Rising tide of H5N1 cases in Asia

There have been an increasing number of H5N1 cases in Asia within the last few weeks.

China :

A 37 year old man from Shenzhen, Guandong Province became ill on December 21, 2011 and died on December 31, 2011.

A 39 year old man from Guiyan City, Guizhou Province became ill on January 6, 2012 and died on January 22, 2012.

Vietnam:

A 18 year old man from Kien Gang Province became ill on January 10, 2012. He died on January 16, 2012.

Cambodia:

A 2 year old boy from Banteay Meanchey Province became ill on January 3, 2012. He died on January 18, 2012.

Indonesia:

A 23 year old man from Jakarta Province became ill on December 31, 2011. He died on January 7, 2012.

A 5 year old girl from Jakarta Province became ill on January 7, 2012. She died on January 16, 2012.

There have been a number of other reports in the Indonesian media of possible H5N1 cases. You can find a list of these compiled by dbg at PFI_Forum.

The confirmed recent cases in Asia are noteworthy because they have all died. In contrast, the recent death rate in Egypt from H5N1 has been approximately 50%. Although this could be due to differences in quality of medical care, many of the patients who died in Asia appear to have received Tamiflu and advanced medical treatment. This raises the possibility that the virus in Asia is different from the one in Egypt. In particular, there has been discussion of the possibility that there is a strain in Indonesia which is now Tamiflu-resistant. If so, one of the most effective treatments is no longer available which would likely increase the death rate.

The cases reported here are likely not the only cases which have occurred in Asia. Certainly in Indonesia there are indications that there may be many more. It is possible that the assays for identifying H5N1 are failing in Indonesia. This would also imply a change in the virus. The intense censorship of reports of H5N1 in China makes it impossible to know how many cases are occurring in that country.

If H5N1 in Asia has changed, there could hardly be a worse time for it. Hundreds of millions of people are traveling in crowded trains during the Lunar New Year celebrations. Special alertness for signs of H5N1, especially clusters, is warranted.

Mutation in Shenzhen H5N1 virus

Reports in Chinese language news sources indicate that Shenzhen health authorities have discovered a mutation in the H5N1 virus that recently killed a bus driver in that city. The nature of the mutation or its effects are unclear, but may make the virus more pathogenic and difficult to treat. The Chinese public is being reassured that the virus cannot transmit human to human, easily.

Immediate deposit of sequences in GenBank is necessary for evaluation of this virus.

The bird flu death man virus has the sudden change (Sina.com)

Shenzhen bird flu death man virus gene mutation (881903.com)

 

Bus driver dies of H5N1 in Shenzhen China

Chen Xing, a 39 year old bus driver in the city of Shenzhen, Guandong Province, China, became ill on December 21, 2011. He was treated but did not improve (NDTV). On December 25, 2011 he was hospitalised. On December 26, 2011 he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He died of multiple organ failure on December 31, 2011 (Chinese Today). H5N1 infection was confirmed (New York Times). He had no known contact with birds prior to his infection. He also had not recently traveled.

He is estimated to have been in contact with over 100 people while infected. According to reports, these people have been identified and are being monitored for signs of infection. Thus far, there have been no additional cases.

Outstanding questions:

1. How was the patient infected? With no connection to birds, the possibility of human to human transmission is obviously a possibility (Voice of Russia).

2. Was the patient treated with Tamiflu? If so, that would suggest that he may have been infected with a resistant strain.

3. When will the sequences be deposited in GenBank? China has the capacity to rapidly sequence, analyse and deposit the relevant sequences. BGI is located in Shenzhen and was especially helpful in sequencing the bacteria that caused the E Coli outbreak in Germany earlier this year. It would be odd if they were not equally speedy in sequencing and depositing data from a lethal virus in their own backyard.

Increasing intentional deaths vs natural deaths and the “nature is the worst bioterrorist” meme

Throughout human history, and even before we became truly human, we’ve been killing each other. In simple hunter-gatherer groups, death by murder is a common occurrence among males. Our history as a species has not demonstrated any decrease in this behaviour over time. Indeed, as our technology has improved, so have the number of victims of aggression. Yet, there are 7 billion of us. How to reconcile these two facts?

As we all know, technology can be used for good or evil. It is usually used for both. However, on balance, more lives are saved by decreasing natural deaths than are lost as a result of aggression. This is why our numbers continue to increase despite increasingly effective weapons. Put simply, our natural deaths are decreasing more rapidly than our intentional deaths are increasing. But neither is static.

