Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic?
Flashback: Flu shots, including H1N1, to require 3 doses | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | Swine Flu: In Mexico, an outbreak of police-state opportunism | Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu outbreak in Mexico | Army: 3 vials of virus samples missing from Maryland facility | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe | Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic | Government lab both source of anthrax attacks as well as false reports linking them to Iraq, Islam
Steve Connor, The Independent
June 30, 2009
Same strain of influenza was released by accident three decades ago
It has swept across the world killing at least 300 people and infecting thousands more. Yet the swine flu pandemic might not have happened had it not been for the accidental release of the same strain of influenza virus from a research laboratory in the late 1970s, according to a new study.
Scientists investigating the genetic make-up of flu viruses have concluded there is a high probability that the H1N1 strain of influenza “A” behind the current pandemic might never have been re-introduced into the human population were it not for an accidental leak from a laboratory working on the same strain in 1977.
Yesterday, the Department of Health announced a further surge in the number of cases in Britain with another 1,604 confirmed over the weekend, and the death of a girl in Birmingham with underlying medical complications; the third death in Britain from swine flu-related problems.
Almost 6,000 Britons have now been infected with the influenza “A” (H1N1) strain of swine flu. But two medical researchers believe that this strain of the virus had been extinct in the human population for more than 20 years until it was unwittingly reintroduced by scientists working in a research lab somewhere in the world, leading to a pandemic in 1977 that began in Russia and China.
“Careful study of the genetic origin of the [1977] virus showed that it was closely related to a 1950 strain, but dissimilar to influenza ‘A’ (H1N1) strains from both 1947 and 1957. This finding suggested that the 1977 outbreak strain had been preserved since 1950. The re-emergence was probably an accidental release from a laboratory source,” according to the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Shanta Zimmer and Donald Burke from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania said that influenza “A” (H1N1) disappeared completely from humans after a pandemic of another strain of flu in 1957. H1N1 was not detected in annual surveillance until an outbreak of H1N1 swine flu in January 1976 at a US Army base in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
This outbreak affected 230 military personnel, killing one person, but it was successfully contained and was almost certainly caused by the direct transmission of swine flu from pigs. Nevertheless, the global anxiety caused by the Fort Dix outbreak led to a surge in research into H1N1 around the world, with experiments on frozen samples of the virus stored in labs since the 1950s, Dr Zimmer said.
“I would imagine that most labs researching into influenza would have had the 1950s strain. We cannot actually pinpoint which lab had it or accidentally released it, but the re-emergence of H1N1 in 1977 made it potentially a man-made pandemic,” she said.
“It’s a reminder that we need to be continually vigilant in terms of laboratory procedures. The identical virus in the current pandemic would not have occurred because a component of it comes from the H1N1 strain of 1977 — but it doesn’t mean to say that we wouldn’t have had another one causing a pandemic,” she added.
One of the most likely routes for the release of the 1950s virus is that laboratory workers became infected accidentally and then infected families and friends, Dr Zimmer explained. After the 1977 pandemic, the H1N1 strain of flu re-appeared annually as seasonal flu but this year it underwent a radical genetic change to become another pandemic strain.
Professor John Oxford of the Royal London Hospital said that the accidental release of the 1950s strain of H1N1 in 1977 is entirely plausible, but it may have been a good thing as it would have given many older people alive today some measure of immunity to the current pandemic. “We can look upon it now as a stroke of good luck,” he said.
