New virus- Zika

[angelburst29]

Zika virus (ATCC® VR-84™)
http://www.lgcstandards-atcc.org/products/all/VR-84.aspx?geo_country=es#history

Classification: Flaviviridae, Flavivirus / Product Format: freeze-dried
Name of Depositor
J. Casals, Rockefeller Foundation

Source
Blood from experimental forest sentinel rhesus monkey, Uganda, 1947

Year of Origin
1947

References
Dick GW. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 46: 509, 1952.



Brazil’s baby defects outbreak could be caused by new vaccine, activists say
https://wddty.com/news/2016/02/brazils-baby-defects-outbreak-could-be-caused-by-new-vaccine-activists-say.html

Health activists are suspecting the sudden outbreak of cases of microcephaly, a birth defect that causes abnormally small heads in newborns, isn’t caused by the Zika virus, but by the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis) vaccine that pregnant women in Brazil started to be given last year.

The Zika virus has been around for at least 70 years, and hasn’t caused any long-term ill effects—and yet the outbreak of microcephaly cases in Brazil coincides with the start of the new vaccination programme, designed to slow the progress of pertussis, or whooping cough.

Pregnant women started to be given the vaccine at the beginning of 2015, and cases of microcephaly have been reported since last October—10 months later. By December, 2,400 cases had been reported, and the Brazilian government declared a state of emergency.

The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, has been linked to microcephaly because it was found in a baby who had died after contracting the condition. The virus was also found in the amniotic fluid of two mothers whose babies were born with microcephaly.

But activists argue the virus can’t have suddenly started to cause microcephaly when it hasn’t done so for 70 years. In addition to the time coincidence, they say the version of the Tdap vaccine introduced to Brazil was never properly tested, and contains chemicals and preservatives that can affect neurological development.



Zika Hoax: five things that will happen next, by Jon Rappoport
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/category/zika/



To confuse matters even more - a new mysterious parasitic disease called the kissing bug?

300,000 Americans already infected with mysterious new parasite disease called ‘the new AIDS’
http://investmentwatchblog.com/300000-americans-already-infected-with-mysterious-new-parasite-disease-called-the-new-aids/

With Ebola now a back page news item, a new boogeyman pathogen is quickly taking center stage. So-called “kissing bug disease” is the latest mainstream media scare that reports claim is already inside the bodies of 300,000 Americans.

The strange condition, which is already being dubbed “the new AIDS,” supposedly doesn’t show symptoms initially. But once they emerge, the disease, also known as Chagas’ disease, can quickly turn fatal much in the same way as AIDS.

The kissing bug is a potentially lethal parasite

The Daily Mail Online says kissing bug disease is technically a parasite, and many doctors aren’t even aware that it exists. Researchers say it can be cured if detected early, but because of the nature of its symptoms, this is often difficult.

At a recent gathering of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans, experts explained how Chagas is spread by kissing bugs. The parasite itself, known as Trypanosoma cruzi, is spread through the feces of bugs, and can lead to fever, fatigue, body aches, rashes, diarrhea and vomiting.

One of the more odd symptoms is a purplish swelling of one eyelid, as well as unusual skin lesions. If left to run their course, these and other harrowing symptoms can eventually turn into heart failure, which by that point is too late to cure.

“The disease can be fatal if not treated,” says Melissa Nolan Garcia, an epidemiologist from the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, as quoted by the Daily Mail Online. “You are normally asymptomatic until disease has progressed, at which time treatment is not helpful. We call this the silent disease.”

Existing drug treatments for kissing bug disease can cause nausea, weight loss, and nerve damage

Before ultimately killing its victims, the chronic phase of kissing bug disease typically includes organ enlargement, digestive problems, and heart failure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists eyelid swelling, also known as “Romana’s sign,” as the most recognized marker of the disease.

“During the chronic phase, the infection may remain silent for decades or even for life,” says the CDC. “The average lifetime risk of developing one or more of these complications is about 30%.”

For their research into the disease, Garcia and her team followed 17 Houston-area residents who had become infected, as well as collected 40 kissing bugs from 11 central-southern Texas counties. They found that half of the bugs had fed on human blood, as well as blood from dozens of other animals ranging from canines to raccoons.