I first saw the phrase “nature is the worst bioterrorist” attributed to Malik Peiris, a flu biologist, some years ago. But recently I have seen this phrase attributed to a number of pundits and scientists. It’s a misleading statement. Before the invention of the spear, our ancestors could say “nature is the worst killer with sticks”. After the invention of the spear, this was no longer a true statement. Before the invention of the slingshot, our ancestors could honestly say “nature is the worst killer with stones”. After the slingshot was perfected, this was no longer a true statement.

For most of our existence as a species, we had no understanding or control over microbes. We were simply helpless victims. Within the past couple of hundred years our understanding has increased. This has allowed us to vastly increase human life expectancy with technologies like sanitation, antibiotics and antivirals. However, only within the last few decades have we acquired the ability to manipulate microbes. Only now can they be weaponised. Hence, the statement “nature is the worst bioterrorist” is disingenuous. Only nature could use this weapon throughout most of human history. Now humans can use it too.

Are there any examples of a technology that could be turned into an effective weapon that was not? I know of none. Viruses such as influenza can now be weaponised. Will they be?

Take an honest look at human history and decide for yourself.

Genocide and Margaret Chan, the Chinese government and the public health establishment

North Korea is a concentration camp. Its inhabitants are being systematically tortured and killed. Some are killed with bullets but most are being starved to death. This is being done at the behest and with the assistance of the Chinese government. Margaret Chan is using her power as Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide cover for the Chinese government to carry out this genocide. And the public health establishment is about to reward her for this with a second term as Director-General of the WHO (AFP, November 21, 2011).

Some facts:

1. North Korea contains concentration camps.

From: the Daily Mail Online, September 20, 2011

The North Korean government may deny their existence, but photos taken from space have revealed in unprecedented detail the concentration camps that are used imprison more than 200,000 citizens.

Men, women and children are forced to work seven days a week as slaves and eat ‘rats, frogs, snakes, insects’ and even faeces to battle starvation in the camps.

Previously there have been blurred images taken by satellite but new detailed pictures from South Korea’s Unification Ministry allow a closer look at the sites – and also prove they have grown.

Experts say the tens of thousands of prisoners at the camps are often taken from their homes or in the street for supposed ‘political crimes’ rather than actual misdemeanours.

Half of all the inmates will die of starvation or malnutrition with others dying because of fatal diseases that thrive in the squalid conditions.

This is if they are not killed by torture, firing squad, or a public stoning by Kim Jong-Il’s violent guards, former prisoners say.

One of the photos shows the Yodok camp, which holds an estimated 50,000 North Korean prisoners and is hidden in the mountains around 70 miles from the capital Pyongyang.

[snip]

Amnesty International has compared the satellite images to those taken 10 years ago and confirms they are growing in size and branded them ‘hellish’.

‘The outside world certainly doesn’t know what’s going on and very little from the inside comes out,’ Sam Zarifi, from Amnesty International said last month.

From Haaretz.com, December 9, 2011

[snip]

In its campaign to exterminate hundreds-of-thousands of innocent North Koreans, one-third of them children, the DPRK security apparatus has employed every action defined as genocidal in Raphael Lemkin’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. These atrocities include but are not limited to: public executions, systematic torture, state-induced mass starvation, forced abortions, infanticide, and forcible transfer and imprisonment of children.

[snip]

2. North Koreans in the concentration camps are being experimented on.

From Wikipedia:

Human experimentation was described by several North Korean defectors, including former prisoner Lee Soon Ok, former prison guards Kwon Hyok and Ahn Myung Chul, and others.^[1] This testimony was corroborated by documents brought from Camp 22 in North Korea. In Lee’s testimony to the US Senate^[2] and in her prison memoir Eyes of the Tailless Animals (published in 1999) she recounted witnessing two instances of lethal human experimentation. An episode of the BBC television programme This World^[3][4] detailed some of the allegations.^[5] The claims have been described as “plausible” by a senior US official.^[6]

Lee described an experiment in which 50 healthy women prisoners were selected and given poisoned cabbage leaves. All of the women were required to eat the cabbage, despite cries of distress from those who had already eaten. All 50 died after 20 minutes of vomiting blood and anal bleeding. Refusing to eat the cabbage would allegedly have meant reprisals against them and their families.

