Reply #16: Refer to the hybrid flu as the Fort Detrick flu

[Jim Pivonka]

It's the Fort Detrick Flu

Fort Detrick disease samples may be missing --CID has been investigating USAMRIID since at least early February. 22 Apr 2009 Army criminal investigators are looking into the possibility that disease samples are missing from biolabs at Fort Detrick. As first reported in today's edition of The Frederick News-Post, the investigators are from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division unit at Fort Meade. Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, said CID is investigating the possibility of missing virus samples from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. CID is responsible for investigating crimes where the Army is, or may be, a party of interest, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command website. USAMRIID is the Army's top biodefense lab, where researchers study pathogens including Ebola, anthrax and plague.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=89293
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_columnist.htm?StoryID=89276
http://www.cid.army.mil/
http://www.usamriid.army.mil/
http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html

'Agents are looking for what may have gone missing between 1987 and 2008.' Cold comfort By Katherine Heerbrandt 22 Apr 2009 The Criminal Investigation Division at Fort Meade has been investigating USAMRIID at Fort Detrick since at least early February. Meade's CID pursues investigations of serious crimes and sensitive subjects of concern to the Army at regional bases like Detrick, which has no internal investigative arm. A News-Post story in February reported that USAMRIID was shutting down most of its bioresearch while it tried to match its inventory to its records, citing an "overage" of BSAT, biological select agents and toxins. Meade's CID, however, isn't concerned with overstock. Instead, agents are looking for what may have gone missing between 1987 and 2008.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_columnist.htm?StoryID=89276

Outbreak in Mexico, U.S. tied to new swine flu --Source of unique virus a mystery; CDC expects more cases 24 Apr 2009 The unique strain of swine flu found in seven people in California and Texas has been connected to the deadly flu that has broken out in Mexico, killing as many as 61 people. The strain has never been seen before and is raising fears of a possible pandemic across North America. The World Health Organization said the virus that killed at least 12 of the victims in Mexico had the same genetic structure as an outbreak discovered in California. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386163/ & http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30373191/

Navy Experimenting With Flu at Mexican Border --Mexico Shuts Schools Amid Deadly Flu Outbreak 25 Apr 2009 Mexican officials, scrambling to control a swine flu outbreak that has killed at least 16 people and possibly dozens more in recent weeks... The unusual strain this year was noticed, said Dr. Anne Schuchat , only because the agency was trying out a new diagnostic test at a Navy laboratory and doing more testing than usual through a new Border Infectious Disease Surveillance Project along the Mexican border. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/world/americas/25mexico.html and http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no1/pdfs/02-0047.pdf

U.S. May Expand Military Role in Mexico --'Anti-Drug' Effort Could Send National Guard to U.S.-Mexico Border 24 Apr 2009 The Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are developing contingency plans to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexican border under a $350 million initiative that would expand the U.S. military's role . . . according to Obama administration officials. The circumstances under which the troops could be deployed have not been determined, the officials said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042402222.html

Mexico City suspends school over flu epidemic 24 Apr 2009 Mexico City has suspended classes at schools and universities to contain what could be a new flu strain. Health Secretary Jose Cordova says private and public schools in this metropolis of 20 million have been ordered to remain closed Friday. The measure could be extended in coming days. Cordova says the flu is a "new, different strain that can attack anyone." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2009/04/24/international/i065148D07.DTL

'Laboratory testing showed that the virus does not match any known flu strains.' In California and Texas, 5 New Swine Flu Cases 24 Apr 2009 Government scientists have identified five more people who have been infected with swine flu, apparently confirming suspicions that the unusual strain of the respiratory infection is spreading from person to person, federal health officials said yesterday. Three new cases were found in California and two in Texas, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to seven, officials at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042304116.html

Officials said there was no reason for alarm despite the growing number of cases, but they urged doctors to be on the look-out for more cases and said they were intensifying their efforts. They have also taken preliminary steps to create a vaccine against the virus if necessary.

"We don't think this is time for major concern around the country," Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"We are taking steps to know more and stay on top of the situation,"

"We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring. That's unusual. We don't know how widely it is spreading,"

"The good news is all seven of these patients have recovered," she said. The virus appears to be resistant to two drugs normally used to treat the flu, but two others appear to be effective against it.

Genetic analysis of the virus indicates it is highly unusual: It is a hybrid that resulted from a combination of four different viruses -- one that typically infects people, one that originated in North American birds and two from pigs in Europe and Asia.

"This combination has not been recognized before in the U.S. or elsewhere," Schuchat said.

A Fort Detrick cocktail? We've already had one rogue out of our biowarfare establishment. How many more are there?
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ivins
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/breach


Links and (most) text summaries are from Lori Price, CLG: http://www.legitgov.org/