virus that is threatening to wreak havoc in the world through unleashing a pandemic may have been created in a lab as a result of a human error.

H1N1 virus could have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drug makers while making vaccines, said Adrian Gibbs, an Australian researcher.

Adrian Gibbs, who worked with the Swiss drug maker Roche research to develop the high profile flu drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), said he came across this while working to trace the H1N1’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

“It could be a mistake” that occurred at a vaccine production facility or the virus could have jumped from a pig to another mammal or a bird before reaching humans, Gibbs stated in an interview report by Bloomberg.

Adrian Gibbs is well-versed in germ evolution as he has more than 40 years of exposure in this area. Gibbs authored more than 250 scientific publications on viruses during his career at the Australian National University in Canberra, according to biographical information on the university’s Web site.

Gibbs is among the first scientists to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus that was identified three weeks ago in Mexico.

Gibbs and two colleagues analyzed the publicly available sequences of hundreds of amino acids coded by each of the flu virus’s eight genes.

Gibbs is planning to publish his findings in a in a medical journal.

According to Gibbs, by pinpointing the source of the virus, scientists also may better understand the microbe’s potential for spreading and causing illness.

Meanwhile, WHO is reviewing Gibb’s report that was submitted last week.

If the virus has originated from lab experimentation or vaccine production it could turn out to be more lethal and warrant indicate a greater need for security, Fukuda said Keiji Fukuda, the agency’s assistant director-general of health security and environment.

The WHO’s collaborative influenza research centers and sites in Memphis, Melbourne, London and Tokyo, were asked by the international health agency to review the study over the weekend, Fukuda said.

WHO also made requests to scientists at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, as well as the WHO’s influenza network.

However, Gibbs arguments have not gone down very well among the scientific community.“We are interested in the origins of this new influenza virus,” said Nancy Cox, director of the agency’s influenza division, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which received the report.

“But contrary to what the author has found, when we do the comparisons that are most relevant, there is no evidence that this virus was derived by passage in eggs,” she was quoted as saying.

Swine flu has already spread to 30 countries and infected 5,251 people, so far. Sixty-one people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica. The US confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Research is underway to determine whether the virus will mutate and become more deadly if it spreads to the Southern Hemisphere. Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the disease to which few people have immunity evolves and spreads.

The H1N1 virus strain causing the current outbreaks is a new virus that has not been seen previously in either humans or animals. Although firm conclusions cannot be reached at present, scientists anticipate that pre-existing immunity to the virus will be low or non-existent, or largely confined to older population groups.

H1N1 appears to be more contagious than seasonal influenza. The secondary attack rate of seasonal influenza ranges from 5% to 15%. Current estimates of the secondary attack rate of H1N1 range from 22% to 33%, according to a statement on the WHO’s Web site.

 

[Wildweasel]

... "Was this developed in part as a vaccine virus?" ...

I find this telling. And possibly very true.

There was a TV special some time back about the H5N1 bird flu which, if I can recall correctly, indicated that the "N1" indicates the nasal cell receptor that the flu would use to infect humans. If you have been infected by a previous flu strain that also used the "N1" nasal cell receptor, you would have immunity to the H5N1 flu virus.

Enter H1N1. A relatively mild flu virus that hits early in the year in which most experts expect the H5N1 flu virus to breakout into a global pandemic.

If countries get through the H1N1 virus are later hit with an H5N1 outbreak, there will be "firebreaks" in the population in areas hit by H1N1. And the H5H1 outbreak will be reduced in severity from being a pandemic to an epedimic.

Sounds like a desparation plan put into effect by *someone* to prevent a worst case bird flu pandemic in North America. I hopes it works if it is indeed the case.

WW

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

I find this telling. And possibly very true.

There was a TV special some time back about the H5N1 bird flu which, if I can recall correctly, indicated that the "N1" indicates the nasal cell receptor that the flu would use to infect humans. If you have been infected by a previous flu strain that also used the "N1" nasal cell receptor, you would have immunity to the H5N1 flu virus.

Enter H1N1. A relatively mild flu virus that hits early in the year in which most experts expect the H5N1 flu virus to breakout into a global pandemic.