Kwon Hyok, a former head of security at Camp 22, described laboratories equipped with gas chambers for suffocation gas experiments, in which three or four people, normally a family, are the experimental subjects.^[7][8] After undergoing medical checks, the chambers are sealed and poison is injected through a tube, while scientists observe from above through glass. In a report reminiscent of an earlier account of a family of seven, Kwon claims to have watched one family of two parents, a son and a daughter die from suffocating gas, with the parents trying to save the children using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for as long as they had the strength. Kwon’s testimony was supported by documents from Camp 22 describing the transfer of prisoners designated for the experiments. The documents were identified as genuine by Kim Sang Hun, a London based expert on Korea and human rights activist.^[3]

3. North Koreans in the general population are being systematically starved to death

From Haaretz.com, December 9, 2011

Photographs of starving and emaciated North Korean children, published in October by Reuters Alertnet, confirm the testimonies of tens of thousands of North Korean refugees: Innumerable people are dying of starvation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The UN reports that over six million North Koreans, almost a quarter of the population, are at risk.

North Korea would not exist without the intervention of the Chinese government. This is historical fact. The North Korean government would have collapsed long ago without the direct support of the Chinese government. This is established fact (see Joel Brinkley’s article: “China is North Korea’s prime enabler” in the San Francisco Chronicle for details).

I have documented in many blogs (see below) how Margaret Chan’s career was supported by the Chinese government. In exchange, she has assidulously carried out their orders. In her various positions in public health, she has been a useful tool to hide their bad behaviour including with regard to infectious diseases like SARS and H5N1 influenza. However, the most egregious action she has taken as Director-General of the WHO was her support of genocide in North Korea. When she visited North Korea in May of 2010, she was asked about starvation in North Korea. Here is what she said (from MaximsNewsNetwork, May 1, 2010)

…one thing I recognized is that walking is quite well observed in that country, and I suggest that is why I didn’t see many obese people.

No mention of concentration camps. No mention of starving masses. She had the audacity to try to explain away the emaciation she observed with her own eyes by attributing it to healthy exercise. In response to a reporter’s direct question about the quality of health care in North Korea, Margaret Chan responded:

Now based on what I have seen I can tell you they have something which most other developing countries would envy. For example, DPRK has no lack of doctors and nurses, as we have seen in other developing countries where most of their doctors have migrated to other places. But DPRK has enough doctors and nurses, they have a very elaborate health infrastructure, starting from the central to the provincial to the district level.

So, a country where men, women and children are experimented on and killed under the most heinous torture is a place that other “developing countries would envy”? This is beyond sick. Some commentators may suggest that she was simply confused or that her words are being taken out of context. But any such suggestion was proven false when Amnesty International dared to conflict with Margaret Chan’s version of North Korea.

From the AP, July 16, 2010

The World Health Organization found itself Friday in the strange position of defending North Korea’s health care system from an Amnesty International report, three months after WHO’s director described medicine in the totalitarian state as the envy of the developing world.

[snip]

Amnesty’s report on Thursday described North Korea’s health care system in shambles, with doctors sometimes performing amputations without anesthesia and working by candlelight in hospitals lacking essential medicine, heat and power. It also raised questions about whether coverage is universal as it — and WHO — claimed, noting most interviewees said they or a family member had given doctors cigarettes, alcohol or money to receive medical care. And those without any of these reported that they could get no health assistance at all.

[snip]

The issue is sensitive for WHO because its director-general, Margaret Chan, praised the communist country after a visit in April and described its health care as the “envy” of most developing nations.

[snip]

But whereas Chan had noted that North Korea “has no lack of doctors and nurses,” Amnesty said some people had to walk two hours to get to a hospital for surgery. Chan cited the government’s “notable public health achievements,” while Amnesty said health care remained at a low level or was “progressively getting worse.”

Margaret Chan doesn’t like being contradicted. So, she directed her press spokesperson, Mr Garwood, to attack Amnesty International (see WHO Blasts Amnesty for N. Korea Health Report from the AP on July 16, 2010, for more). I demonstrated the falsity of Mr. Garwood’s assertions in a blog.

It seems pretty clear. Margaret Chan is using her position as Director-General of the WHO to help the North Korean government cover up its genocide of its own people. Both are likely acting on the direct orders of the Chinese government in its attempts to depopulate Korea so that it take its resources. This is a strong statement. But there is ample evidence that the Chinese government and its military aim to depopulate countries with resources they want. For example, the Chinese government has supported genocide in Sudan (See “The ‘Genocide Olympics’” by Ronan Farrow and Mia Farrow for more).

