Just above this line of the post are the categories that I have applied to the post. Clicking of the category link will take you to all the posts in that category. I say this because I have written extensively on bird flu, or avian flu, or H5N1. They’re all the same thing for the purposes of the discussion. If you click on the avian flu link you will find a wealth of sourced material about this illness.

Several things are true about this issue:

• There have been three known influenza epidemics.
• Pneumonia is the primary cause of death in influenza related deaths.
• In all three influenza epidemics the death rate from influenza increased from the death rate from influenza in non-pandemic years.
• The strain of bird flu called H5N1 was discovered in Scotland in 1959.
• H5N1 was first discovered in a human in 1997.
• About 141 people are believed to have died from h5N1 since 1996.
• Nearly all of the illnesses from H5N1 can be related to direct exposure to sick or dead poultry.
• There will be another influenza pandemic.
• There will be pandemics of other diseases.
• American health care is much better than it was in 1918, when the first influenza pandemic happened.
• All of the deaths from H5N1 have been in Asia or Egypt.

Here is a list of what I believe the data shows concerning H5N1:

• H5N1 is not the virus to cause the next influenza epidemic.
• The illness has been hyped by researchers who live off grants to study diseases.
• H5N1 is a disease primarily spread by poor hygiene in the care, slaughter and preparation of poultry for food.
• The death rate from H5N1 has more to do with the state of medical care in the patient’s vicinity than it does the virulence of the illness.
• The media has failed to question the experts they quote about the facts leading to their conclusions.

World Health Organization:

On October 10 of 2005 and March 23 of 2006, I asked these questions:

1. Why did the Spanish Flu appear first in the United States when clearly every other influenza epidemic, including the next two pandemics, originated in Asia?
2. Based on the limited data in humans, less than 130 known cases [241 as of 8/24/06], how have you determined that you have enough data to make statements about H5N1’s potential as a pandemic strain?
3. Are there any confirmed human to human transmissions of H5N1?
4. Are the human cases of H5N1 primarily a result of poor hygiene in farming and food handling?
5. What makes H5N1 potentially deadlier than any other flu strain?
6. Will an H5N1 vaccine developed now from the non-contagious form of the disease have any effectiveness if it becomes human to human transmittable?
7. Why is this medical crisis different from that of the “Swine Flu“?
8. Are data and conclusions drawn from an epidemic some 90 years ago applicable to current medical conditions?
9. Why is this medical crisis different from that of “SARS“?

These questions remain unanswered.