Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic

[Octoldit]

by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, May 1, 2009

LINK: Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic

What is the flu? Influenza (the flu) is a serious contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. Millions of people in the United States get the flu each year. Most people are sick for about a week. Some people (especially young children, pregnant women, older people, and people with chronic health problems) can get very sick and may die from the flu. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)



The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on a 6 point scale.

The WHO's Phase 5 alert means "there is sustained human-to-human spread in at least two countries and that global outbreak of the disease is imminent... It also signals an increased effort to produce a vaccine... Human cases have been confirmed in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Britain, Israel, New Zealand and Spain." (emphasis added)

According to reports, the WHO took this decision after " a 23-month-old [child] died [from the swine flu] in Texas after travelling there from Mexico for medical treatment."

The swine flu was, according to reports, confirmed in 11 states in the US. Health officials at the WHO in Geneva and Washington are quoted as saying that the "spread of the virus is unlikely to stop".

The media has gone into full gear with little analysis and review of the evidence, focussing their attention on the more than 2400 cases of non-specific influenza in Mexico.

"the global outbreak is imminent...

all countries should activate preparedness plans",

The worst health crisis facing the world in 90 years..."


On the day following the WHO's Phase 5 Pandemic Alert, a scientist attached to the European Union's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention hinted, without evidence, that the epidemic could potentially affect 40% to 50% of the EU population "in a mild way". (See europeanvoice.com, April 30, 2009).

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the World Health Organisation task force on swine flu, stated that "40 per cent of people in the UK could be infected within the next six months if the country was hit by a pandemic."

“We don’t really know what size epidemic we will get over the next couple of months... It is almost certain that, even if it does fade away in the next few weeks – which it might – we will get a seasonal epidemic in the autumn."

“We might expect up to 30 to 40 per cent of the population to become ill in the next six months if this truly turns into a pandemic. “We could get substantial numbers infected in the next few weeks but, if I was to be a betting man, I would say it would be slightly longer because we are moving into summer.” Prof. Ferguson said the 152 deaths in Mexico probably made up a relatively small proportion of the total number infected, which might run into tens or hundreds of thousands." (Daily Express, May 1, 2009)

The media reports are twisted. Realities are turned up side down. Policy statements are not backed by medical and scientific evidence. Professor Ferguson's statements are unfounded. He has not bothered to check the number of "laboratory confirmed" swine flu cases in Mexico.

30 to 40 % of the British population? Up to 50 % of the population of the European Union's 500 million population?

On what basis are these statements being made?

On April 27, there was, according to reports, only one case of swine flu in the entire European Union: "Europe's first confirmed case of swine flu has been diagnosed in Spain. The country's health ministry confirmed the news on Monday morning, after tests on a man who had recently returned from a trip to Mexico." (BBC, April 27, 2009)

Full Story: Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic

 

[dilloduck]

by Michel Chossudovsky


On what basis are these statements being made?



Full Story: Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic

speculation---it's all the rage among economists too.

 

[Meister]

The media is always good for the doom and gloom. I remember the Killer Bees hype, I remember the Fire Ants hype. Then we get to the SARS, West Nile, Avian Flu, etc. I'm not even going to talk about "global warming", that's another can of worms. They always have to keep the uneducated worried about something.
This isn't a super variety of flu, it's just one that nobodt expected. It is your garden variety of flu virus. Now, they're talking about that it might be stabalizing.

Swine Flu: Experts Say Outbreak Could Be Stabilizing In Mexico - KCPQ

I'm just wondering what the next hype is going to be. maybe we should take a poll on that.

 

[Old Rocks]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

 

[dilloduck]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

grow up and do what?

 

[Meister]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.
Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

We aren't living in 1918 Old Rocks. We know a lot more about the the flu virus than in 1918. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have meds that fend off the virus, and the main killer from the virus was the fever? I don't think anyone was talking about liberals...but, it didn't take much for a numpskull to bring it to this thread..huh?
I'm waiting for your sorry ass to grow up, Old Rocks.

PS Next time try reading the link...just sayin

 

[Old Rocks]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

grow up and do what?

A little research before you prove your mental incompetance.

 

[dilloduck]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

grow up and do what?