In almost any corner of the world where evil is being done, you will find the Chinese government helping those who would practice genocide: in North Korea, in Africa and in Iran. How is it that the world does not appear to notice? As I and others have argued, this is partially due to the Chinese government’s co-option of Western governments via promise of access to the enormous markets to multinational corporations. The same multinationals that underwrite political campaigns for the politicians who should be protesting the Chinese government’s despicable behaviour. But I believe there is another reason: Racism. As long as the victims of genocide are Asian or African, the MSM has tendency to ignore the story. Slobodan Milošević made the mistake of committing genocide against Europeans. For this, he will be punished. However when Hu Jintao and his colleagues commit genocide against Asians and Africans, the West averts its eyes.

Most people in comfortable Western countries cannot imagine being the target of genocide. That’s something that only happens to other people, either long ago or in poor countries. This assumption is wrong.

Mr. Chi Haotian, then Minister of Defense and vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, is alleged to have given a speech on February 15, 2005 in which he argued for using biological weapons against America in order to depopulate it. According to this speech, the Chinese government and military want to “clean up” the US so that they can take our resources. Sound familiar? For a variety of reasons which I listed in a blog, I believe this speech is genuine. Those who question its authenticity should bear in mind that John Derbyshire, a columnist for the National Review Online, has heard similar claims from senior members of the Chinese military with his own ears.

The Chinese government spent billions of dollars in bribes to get Margaret Chan elected as Director-General of the WHO for her first term. It looks like they are doing it again as she appears to be about to be given a second term as Director-General. As far as I can tell, there is no opposition from the public health establishment to her re-appointment, despite her sickening support for genocide in North Korea.

Today, Margaret Chan supports genocide in North Korea. But tomorrow she may use her position as Director-General of the WHO to support genocide in the United States. Those in the public health establishment who supported her for her first term have an especial responsibility to speak out against her record of support of genocide. If they don’t, then they bear personal responsibility for what she does in her second term.

Related blogs:

WHO endorsement of genocide in North Korea

Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 1
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 2
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 3
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 4
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 5
Margaret Chan versus Amnesty International – Part 6

The Psychopath War – Part 5 – Evil at the World Health Organisation (WHO)
The Psychopath War – Part 6 – 21st Century Genocide

Human to human spread of novel flu A virus

A new H3N2 virus which includes a genomic segment from pandemic pH1N1, appears to have spread human to human in Iowa. This is apparently the same strain that previously infected people in Pennsylvania, Maine and Indiana.

From the Winnipeg Free Press, November 22, 2011

U.S. health officials have spotted three more children infected with a new swine-origin flu virus, this time in Iowa.

And while earlier cases of infection with this virus are believed to have been cause by exposure to pigs, this time the evidence points to person-to-person spread.

“There’s pretty good indications that one child gave it to the other two children,” Iowa state epidemiologist Dr. Patricia Quinlisk said in an interview from Des Moines.

“Right now we have every indication that there’s person-to-person spread and absolutely no indication whatsoever that there’s animal-to-human spread.”

[snip]

The three children attended a small day-care together. They live in adjacent counties, Webster and Hamilton, in the centre of the state.

One became sick first and appears to have infected the other two. Quinlisk said it’s not clear how the first child got infected.

[snip]

H3N2 viruses have been spreading in pigs for years. But this one is slightly different. It has picked up one of the genes from the H1N1 flu virus that caused the 2009 pandemic.

It’s not clear whether having that gene, the M gene, is helping this virus transmit to humans. But a study done in guinea pigs _ one of the animal models for influenza _ showed that the M gene from the 2009 H1N1 virus is critical to the pandemic virus’s ability to transmit well.

If this virus continues to spread human to human, a new flu pandemic has begun.

Bio-Response Report Card

A bipartisan group which includes as its members Senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent recently released a report on America’s preparedness, or lack thereof, in the event of a biological attack. Below, some excerpts:

REPORT CARD
THE BIPARTISAN WMD TERRORISM RESEARCH CENTER’S
BIO-RESPONSE
21ST CENTURY BIOLOGICAL THREATS
OCTOBER 2011

[snip]

Although naturally occurring disease remains a serious threat, a thinking enemy armed with these same pathogens, or with multi–drug-resistant or synthetically engineered pathogens could produce catastrophic consequences.

[snip]

No one in the fields of biodefense, public health, or medicine will be surprised by the report’s finding that the United States is unprepared to respond to a global outbreak of a deadly virus for which we have no medical countermeasures.