Source | See also under Health: Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Flu shots, including H1N1, to require 3 doses | Girl’s forced blood transfusion didn’t violate rights: top court | Manitoba First Nations declare swine flu state of emergency | Chemical ban targets toys, rubber duckies | GAVI foundation’s malaria vaccine trial encounters opposition from wary Kenyans | ABC Turns Programming Over To Government to Promote State Healthcare Agenda | HIV positive women in Africa sterilized, stigmatized | Black ooze at old Cold War station frightens Labrador town | WHO declares swine flu pandemic, no change in Canada’s approach | Aspartame-laden diet pop kicked out of Toronto schools | Manitoba First Nations, health system straining under flu outbreak | Head of eHealth Ontario is fired amid contracts scandal, gets big package | Personal ties exposed in eHealth’s untendered contracts | UK: Call to make MMR jab compulsory | Expand sex ed to all grades: report | Swine flu ‘getting closer’ to pandemic level, WHO official says | France Considers Mandatory Flu Vaccinations | Ontario eHealth approved 4.8 million in no-bid contracts | Genetically modified monkeys pass traits to offspring | Government unveils new tobacco restrictions aimed at protecting kids | Elevated BPA levels in people drinking out of plastic bottles, study finds | Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation | Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests | Meet – and eat – the modified Atlantic salmon | Vaccines delayed, ’still in danger zone,’ for swine flu: UN chief | Canada waiting for WHO guidance on swine flu vaccine | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Canadian Forces: Worries about child abuse by Afghan allies ‘unfounded’ | 2 Billion Infected? WHO Stokes Swine Flu Fear | Researchers working on swine flu ‘vaccine corn’ | WHO to declare full flu pandemic | Potential pandemic or garden-variety flu? No agreement among experts | Merck Makes Phony Peer-Review Journal | Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | WHO distributes drug stockpile as swine flu cases rise | Swine Flu: In Mexico, an outbreak of police-state opportunism | Health officials confirm 6 cases of swine flu in Canada, ‘makings’ of pandemic | Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu outbreak in Mexico | ‘We have to assume’ swine flu is in Ontario, health official warns | Mexico cancels public events because of deadly flu outbreak | Will recession spark global food crisis? | Supreme Court rejects breast-implant case | Canadians returning from Mexico urged to be on alert for flu-like symptoms | Army: 3 vials of virus samples missing from Maryland facility | Cut ties between Health Canada, drug companies, grieving MP urges | High-fructose sweeteners linked to obesity, diabetes | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Microchip in a pill to monitor your meds | Mother who smacked son, 8, with hairbrush is forced to give him up to social services | Vioxx, Gardasil maker Merck and Co drew up doctor hit list | Students given suspension notices for not getting booster shots | Ottawa to test taps for cancer contaminants | Stun gun shock to head may cause seizures, doctors warn | Erasing traumatic memory possible, researchers say | Australians refused insurance because of poor genes | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Tests find Bisphenol A in majority of soft drinks | Against protocol, bus decapitation accused released from Ontario institution in 2005 | Details being withheld of listeria discussion held prior to outbreak | Scientists make HIV strain that can infect monkeys | Designer baby row over US clinic | Chair to have final say as residential schools commission jobs rewritten | Cornwall pedophile ring ‘fiction,’ church’s lawyer says | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe | Vaccine Court: Autism Debate Continues | Alberta drug rehab centre abused us, former teen patients allege | Vaccines ‘not to blame for autism’, U.S. court rules | Hepatitis C sufferers haven’t received promised federal money | Electronic immunization records needed: Toronto health official | Ban stun gun use on young people, Ontario child advocate urges | Milk trial defence: Raw milk is safe and food choice a right | Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury | UK Hospitals will take meat off menus in bid to cut carbon | Raw milk crusader returns to court to fight charges | Health Canada silent on cellphone risks for kids | As in Canada, gender-bending chemicals in UK rivers grow more potent | U.S. again denies approval to expand use of Gardasil vaccine | Champix side effects prompt 818 complaints | Missed vaccinations lead to suspension threat | Did Pharma Giant with Gardasil HPV Patents Buy Nobel Prize? | Chemicals feminizing males, study suggests | Major report to reveal male gender under threat from pollutants | FDA Reluctantly Admits Mercury Fillings Have Neurotoxic Effects on Children | End water