If countries get through the H1N1 virus are later hit with an H5N1 outbreak, there will be "firebreaks" in the population in areas hit by H1N1. And the H5H1 outbreak will be reduced in severity from being a pandemic to an epedimic.

Sounds like a desparation plan put into effect by *someone* to prevent a worst case bird flu pandemic in North America. I hopes it works if it is indeed the case.

WW

It's not Baxter, like RussiaToday wants you to believe.

It's more likely Russia. You are likely unaware of the existential threat Russia poses to the West. The world has been intentionally misled for the purpose of a surprise third world war.

http://TheSpiritOfTruth.blogspot.com

 

[China Connection]

And we are to believe W.H.O.?

World Depopulation - Part I
Speaking of depopulation, were you aware that the World Health Organization and USDOD designed and distributed AIDS? Here's an excerpt from the BULLETIN ...
www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb990201.htm
Highlight - 1 more top result from this site - Found by Ask/Teoma (2), MSN (2), All the Web (3), Lycos (3), Qkport (3), Yahoo (5)



World Health Organisation
Another starting point would be WHO (World Health Organization). As a possible front for larger power players who were pushing a depopulation agenda in the Third World.
www.whale.to/a/who_q.html
Highlight - 1 more top result from this site - Found by All the Web (2), Lycos (2), Qkport (4), Yahoo (4), Cuil (6), MSN (6)



World Health Organization (WHO) and Abortions
With 22 percent of the worlds pregnancies ending in abortion every year the world wide abortion rate exceeds 46 million murders every year. WWIII is not near it is here!
www.apfn.org/THEWINDS/1999/01/depopulation.html

 

[Doncarl]

"It could be a mistake that occurred at a vaccine production facility or the virus could have jumped from a pig to another mammal or a bird before reaching humans, Gibbs stated..."

The later is the best explanation. I am suprised we have not seen this genetic mix before in an ILI virus. Every third world farm yard is a breeding ground for this type of disesase.

I am suprised of the constant attentin that this H1N1 gets. This is a very mild virus. Along with this Novel A (H1N1), regular seasonal influenza A (H1N1), (H1N3) and Influenza B are also circulating in the US. Each year ILI cause up to 30,000 deaths in the US so far this novel strain of H1N1 has caused three.

 

[dogmanan]

Just wait I think this in the fall/winter will be very deadly.

LATER

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

H1N1 virus could have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drug makers while making vaccines, said Adrian Gibbs, an Australian researcher.

Adrian Gibbs, who worked with the Swiss drug maker Roche research to develop the high profile flu drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), said he came across this while working to trace the H1N1’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

“It could be a mistake” that occurred at a vaccine production facility or the virus could have jumped from a pig to another mammal or a bird before reaching humans, Gibbs stated in an interview report by Bloomberg.

Accident?

Please.

The standard method of producing smallpox in fertilized chicken eggs was developed by Soviet bioengineers: "The technique involved cutting a small window in the eggshell and using an extremely fine needle to inject a minute amount of the virus into the developing chick embryo. The infected egg was then sealed with parafin and warmed in an incubator, allowing the virus to multiply prolifically....After three or four days, the egg membranes were harvested and homogenated, yielding a liquid suspension so enriched in variola virus that it usually did not require further concentration" (Tucker 2001, 141)

http://books.google.com/books?id=66...X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA331,M1

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

I am suprised of the constant attentin that this H1N1 gets. This is a very mild virus. Along with this Novel A (H1N1), regular seasonal influenza A (H1N1), (H1N3) and Influenza B are also circulating in the US. Each year ILI cause up to 30,000 deaths in the US so far this novel strain of H1N1 has caused three.

Whether a successful, highly disruptive pandemic occurs or not, evidence that this flu outbreak is manmade should be of the utmost concern to all. Biological warfare is a grave threat.

 

[dissimulo]

Well, let's see what the paper says. Either the information will be verifiable or it won't.

As a side note, assuming this is the same Adrian Gibbs, he at least has more credibility than your typical Internet crank, as an actual virologist and one of the authors of an evolutionary virology textbook.