A little research before you prove your mental incompetance.

you mean like the scientists

 

[KittenKoder]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

Really, you should grow up ... or at least educate yourself. Comparing 1918 with modern day is like comparing a TRS-80 with a Compaq Presario.

 

[Old Rocks]

Sure, and when another disease such as AIDS comes along, we will once again pay the price of hubris.

 

[auditor0007]

Sure, and when another disease such as AIDS comes along, we will once again pay the price of hubris.

The problem with you Old Rocks, is that anything and everything becomes a major catastrophe in your eyes. If it's not global warming that will put an end to mankind as we know him, then it is the flu. Everyday, the sky is falling, and we must prepare for the worst. It gets old after a bit, don't you think?

 

[DiveCon]

Of course the 1918 pandemic of Swine Flu did not kill at least 40,000,000 people worldwide. That is just liberal propaganda, put in all the history books of the world by the vast One World Order conspiracy. And the primary victums of that pandemic were not healthy adults between 20 and 40. Just another liberal lie to scare all of us.

Sheesh, will you silly asses ever grow up?

Really, you should grow up ... or at least educate yourself. Comparing 1918 with modern day is like comparing a TRS-80 with a Compaq Presario.

really


rockhead is an alarmist

 

[garyd]

And neither particularly clever or well educated though he certainly seems to think that he is.

The mortality rate from the 1918 flu Pandemic was what 30-40%.

Right now we have no idea what the fatality rate is mostly because the public health situation in Mexico isn't markedly differnt thatn it was here in 1918.

This may well kill a crap load of 3rd worlders but even that is strictly conjecture at the moment. AIDS also started in the 3rd world. That is almost entirely the reason it got the head start it did.

 

[editec]

Per usual, we depend on experts to help us form our opinions about questions of a technical nature.

THE WHO's concerns about Swine Flu might have been alarmist.

Time will tell.

 

[Old Rocks]

Right now, by Mexican government figures, the death rate is about 6%. That represents a huge figure should this virus create a worldwide pandemic. The other point is that this flu, like most, is highly mutable. Since it carries human, swine, and bird genetics, it can be transmitted through any of these species. Think bird migrations.

As for being alarmist, yes. I firmly believe in being proactive when you see a major problem bearing down on you. Like climate change created by global warming, a major pandemic has the potential of creating bad situations for all of us. Therefore, we need to address the issue, and do the neccessary things in a timely manner.

By the way, the mortality rate was nowhere near 30% to 40% for the 1918 pandemic. Best estimates are between 2% and 5%.

The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but is estimated at 2.5 to 5% of those who were infected died. Note this does not mean that 2.5-5% of the human population died; with 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent, a case-fatality ratio this high would mean that about 0.5-1% ( ≈50 million) of the whole population died.[11] Influenza may have killed as many as 25 million in its first 25 weeks. Older estimates say it killed 40–50 million people[3] while current estimates say 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed.[12] This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed more people than the Black Death.[13]
1918 flu pandemic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Meister]

Right now, by Mexican government figures, the death rate is about 6%. That represents a huge figure should this virus create a worldwide pandemic. The other point is that this flu, like most, is highly mutable. Since it carries human, swine, and bird genetics, it can be transmitted through any of these species. Think bird migrations.

As for being alarmist, yes. I firmly believe in being proactive when you see a major problem bearing down on you. Like climate change created by global warming, a major pandemic has the potential of creating bad situations for all of us. Therefore, we need to address the issue, and do the neccessary things in a timely manner.

By the way, the mortality rate was nowhere near 30% to 40% for the 1918 pandemic. Best estimates are between 2% and 5%.

The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but is estimated at 2.5 to 5% of those who were infected died. Note this does not mean that 2.5-5% of the human population died; with 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent, a case-fatality ratio this high would mean that about 0.5-1% ( ≈50 million) of the whole population died.[11] Influenza may have killed as many as 25 million in its first 25 weeks. Older estimates say it killed 40–50 million people[3] while current estimates say 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed.[12] This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed more people than the Black Death.[13]
1918 flu pandemic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for the history lesson. I guess that means you won't want to read the link that says that the Mexico flu outbreak could be stabalizing.