This report from Feb 27th illustrates the problem:
In Antwerp, Belgium on Sunday 18 dead pigeons were found. According to the Belgian agency for the security of the food chain (FAVV), the birds were not infected with the H5N1 virus.
The H5N1 virus does not occur in pigeons. The cause of death has not been determined.
The birds were found under a bridge on the Boomssesteenweg (street). The authorities were informed and the dead birds will be picked up on Monday, according to the Antwerp police.
Sounds great. Except . . . H5N1 has been found in pigeons!
What goes on here?
Simply a government’s attempt to dismiss and cover up the truth. By saying it doesn’t occur in pigeons, they can then destroy the carcasses without testing them. A Simple solution to a nasty problem. You can’t find the virus unless you test for it. Ergo, don’t test and the problem doesn’t exist.
Now scientists have found the H5N1 in a dead stone marten, a weasel-like mammal common in Europe. Undoubtedly politicians and lawyers worldwide are worried sick over this latest news.
The newsmedia has expressed shock and concern over this one, much like Claude Raines expressing shock to find gambling going on in Rick’s Café American. Tigers, cats, dogs, and humans have already died from H5N1, proving it has an affinity to mammalian receptors. There is no reason to suspect that other mammals couldn’t be infected. Horses, cows, pigs, and rats . . . the list of potential victims, and vectors, is endless.
In Azerbaijan, 11 people are sickened with suspected bird flu. Eight members of one family. Three of the 11 have died. Local officials suspect avian flu, but are unable to properly test for it. Have they sent samples off to a lab to confirm? Well … not yet. But they’re planning to. Seems they don’t have the proper shipping containers.
Eight members of one family stretches the credulity of believing they all caught it from an infected bird. This, if it proves to be H5N1, is most likely a H2H cluster. But hey, they’ll test for it eventually.
Reports out of China and Indonesia continue to show up in the news. A death or two each day, but somehow, the WHO death toll doesn’t seem to move up. Local tests, when positive for H5N1 must be confirmed. Negative tests are, well, negative. Gotta love that logic.
We are now seeing news stories about bird-flu psychosis. People worried about the virus beyond what local authorities deem necessary. Reminiscent of the US governments campaign during the 1918 pandemic, urging people not to succumb to Spanish Flu Mania.
Obviously, governments are running scared. They still cling to the hope that a pandemic may not errupt, or that they can contain it if it does. Until then, like a cheating husband caught in bed with his mistress, they are continuing to deny the truth.
Even to the point of looking rediculous.
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