[snip]

Studies indicate that new strains of influenza and other newly emerging diseases are likely to spread even more broadly and quickly due to the mobility of the world’s population. Additionally, many of the diseases once managed with medical countermeasures are now re-emerging in strains resistant to drug therapies.2 And modern technology threatens to speed the development of such novel diseases and enhance the threat they pose to the population at large.

The emergence of such a deadly pandemic, for which the nation was unprepared to respond, could change America forever. Naturally occurring disease remains a serious biological threat; however, a thinking enemy armed with these same pathogens—or with multi–drug-resistant or synthetically engineered pathogens— could produce catastrophic consequences.

[snip]

As technology spreads, the growing challenge of attribution may also make us even more vulnerable than in the past.

Until now, the combination of the Biological Weapons Convention and traditional deterrence has prevented nationstate use of bioweapons. But, deterrence is largely ineffective against non-state actors because they are hard to find and hold accountable. Should rogue nationstates provide sophisticated bioweapons to non-state actors, while remaining “a silent partner” to bioterrorism, the problem would be compounded.

The threat of biological disaster is real and growing. There are people in this world with the capability and the intent to use biological weapons. Americans are vulnerable to such an attack, as we are to a naturally occurring disease pandemic. The consequences of either could harm the fabric of the nation itself.

[snip]

H5N1 Alert in Asia

There have been a series of human cases, alerts and exercises associated with H5N1 in several countries in Asia recently. These include:

• Indonesia: Cases of H5N1 in humans
• Mainland China: Alert regarding H5N1 human to human spread
• Hong Kong, China: H5N1 exercise
• Taiwan: H5N1 exercise

In Indonesia, a one year old girl in Jakarta became sick on August 8, 2011 with H5N1. She she died on August 25, 2011 (WHO).

A five year old girl in Bali became ill with H5N1 on September 27, 2011. She died on October 9, 2011. Her 10 year old brother became ill on September 30, 2011. He died on October 10, 2011 (WHO). The mother of these children also died (The Beat). This was reported on October 18, 2011. She had previously been considered to be a suspected case, but was not officially reported as a confirmed case. This cluster almost certainly represents human to human spread of H5N1 and possibly human to human to human spread.

There were a number of other suspected H5N1 cases in Indonesia. In addition, precautions against human to human spread of the virus appear to be stepped up (see Indonesia thread at PFI for more details) [hat-tip to the Indonesia newshounds, especially dbg, mojo and Pixie].

In Mainland China, an alert was issued on October 25, 2011 requiring that Indonesians in China be tested for H5N1 (China Cities.com, Xinhua). [hat-tip, Goju and Pixie].

Hong Kong reported that it was holding an H5N1 outbreak exercise on October 27, 2011 (Global Times).

Taiwan reported an H5N1 pandemic exercise, also on October 27, 2011 (United Daily News).

Human clusters of H5N1 have occurred in Indonesia before. Further, H5N1 is endemic in China and is likely causing similar, but unreported, human clusters there. So, why is China and its neighbors taking nearly simultaneous steps to prepare for pandemic H5N1?

There have been no reports that sustained spread of H5N1 is occurring. However, if the source of such a pandemic is in China, it is unlikely that we will hear about it until many people have been infected. Certainly, this was the case with SARS and previous outbreaks of H5N1. Our first warning is likely to be unusual activity by governments in the region. Hence, the current situation bears watching.

Novel H3N2 flu virus infects child in Maine

A 8 year old boy in Cumberland County Maine has been infected with the same H3N2 influenza virus that has previously infected three people in Pennsylvania and one in Indiana. This virus is apparently circulating in pigs in the US.

The people in Indiana and Pennsylvania were infected in late July and August 2011. The 8 year old boy in Maine became ill in early October 2011. He is reported to have been in close proximity to pigs at an agricultural fair. There is disagreement regarding the severity of her symptoms. Although most reports suggest that she was not hospitalised, one media source says that she was.

From Kennebec Journal, October 21, 2011

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a new type of swine flu that sickened a child in Cumberland County.

The agency has not provided any more details about who was affected or where, but said it is an isolated event in Maine and has not been detected in people who had contact with the child. The child was hospitalized and is recovering, it said.

