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H5N1 Categorized
Family: Orthomyxoviridae (contains
5 genuses, 3 of which cause Influenza)
Genus: Influenzavirus A
(contains one species)
Species: Influenza A Virus
(contains 98 sub-types)
Sub-type: H5N1 (contains over
700 unique strains)
News from Germany
The German National Army is assaulting and wiping out small poultry farms. They are now, massacering carrier-pigeons, too, though the owners can prove that bird flu cannot be passed by pigeons at all! Two German small-farmers have hung themselves in their chicken barns, after having their prized flocks summarily destroyed by the government.
More from Germany below
There are several types of H5N1 viruses. The terms "H5N1" is not an identifier for Avian Flu. Neither is H5N1-A, a term of dubious origin. Rather, "H5N1" only denotes the arrangement of proteins in the outer coat of the virus. It is the insides of each virus, which contains the genetic codes that make that virus unique. Each unique example of H5N1 virus is identified by a very long name (see diagram in top left corner of this screen). Each unique variety of a virus can infect only certain animals, not all animals, and each one manifests itself very different from the next virus when it makes an animal sick.
To report that a cat or turkey or anything "died of H5N1" is a totally meaningless statement! Until we have some solid proof, some names of the tests done and by whom they were done, and clear details of the results, we cannot know for sure that there is such a thing as the spread of Avian Flu. Has anyone here found even one such news article?? Please post at the bottom of this page, if so!
The most common types of H5N1 have been in wild birds for untold aeons of time. These H5N1 types are not lethal. In fact, they do not even make them sick. They certainly do not make people sick, either.
The deadly new virus appeared in Asia in the last few years (1997, then another form in 2002). It emerged, reportedly within crowded poultry markets. What caused it, the story goes, was that farmers bring their birds, sick and well (nothing is wasted), to the market in small cages, and stack them up together by the hundreds. Unsold birds are taken back to their farms. We're talking hundreds of farmers and birds ~ overcrowding to the max.
This is a classic set-up for the development of huge numbers of highly-pathological organisms. Without going into the science of virology, common sense tells us that over-crowding and unmonitored mixing of infected animals (whether due to poverty, or uncaring mass production in wealthy nations) sets up a huge opportunity for microorganisms to recombine in new ways, and to be distributed throughout the crowded populations.
People who butcher poultry are practically the only victims of the deadly new virus. Even the people who bought, cooked, and ate the sick birds did NOT get sick themselves. It is most likely the direct and frequent contact with the blood or fluids of infected chickens that has killed the 100 or so victims of Bird Flu, all poultry butchers. No one else has died of the disease, with possibly one or two vague exceptions.
Where is the hard evidence that there really IS a Bird Flu??
"Journalism 1A" teaches that every story must have Who, What, When, Where, How and Why. Only by anchoring an event in time and space can its validity be established. This is not happening in the large majority of Bird Flu reports. If there really is a serious spread of Bird Flu going on, and not just a spread of hysteria, we should have most of the following information in every major media reporting:
- Several clear photographs of examples of the live, infected birds, showing symptoms, with annotation describing those symptoms
-
Photos of the same birds after death
-
Details of the symptoms, in writing
-
Location and owner of the birds
-
Owner's comments, in full
-
Numbers of animals; place and date of occurrence
-
Names of the tests that conclusively prove that the birds died of H5N1
-
Percentage of accuracy of these tests
-
Manufacturer's contact information
-
Name of the agency that did the testing
-
The time needed for these tests to be administered and for results to come back
-
Explanation of how these tests work
-
Description of exactly how the Bird Flu virus gets from wild birds into domestic poultry
-
Reference to the laws that enable authorities to eradicate livestock, so that the exact wording of the law can be read and discussed
-
Name and contact information for the agency which destroyed the livestock
-
Text of the law that allows that agency to destroy livestock, or reference to where it can be read
Without factual reporting, there is no way to determine if a Bird Flu epidemic is happening, or not.
We might actually be in a vicious cycle of hysteria.....a frantic discovery of dead animals.....reporting them to the authorities for testing.....the tests reveal "H5N1" viruses in them (which they have had naturally for thousands of years).....then some uninformed official hastily concludes that their deaths were caused by Bird Flu..... the incident then reported in the news as if it were factual, announcing "Bird Flu arrives in Kansas" or somesuch horror story.....which then causes more "finding" of dead animals, and the cycle repeats and repeats, building an unreal picture that expands from place to place.
It seems like the Bird Flu is spreading, but maybe the only thing that is spreading is the hysteria!
One of the end results of this hysteria, with its eradication of small farm poultry everywhere, could be that uniform, genetically-modified poultry replace the huge complexity of existing poultry the world over. Another is that people are terrorized away from their right to produce their own, healthful food. The worst result is that people become more and more accustomed to finding no real explanations and verifications of events in their daily news sources, and thus lose much of their ability to understand their world.
Watch out, people!
