Influenza
From The Conspiracy Wiki
Influenza is a infectious viral decease, affecting birds and mammals (including humans). In the recent years, two outbreaks have been scrutinized by conspiracy theorists: influenza A virus subtype H5N1 spread of mid-2000s and the 2009 flu pandemic.
[edit] The theory
According to proponents of the conspiracy theory behind H5N1, said virus either never really existed or, more likely, is by far less deadly than the media make it appear. The pharmaceutical corporations are accused of deliberately hyping up the threat posed by the flu viruses via mass media and WHO statements, to boost their profits from selling anti-flu medicines such as Tamiflu.
[edit] Evidence
The official human death toll of avian flu from 2003 to 2009 is 257, of them, none in Europe or the New World (where most hype has been generated). The official death toll of swine flu pandemic is 452 (as of July 4, 2009). By comparison, the Black Death killed about 75 million people worldwide in mid-14th century. AIDS has been recognized as a threat since 1981 and has killed 2.1 million people worldwide.
On November 1, 2005, the US Government presented to National Institutes of Health a plan of fighting the spread of influenza. While acknowledging the fact that US didn't suffer from avian flu, then-President Bush specifically warned about the H5N1 strain. Moreover, one of the measures suggested by the plan was investing another billion US dollars into development of Tamiflu, a medicine advertised as the only effective counter to H5N1.
What the plan didn't mention was although Tamiflu was produced and marketed by Swiss-based Hoffmann–La Roche, it was originally developed and patented by US-based Gilead Sciences, meaning that they would profit from rising sales of Tamiflu, as well. Another detail they failed to mention was that then-US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was the Chairman of Gilead Sciences between 1997 and 2001. What's more, unconfirmed reports claimed that Rumsfeld invested 18 million dollars into Gilead stocks just prior to that, making a fortune off the Tamiflu sales.
In 2009, as WHO rated the danger of swine flu at the highest Phase 6, Tamiflu is once again advertised as an effective treatment against the backdrop of a massive fear campaign in the media.
[edit] Sources
- Engdahl, F. William, Seeds of Destruction. The Hidden Agenda of GMO. Centre for Research on Globalization Publishing 2007, ISBN 0973714727.
- H1N1 Swine Flu Hoax/Fraud Conspiracy Theories.