The Maine CDC is recommending the following precautions for health care providers:

• Maintain a heightened awareness for influenza-like illness (ILI) defined as fever greater than 100° with cough or sore throat, in the absence of another known cause.
• Consider influenza testing by PCR for:
1. patients with ILI with recent exposure to pigs.
2. patients with ILI who are hospitalized,
3. patients with ILI who have died,
4. patients where a diagnosis of influenza would affect clinical care, infection control, or management of contacts.
• Consider use of antivirals to quickly limit potential human transmission
• Vaccinate patients and healthcare workers as a primary strategy to prevent influenza

The virus that infected the boy in Maine, the three people in Pennsylvania and the child in Indiana has a complex ancestry. The HA and NA genomic segments are originally derived from humans, but are different from those currently circulating in H3N2 human flu viruses. The PB1 genomic segment originated in humans. The PB2 and PA genomic segments originated in birds. The NP and NS genomic segments originated in pigs. The Matrix or M segment, came from the human 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus, apparently as a result of reassortment between a virus that has been circultating in pigs and the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus.

Five individuals have now been reported to be infected with this virus within a relatively short time. Pig to human transmission is likely, although it is not know if this was due to direct contact or respiratory spread. Although sustained human to human spread of the new virus has not been reported, this could happen at any time. The virus could change further as result of reassortment, recombination or mutation.

Reference
Swine-Origin Influenza A (H3N2) Virus Infection in Two Children — Indiana and Pennsylvania, July–August 2011
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), September 9, 2011/60(35);1213-1215

[corrected age and gender of child based on new information, October 24, 2011. Hat-tip, Dr. Niman]

Hypocrisy Grips the Huffington Post – Anti-Vaccine Site Reviews “Contagion” … and Flublogia

Flublogia receives little attention from the MSM. However, in a recent review of “Contagion” a blogger at the Huffington Post, Peter Christian Hall, discusses Flublogia. Well, part of it anyways.

In “Contagion” an anti-vaccine, magic-bean selling flu blogger is portrayed with calculated nastiness by Jude Law. It is ironic that a blogger at the Huffington Post would review this movie, and discuss its relationship to Flublogia, given that the Huffington Post has been the source of virulent anti-vaccine blogs. Bloggers at the Huffington Post like Jim Carrey, Joseph Mercola and Bill Maher are strongly anti-vaccine, and, frankly, anti-science. At a critical time in the pandemic when vaccine was just becoming available (September 2009) Dr. Frank Lipman wrote the following at the Huffington Post:

Summer is over and the question I am being asked most frequently in my practice is, “what do I do about Swine flu?” My patients are wondering whether or not they should get vaccinated and the simple answer I give most of the time is ..NO!

From what you may have read, you might think that the swine flu vaccine is the answer to swine flu. Unfortunately this is not true and until we know that the vaccine is safe, I cannot in good conscience recommend it to most of my patients.

All of the available evidence suggests that the pH1N1 vaccine given in the US was both safe and effective. However, due to belief in the anti-vaccine message, some parents did not vaccinate their children. Some of these children subsequently died of pH1N1. How many of these deaths is the Huffington Post responsible for? It is impossible to know. No-one collects statistics on death caused by misinformation.

In his article, Mr. Hall lists many members of Flublogia, but leaves out me and one of the most popular flu forums (which I moderate): Pandemic Flu Information (PFI) . Why? Well, one possibility is that I and many members of PFI_Forum were frequent critics of the Huffington Post and its team of anti-vaccine bloggers, any one of which would have been a good model for the anti-vaccine blogger in “Contagion”. We also criticised the CDC, not for promoting vaccine, but for not promoting vaccine effectively enough. We also criticised the CDC for its lousy testing throughput and incompetence in articulating the need for rapid treatment with Tamiflu. Although some would like to lump PFI in with the anti-science magic bean sellers, the fact is that this is the role the Huffington Post played during the pandemic. We were on the other side.

The continued blacklist of PFI bothers me. But not due to personal pique. I write anonymously and have no magic beans to sell. What bothers me is that the Director of the CDC is so insecure that he cannot countenance any criticism, even when its constructive and accurate. Although the CDC risk communicators claim that they want to “engage” the public, this is a lie. They wish to be praised lavishly and will reward only those who do so.

The Huffington Post also appears to be unable to handle the truth. Goju from PFI tried to post some links demonstrating HuffPo’s role as an anti-vaccine propaganda agent during the 2009 pandemic. His comments were censored. So much for the Huffington Post’s committment to free speech.

I don’t expect the people I criticise to like me. I’m OK with being called names or just being ignored. But censoring valid criticisms and only listening to people who tell you what you want to hear will lead to disaster. The many people who died unnecessarily during the 2009 pandemic are proof of that.