"Official" hysteria is the worst kind.
If there really is a Bird Flu, Chicken-Feed will be eager to post the details. But first, we need "the facts, Ma'am." We are not going to add fuel to the fire by saying that a bunch of dead birds were found somewhere with "H5N1" in them. If someone with authority stands up and reveals in full reporting that is not oversimplified, just how we know that there is a Bird Flu, and not an hysteria, then Chicken-Feed will post that information right here.
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April 24, 2006
Mass slaughter of small farmers' birds by German Army
From Susan A., Germany
First, somewhere here in Germany a small farmer with only 400 ducks and
chickens reported to his vet that 7 ducklings he had received from
another farmer had died. So the authorities went to his little farm and
did the "Schnelltest" which means quick test for H5N1-A. It said
positive. They went to the person who had sent the ducks and he had no
deaths and all ducks were healthy. Meanwhile the real test was being
done at Friedrich-Loeffler Insititute. But before getting the results
from the Institute they killed all 400 birds just for safety sake. A
couple days later the results came to the farm. The ducklings had had a
cold or something and nothing like H5N1. So then the farmers were
getting suspiscious about this so called Schnelltest and jokes were
being made in the papers. And a local farmer said to me, "how could he
be so stupid to report some duckling deaths? He should have buried them
that would have been the end. Birds probably always had occasion to have
H5N1-only now they can identify it it. Nobody in this village is going
to report a dead duck or chicken"
Second, near Leipzig a farm with 16,000 birds had 5-8 separate barns. In
one barn 700 turkeys out of about 3000 died overnight and turned out to
have H5N1-A. NONE OF THESE BIRDS HAD BEEN OUTSIDE.By the way, it was
turkeys who got the disease in France too. In the other barns there was
no sign of infection and no deaths, although one of the barns had ducks
and the ducks were outside because in Germany ducks have to be allowed
to run around outside-no exceptions. There were some dead swans in the
lake next to his farm, but they turned out to have died of hunger. No
H5N1 even present. All people who took care of the birds went in and out
of all barns. Also they were considering shooting all cats inside the 3
KM kill-zone (sperrgebiet)which were running around. Even though in
Austria 2 cats who had H5N1-A recovered on their own.
Needless to say all 16,000 birds were killed. Why did they not just
observe the situation? Also all birds within the 3 Kilometers were
destroyed. The amount of birds killed was gigantic. Pigeons and doves
were not supposed to be part of this whole program at all, but they
wanted to kill pigeons too and a hobby breeder went to court to stop it
(meanwhile letting his pigeons out so they could not be caught), but the
judge did what the authorities wanted him to do---normal in Germany in
the lowest court. HOWEVER the article I just read this morning from my
official chicken news site which I look at every now and then says the
hobby breeder (Günter Wentzlaff age 40) went to court in Leipzig and
they who gave the authorities permission to go against the rule not to
kill pigeons --so the lawyers went to the next court higher in Bautzen.
The reason is that it was proven by the F-L Institute that pigeons
cannot transmit (nicht übertragen) the H5N1. And there was a Verbot
(to forbid) against the killing of pigeons inside kill-zones
(Sperrgebiet). The court in Bautzen declared the Leipzig decision
incorrect. Meanwhile however the authorities had gotten into his pens
and killed his 40 birds. (amtlich entrissen und getötet worden)
Amtlich is by the authorities and entrissen means torn from him and
getötet means killed.
The result is that the German Club for letter carrier pigeons VDB
(Verband Deutscher Brieftaubenzüchter) (meaning -club german
lettercarrierbreeders) is going to court against the state of Saxony.
They are normally not considered a brave bunch, but have come out of
their shells in great force over these 40 pigeons. They represent 60,000
breeders (6 million pigeons) which is a lot of money being donated for
the court case I imagine. The best lawyers (Anwalt) too. They are making
a "Musterverfahen" (test case) for new rules which will then be
obligatory for all courts in Germany. They are willing to go if they
have to the Supreme court of Germany.The object is to prove that
pigeons to not transmit the H5N1- the F-L Inst. will of course be
witness. This will protect all breeders of pigeons from
„Killerkommandos" in the future and from the wording (which is
hard to translate) VDB are holding back nothing to achieve their goal-
no holds barred.
Also of course they are seeking damages (Schadensersatz) for the killing
of his 40 birds which will be above 10,000 euros. (fünfstelligen
Betrag)(five numbers sum)
I am hoping something more will come out of this. I don't know what.
susan in germany
News Source in German
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April 28, 2006
German Smallfarmers Lose Flocks, Commit Suicide
From Susan A, Germany
Very sad news which I had been expecting since this H5N1 insanity began.
Two farmers in Germany succeeded in killing themselves and a third was
saved in the last minute. Tthey hung themselves in their chicken barns.