Of course, even good scientists are frequently wrong. Time will tell.

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Well, let's see what the paper says. Either the information will be verifiable or it won't.

As a side note, assuming this is the same Adrian Gibbs, he at least has more credibility than your typical Internet crank, as an actual virologist and one of the authors of an evolutionary virology textbook.

Of course, even good scientists are frequently wrong. Time will tell.

He helped develop Tamiflu. WHO knows if his paper will ever be made public. Literally.

 

[ainitfunny]

Well, I say if it is NOT manmade either deliberately or accidently, it is only a matter of time before some TEENAGER somewhere completely unsupervised, unaccountable and either with the same irresponsible motivation as a MALICIOUS COMPUTER VIRUS creator or accidently "throwing away" some "cool idea for a new virus or bacteria" he secretly decided to try creating for extra credit or attention, after BEING FURNISHED THE "HOW TO" IN A PUBLIC CLASSROOM AND almost totally unsecured access to the MEANS of producing virulent, dangerous new life forms in some school or university lab.

WE QUIT TEACHING KIDS HOW TO MAKE ATOMIC BOMBS AND REMOVED THE FAIRLY SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FROM PUBLIC DOMAIN AFTER SOMEONE FIGURED OUT THAT WAS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF SOCIETY.

When will we recognize that teaching, showing, and actually HAVING pre-adult CHILDREN create NEW viruses and bacteria COULD EVENTUALLY SEAL THE DOOM OF THE ENTIRE WORLD BY SOME ACCIDENTALLY OR DELIBERATELY CREATED NEW LIFE FORM?? ''

Such handing of viral "bomb making" instructions and materials to CHILDREN and other irresponsible, unaccountable parties MUST STOP.

My own daughter studying to be an RN was "WALKED THROUGH" experiments creating new bacteria in one of her required classes and saw the potential and ease for any student or teacher to create "off the scheduled program" bacteria. The potential danger that presented concerned her too. Repeat that scenario in tens of thousands of classrooms and government and private labs around the world and it goes from a vague possibility to an INEVITABLE OUTCOME.

 

[dissimulo]

My own daughter studying to be an RN was "WALKED THROUGH" experiments creating new bacteria in one of her required classes and saw the potential and ease for any student or teacher to create "off the scheduled program" bacteria. The potential danger that presented concerned her too. Repeat that scenario in tens of thousands of classrooms and government and private labs around the world and it goes from a vague possibility to an INEVITABLE OUTCOME.

I'll wager she was probably not taught how to create a new bacteria, since that is still outside anyone's capabilities (depending on what you consider "new," I guess). She probably did an experiment that is very common in sophomore microbiology classes - feeding a package of DNA, known as a plasmid, to bacteria. The usual experiment is feeding off-the-shelf plasmids containing jellyfish DNA to the bacteria. Once incorporated, the bacteria will then fluoresce under UV light. (I have a culture of UV-fluorescent E. coli in my fridge right now.)

The bacteria is still the same, it has just incorporated, essentially, a new piece of "software." Bacteria do this naturally - for example, it is one of the most common means of exchange of antibiotic resistance.

The thing is, this really is so simple that even a child could do it. The genie is out of the bottle, has been for a long time, and there is no putting it back. On the up side, there is not much in the way of scary stuff available in plasmids - antibiotic resistance is about the worst. And, making a new plasmid is orders of magnitude more difficult than getting bacteria to use one that already exists.

But, your point is still an important one. With the exception of an electron microscope (which is still hugely expensive) I have a home lab that would have been the envy of many institutions 20 years ago. And I didn't spend a fortune putting it together. I've posted in the past the ease with which one can assemble an excellent lab from eBay auctions.

Anyone with determination can get the equipment they need. Anyone with talent, knowledge, and time may eventually be able produce something dangerous. How we stop that from happening is beyond me. We're really past the point of no return in terms of knowledge. If we had locked down the field of biology 40 years ago and shot anyone who tried to make progress, we might have bought some time, I suppose. Now, we pretty much have to hope that our progress in understanding and combating new microbes is able to outpace our ability to design plagues.