fluoridation, U of T dental professor says | CBC broadcasts “The Disappearing Male”, an expose of hormone-disrupting plastics | Experts set to revisit global cloning ban | Health Canada adds bisphenol A to list of toxic substances | Plastics ingredient linked to feminization in children | Tests find melamine in candies, milk, infant formula from China | Report urges long-term funding for HPV vaccine | Scientists Note Hormones in Water, Feminization of Fish Downstream of Montreal | New study raises concerns Bisphenol-A could be related to heart disease | Govt. Report: Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Frequent school lockdowns raise questions | Air freshener chemicals could impact fertility: study | Are we already dining on clones? | Bisphenol tied to lower brain function | Revealed: The serious health concerns about the cervical cancer jab | Study finds higher rate of reactions to HPV shot | Radiation touted to protect meat | Dementia drugs still prescribed, despite warnings | Chemical Industry Source of Hyped FDA Study ‘Exonerating’ Plastic Bottles | Researchers Question Wide Use of HPV Vaccines | Vaccines Found to Cause Diabetes in Children | Pfizer to be called on carpet in Nigeria for experimenting on children | Pesticides, pollutants threaten Canadian tap water, researchers suggest | Cut children’s fluoride exposure, report to Health Canada urges | Kids and cellphone warning | Sludge biosolids decried as ‘toxic stew’, used as fertilizer | Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens: health agency | CDC reports almost 8,000 adverse reactions to “Gardasil” HPV vaccine in U.S. | Is HPV Vaccine to Blame for a Teen’s Paralysis? | Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser | Alberta to offer HPV vaccine this fall | Ottawa knew breast implants harmful, case alleges | Naturopaths Fear Proposed Bill C-51 | The tiny, useful particle that could also be a health problem | Farmer Surveilled, Raided for Natural Milk Operation has Trial Delayed | Discovery of HPV in male oral cancers leads to vaccination call | Families will make case for vaccine link to autism | HPV vaccination program raises concerns in B.C. | Canada’s C-51 Law May Outlaw 60% Of Natural Health Products | Homeless people die after bird flu vaccine trial in Poland | Perspective on the HPV vaccine | Gardasil shots have earned a painful reputation | Vaccine-linked polio hits Nigeria | Deaths associated with Merck’s HPV vaccine (Gardasil), over 3500 adverse affects reported | Bush To Veto Ban On Mercury In Vaccines | Government knew of HIV risk from imported blood | Political Intrigue in Merck’s Push for Mandatory HPV Vaccinations | Codex Alimentarius – An Emerging Threat | Polio Warning Issued for Travel to Nigeria | Bayer Continued Selling Contaminated Blood Product in 1980s | Aids scandals around the world | Blood Money: The Clinton Ties to the Blood Scandal
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
[...] Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? [...]
July 13th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
[...] Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
[...] Canadian HIV vaccine ready for human tests | Newborn’s Blood Samples Raise Questions of Privacy | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Flu shots, [...]
July 27th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
August 4th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | WHO declares swine flu pandemic, no change in Canada’s approach | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; [...]
September 26th, 2009 at 5:26 am
[...] Canadian HIV vaccine ready for human tests | Newborn’s Blood Samples Raise Questions of Privacy | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Flu shots, [...]
October 17th, 2009 at 6:16 am
[...] As rumours swell that the government staged 7/7, victims’ relatives call for a proper inquiry | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | US Congress Passes the 1,200-page Climate Bill that it was not allowed to read | Goldman Sachs: [...]
October 24th, 2009 at 7:43 am
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
October 25th, 2009 at 6:46 am
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
[...] vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass [...]
February 8th, 2010 at 11:54 am
[...] | Bisphenol A traces found in baby food: Health Canada | Rwanda denies sterilisation plans | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Chemical ban [...]
May 13th, 2010 at 9:06 am
[...] | Bisphenol A traces found in baby food: Health Canada | Rwanda denies sterilisation plans | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Chemical ban [...]
June 16th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
[...] As rumours swell that the government staged 7/7, victims’ relatives call for a proper inquiry | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | US Congress Passes the 1,200-page Climate Bill that it was not allowed to read | Goldman Sachs: [...]