The whole hysteria here had led to a threat to their financial existance
and they saw no possible way out. Especially in the free range branch
because we can no longer pasture poultry. Up to 15,000 of the 40,000
small and medium farmers are declaring bankruptcy. The hysteria and new
rules not allowing free range and not allowing the sale of chickens at
the outside markets are causing the biggest business loss that German
farmers have ever experienced. Also if a farmer was in the 3 KM
kill-zone and all his chickens are killed, he has to go months before he
has an income again-one reason he is not allowed to buy new chicks till
the middle of May and then he has to wait for them to grow-his income is
not replaced. He has total loses in income for 5 months maybe.
There will be 3 german marches against this whole hysteria. One will be
in Berlin on the 5th of May. Afterall, the only H5N1-A deaths have been
inside stalls where they were never outside. So why do they keep saying
it is caused by migratory birds? So they try to think up things like-it
was in the hay. But that cannot be since they already said the virus
lasts only a few hours exposed outside to air with no host. Then they
were saying, well maybe the people brought it in with their shoes- but
no only do they have disinfectants at the barn entrance for the shoes,
but the same people went in all 8 stalls-so why did only one stall get
affected?
No birds which were kept outside ever got H5N1 here in Germany. I would
say the holding of chickens in stalls causes health problems. And the
wild birds have always had H5N1, developing an immunity over the
years-whereas only recently did laboratories develop a method to
identify it-causing the whole hysteria which I suspect is given boosts
by lobbyists for the caged poultry industry and the drug companies. Do
not get sucked into this campaign caused by big money interests. Fight
it.
Susan in Germany
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Letter to Center for Disease Control
Saturday, April 29, 2006
at the CDC website, http://www.cdc.gov/netinfo.htm
Sirs:
If the CDC website is correct that there are only 9 subtypes of Influenza A Virus, or
even 27 as subsequently and contradictorily stated, how is it that there are 98 subtypes listed by the NCBI ?
More importantly, where is there any single journalistic article that documents the causing of animal deaths by Avian Flu outside local sites in Asia? I don't mean simple statements, "A cat died from bird flu in Paris." I mean confirmed proof by stating the name of the testing agency, the type of test (name and description of how it achieves its results), and the results shown by the test. I've been looking for months, and have not found one such article. The BBC is the worst example of making unfounded statements regarding Avian Influenza.
Thank you.
Kim S.
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News
Science News explains the two strains of Avian Flu Virus 9/10/05
Helpful Definitions
AI: Avian Influenza, or Bird Flu
Genus: A subgroup of a Family, which is a division of living things, both plant and animal, grouped together because of similar attributes. The plural of Genus is Genera. There are one or more Species in each Genus.
H5N1:
One of 98 Sub-types of the species Influenza Type A (which is the only species of the genus Influenzavirus A) H5N1 viruses, as a group, infect only birds or mammals. But that does not mean that every H5N1 virus can infect any bird or mammal.
H5N1 varieties are identified by the place and date that they were isolated, e.g. "Influenza A virus (A/swan/Italy/179/06(H5N1))". There were about 700 unique varieties of H5N1 viruses at the
last count, each of which was found in a different individual animal, mostly birds (chickens, geese, ducks, etc.). Of these 700 different H5N1 viruses listed, only 12 were found in humans (11 from Vietnam, 1 from Iraq).
HP AI: Highly-pathological (deadly) Avian Influenza, one of probably several strains of H5N1 viruses. It is not known how H5N1 viruses become HP AI. And frankly, this author has not found one news or Internet article that demonstrates, or even tries to demonstrate, that H5N1 viruses actually have become HPAI, except in local instances in Southeast Asia. If you know of one such article, please contact me!!!
Influenza Type A viruses: The only species of the genus Influenzavirus A. Though it is a single species, there are 98 Sub-types of Influenza Type A, and each Sub-type may have hundreds of individual virus strains/varieties in it.
Influenzavirus A: One genus of the family Orthomyxoviridae. This genus has only one species, Influenza Type A, of which there are 98 Sub-types and other uncategorized or partially-categorized subgroups.
Orthomyxoviridae: The large family of viruses that infect vertebrates, of which one genus is Influenzavirus A, which infect birds and mammals. The other genera are Influenzavirus B, Influenzavirus C, Isavirus, and Thogotovirus. The Influenzaviruses A, -B and -C genera contain all the viruses which cause influenza. The Isavirus and Thogotovirus genera cause other conditions or diseases.
Species: A subgroup of a Genus, which is a division of living things, both plant and animal, grouped together because of similar attributes. Species are defined in different ways. In the complex organisms, the ability to interbreed and produce fertile offpspring is a main deciding factor in designating something as a species. In one-celled and a-cellular organisms, different factors are involved (more later).
Sub-type: One division of a virus species. There are three species of influenza viruses, each of which has dozens upon dozens of sub-types. Each sub-type may have hundreds of varieties of that virus in it, each variety able to infect different animals, and only those animals. H5N1 is one sub-type of the Influenza Virus A species.
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