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Well, I say if it is NOT manmade either deliberately or accidently, it is only a matter of time before some TEENAGER somewhere completely unsupervised, unaccountable and either with the same irresponsible motivation as a MALICIOUS COMPUTER VIRUS creator or accidently "throwing away" some "cool idea for a new virus or bacteria" he secretly decided to try creating for extra credit or attention, after BEING FURNISHED THE "HOW TO" IN A PUBLIC CLASSROOM AND almost totally unsecured access to the MEANS of producing virulent, dangerous new life forms in some school or university lab.

WE QUIT TEACHING KIDS HOW TO MAKE ATOMIC BOMBS AND REMOVED THE FAIRLY SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FROM PUBLIC DOMAIN AFTER SOMEONE FIGURED OUT THAT WAS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF SOCIETY.

When will we recognize that teaching, showing, and actually HAVING pre-adult CHILDREN create NEW viruses and bacteria COULD EVENTUALLY SEAL THE DOOM OF THE ENTIRE WORLD BY SOME ACCIDENTALLY OR DELIBERATELY CREATED NEW LIFE FORM?? ''

My own daughter studying to be an RN was "WALKED THROUGH" experiments creating new bacteria in one of her required classes and saw the potential and ease for any student or teacher to create "off the scheduled program" bacteria. The potential danger that presented concerned her too. Repeat that scenario in tens of thousands of classrooms and government and private labs around the world and it goes from a vague possibility to an INEVITABLE OUTCOME.

It's the adults we need to worry about IMHO.

Nevertheless, you seem to be under the delusion Moscow is exploiting in pursuit of your underhanded annihilation, i.e., that WMD capacity has now fallen into the hands of al Qaeda and the like so we don't know who is hitting us when bioterror occurs. Thus, whether it be the Anthrax mailings, the Swine Flu pandemic or whatever terrifying pestilence comes next, one can not point the finger of blame at the Kremlin.

Bull....hold Moscow entirely culpable for whatever bioterrorism unfolds in this world since THEY INVENTED IT for the most part.

Now NOVA is at it again, beating the drums about the threat of bioterrorism and the proliferation of biological weapons from the "former Soviet Union." NOVA producer Kirk Wolfinger (of "The Missileers") also produced this new program, entitled "Bioterror." He used the same format, showcasing men on both sides of the war on bioterror and labeling them "bioweaponeers." Much of the information presented is true and beneficial - especially the interview with former US bioweapons expert Bill Patrick and Russian defector Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov (whose name has been changed to Ken Alibek). Alibek defected in 1992 and brought with him intimate knowledge of the Soviet Union's biological weapons program, including Russian cheating on all international treaties related to the ban of such weapons. He should know - he was deputy chief of Biopreparat, the main Soviet agency in charge of bio weapons.

"Bioterror," first aired in November of 2002, concentrates on showcasing the threat (which is real), and spotlights the decrepit condition of the older Russian facilities opened to NOVA. That’s where the disinformation starts. By showcasing the old facilities, the program again gives the impression that Russia is no longer a threat. NOVA makes a big deal out of the claim that "former" bio weapon scientists are "for sale" for practically nothing. But, this is more false than true. Russia still keeps tight control over the terrorist organizations it allows to have bioweapons. Yes, bioweapons are allowed to escape, but not via the free market.

Here’s a critical review on the NOVA special from J. Adams, one of my sources. "The NOVA special included parts where Judith Miller and U.S. DOD officials were in the former Soviet Union to tour former biological weapons facilities in Kazakhstan and other such places (specifically, the Stepnogorsk plant, purportedly the largest biological weapons plant in the history of the world). As they entered the Stepnogorsk plant, they went through a rusted old gate into what appeared to be an abandoned old factory. There was one part where they visited the ‘anti-plague institute’ in Kazakhstan and entered a secret room, never before seen by Western journalists, where there's a bunch of old refrigerators with signs on them, in English, [very suspicious] saying ‘Plague’ or ‘Anthrax’ and the like. They opened the Plague refrigerator and there were old pea cans and soup cans filled with vials of various strains and samples of the given pathogen. There's little sheets of old paper in the cans with listings of what's there suggesting an archaic cataloguing system where something could easily go missing unnoticed. Also notable was the flimsy security of the room that had a simple locked door and a great big window in the back.

"Next, they visited the home of the former director of the Stepnogorsk facility. The director had supposedly been relieved from his job just days before NOVA arrived and so he was seemingly drunk and singing with his dog about what will he ever do now that he has no job. NOVA took the clue and reported about concerns of how these scientists with super lethal bioweapons expertise could sell out to the highest bidder since Moscow can't afford to keep things running. They noted how Kazakhstan and Tajikistan where these facilities are located are not far from Afghanistan and the home of Moslem terrorist networks and rogue states like Iran that could take bioweapons and use them for horrible acts of bioterrorism.

"Needless to say, given my perspective on Russia's deceptive pursuits, I considered what I saw in the program classic disinformation. Why would such flimsy security and cataloguing be used for substances that could reap such tremendous harm on the world by terrorists... including Russia that is supposedly threatened by Moslem extremists angered by the Chechen war? Why would these scientists with such dangerous know-how be left payless and desperate such that they'd go work for rogue states and terrorist groups bent on using biological weapons for terrorist purposes? What is contained in the NOVA program is nonsensical disinformation." [End of Adams quote.]

There was one interesting and candid exchange between Patrick and Alibek which speaks volumes about US claims that it knows today what is going on in Russia: Alibek, commenting on what surprised him after defecting, said, "What was amazing to me, when I came to the United States, I realized I knew practically everything about the United States program." Patrick then responded, , "Right. And we knew absolutely nothing about yours. I never will forget when you started giving me the potential production figures for your various weaponized agents. If you recall, I just put my head down on the table where we were talking and said, ‘Oh, my God. Oh, my God.’ It was a revelation that was just unbelievable to me."

http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/Communism.shtml

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

NOVA Bioterror, Sergei Popov (VIDEO): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX67YtDjPms

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim (Update1)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afrdATVXPEAk&refer=worldwide

By Jason Gale and Simeon Bennett

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been created as a result of human error.

Adrian Gibbs, 75, who collaborated on research that led to the development of Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu drug, said in an interview that he intends to publish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to make vaccines. Gibbs said he came to his conclusion as part of an effort to trace the virus’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

“One of the simplest explanations is that it’s a laboratory escape,” Gibbs said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. “But there are lots of others.”

The World Health Organization received the study last weekend and is reviewing it, Keiji Fukuda, the agency’s assistant director-general of health security and environment, said in an interview May 11. Gibbs, who has studied germ evolution for four decades, is one of the first scientists to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus that was identified three weeks ago in Mexico and threatens to touch off the first flu pandemic since 1968.

A virus that resulted from lab experimentation or vaccine production may indicate a greater need for security, Fukuda said. By pinpointing the source of the virus, scientists also may better understand the microbe’s potential for spreading and causing illness, Gibbs said.

Possible Mistake

“The sooner we get to grips with where it’s come from, the safer things might become,” Gibbs said by phone from Canberra yesterday. “It could be a mistake” that occurred at a vaccine production facility or the virus could have jumped from a pig to another mammal or a bird before reaching humans, he said.

Gibbs and two colleagues analyzed the publicly available sequences of hundreds of amino acids coded by each of the flu virus’s eight genes. He said he aims to submit his three-page paper today for publication in a medical journal.

“You really want a very sober assessment” of the science behind the claim, Fukuda said May 11 at the WHO’s Geneva headquarters.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has received the report and has decided there is no evidence to support Gibbs’s conclusion, said Nancy Cox, director of the agency’s influenza division. She said since researchers don’t have samples of swine flu viruses from South America and Africa, where the new strain may have evolved, those regions can’t be ruled out as natural sources for the new flu.

No Evidence

“We are interested in the origins of this new influenza virus,” Cox said. “But contrary to what the author has found, when we do the comparisons that are most relevant, there is no evidence that this virus was derived by passage in eggs.”

The WHO’s collaborative influenza research centers, which includes the CDC, and sites in Memphis, Melbourne, London and Tokyo, were asked by the international health agency to review the study over the weekend, Fukuda said. The request was extended to scientists at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, as well as the WHO’s influenza network, he said.

“My guess is that the picture should be a lot clearer over the next few days,” Fukuda said. “We have asked a lot of people to look at this.”

Virus Expert

Gibbs wrote or co-authored more than 250 scientific publications on viruses during his 39-year career at the Australian National University in Canberra, according to biographical information on the university’s Web site.

Swine flu has infected 5,251 people in 30 countries so far, killing 61, according to WHO data. Scientists are trying to determine whether the virus will mutate and become more deadly if it spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and back. Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the disease to which few people have immunity evolves and spreads.

Gibbs said his analysis supports research by scientists including Richard Webby, a virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, who found the new strain is the product of two distinct lineages of influenza that have circulated among swine in North America and Europe for more than a decade.

In addition, Gibbs said his research found the rate of genetic mutation in the new virus was about three times faster than that of the most closely related viruses found in pigs, suggesting it evolved outside of swine.

Gene Evolution

“Whatever speeded up the evolution of these genes happened at least seven or eight years ago, so one wonders, why hasn’t it been found?” Gibbs said today.

Some scientists have speculated that the 1977 Russian flu, the most recent global outbreak, began when a virus escaped from a laboratory.

Identifying the source of new flu viruses is difficult without finding the exact strain in an animal or bird “reservoir,” said Jennifer McKimm-Breschkin, a virologist at the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization in Melbourne.

“If you can’t find an exact match, the best you can do is compare sequences,” she said. “Similarities may give an indication of a possible source, but this remains theoretical.”

The World Organization for Animal Health, which represents chief veterinary officers from 174 countries, received the Gibbs paper and is working with the WHO on an assessment, said Maria Zampaglione, a spokeswoman.

Genetic Patterns

The WHO wants to know whether any evidence that the virus may have been developed in a laboratory can be corroborated and whether there are other explanations for its particular genetic patterns, according to Fukuda.

“These things have to be dealt with straight on,” he said. “If someone makes a hypothesis, then you test it and you let scientific process take its course.”

Gibbs said he has no evidence that the swine-derived virus was a deliberate, man-made product.

“I don’t think it could be a malignant thing,” he said. “It’s much more likely that some random thing has put these two viruses together.”

Gibbs, who spent most of his academic career studying plant viruses, said his major contribution to the study of influenza occurred in 1975, while collaborating with scientists Graeme Laver and Robert Webster in research that led to the development of the anti-flu medicines Tamiflu and Relenza, made by GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

Bird Poo

“We were out on one of the Barrier Reef islands, off Australia, catching birds for the flu in them, and I happened to be the guy who caught the best,” Gibbs said. The bird he got “yielded the poo from which was isolated the influenza isolate strain from which all the work on Tamiflu and Relenza started.”

Gibbs, who says he studies the evolution of flu viruses as a “retirement hobby,” expects his research to be challenged by other scientists.

“This is how science progresses,” he said. “Somebody comes up with a wild idea, and then they all pounce on it and kick you to death, and then you start off on another silly idea.”

 

[alchemike]

well, if the WHO is looking into it, we can be sure we'll have the truth toot sweet...

/sarcasm

o)<

mike

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

ABC News covered the story this evening:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/SwineFlu/story?id=7584420&page=1

The story highlights that there must have been a "mistake" in some lab developing vaccines. Of course, if that were the case, then where's the vaccine since there must already be one that matches from the given lab....no?

Also, see attached swine flu projection chart:

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Looks like there's a major new outbreak of swine flu in New York City with 3 schools in Queens being shutdown and an assistant principal in critical condition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lFBWLnpnbg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE0tQBo4Gxk

Queens was where the original major U.S. outbreak occurred at the beginning of the Swine Flu pandemic in late April.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_swine_flu_states

This is interesting given that Queens, NYC was also one of the places the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic had its beginning:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic#Geographic_sources

It's almost as if someone were...

 

[Spirit Of Truth]

Just wrote a new blog on this story:

http://thespiritoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/05/who-examining-if-swine-flu-is-man-made.html