“We were astonished to not only find such a high rate of individuals testing positive forChagas in their blood, but also high rates of heart disease that appear to be Chagas-related,” added Garcia.

“The concerning thing is that the majority of the patients [I spoke to] are going to physicians, and the physicians are telling them, ‘No, you don’t have the disease,'” she went on to say.

At the present time, there are no officially approved treatments for Chagas’ disease. Two drugs currently being used as experimental treatment, benznidazole and nifurtimox, have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and reports indicate that these drugs can cause nausea, weight loss, and nerve damage in patients.

“Until recently [kissing bug disease] was considered a problem only in Mexico, Central America and South America,” explains The Washington Post (WP).

“Over the past few years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen cases across half the United States, but in most cases the victims were believed to have been infected abroad.”

 

[angelburst29]

I can now provide the latest update on what researchers in Brazil are discovering, as they dig into their original findings about the Zika virus and cases of microcephaly (babies born with small heads and brain impairment).

Zika: update from Brazil: towering non-evidence by Jon Rappoport
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/zika-update-from-brazil-towering-non-evidence/

February 4, 2016 - A correspondent has offered a translation of an article that appeared in one of the major Sao Paulo newspapers, O Estado de São Paulo, on February 2nd, “País tem 404 casos confirmados de microcefalia”:

It is obvious that no significant connection between microcephaly and the Zika virus has been found. It’s not even close. So far, therefore, there is absolutely no reason to trumpet an epidemic of Zika. Doing so is quite insane, by any reasonable standard.

Here are the principal facts in the article (after which I’ll comment):

* As of January 30, 2015, 4,783 suspected cases of microcephaly were reported in Brazil.

* Of those, 3,670 suspected cases of microcephaly, covering the entire country of Brazil, are being investigated.

* Of those 3,670, 404 cases have been confirmed as microcephaly or “other alterations in the central nervous system” of babies.

* Of those 404 cases, 17 “had a relationship with zika virus.”

* 98% of the 404 microcephaly cases come from the Northeast area of Brazil, and in that area, Pernambuco has the highest number of cases: 56.

Now, let’s take each one of these reported facts and examine it.

First: 4,783 suspected cases of microcephaly in Brazil. “Suspected” is the operative word. This number means nothing, because it says nothing about confirmation. It’s just a raw figure.

3,670 of these cases are being researched.

Of these 3,670, 404 have been confirmed as microcephaly or other alterations in the central nervous system of the babies. The key word here is “or.” The researchers don’t know how many of the 404 babies have microcephaly. At the very most, it would be 404. 404 cases of microcephaly in the whole country of Brazil, so far. That is not an epidemic. For example, every year in the US, there are 25,000 cases of microcephaly. And the literature is very clear about causes: any insult to the fetal brain during pregnancy can result in microcephaly. Severe malnutrition, falling down stairs, a blow to the stomach, a toxic street drug or medical drug or vaccine or pesticide, and so on.

Of these 404 cases of (possible) microcephaly in Brazil, 17 babies have been found who “have a relationship with the Zika virus.” It’s hard to be more vague. But for the sake of argument, let’s say that in each of the 17, with a correct test done properly, the Zika virus was isolated. This finding does not even remotely approach proof that Zika is causing microcephaly. It’s miles away from proof. Any honest researcher will tell you that. If Zika were the cause, researchers should have been able to find it in the overwhelming majority of the 404 babies. 17 out of 404 is, in fact, major evidence that Zika is not the cause.

98% of the 404 (possible) microcephaly cases come from the Northeast region of Brazil. Before jumping to any conclusions, realize that standards on reporting such cases differ from region to region. Up until now, there was no national focus on microcephaly. So there may be other cases from other regions. As for the 56 cases in Pernambuco, understand that the population of this area is 9.27 million people. It is significant to note that commercial agriculture is widespread in Pernambuco, and agriculture means toxic pesticides—an important causal factor in microcephaly, as I’ve detailed in other articles.

To sum up, researchers so far have found 404 cases of microcephaly in Brazil, and who knows how many of those are actually some other kind of nervous-system impairment. And of those 404 babies, they have found, at best, 17 cases where the Zika virus was present.

And this is the epidemic that is shaking the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is spearheading the baseless propaganda and the hysteria. At the very least, hundreds of employees from WHO should be immediately fired from their jobs, if not jailed.

 

[angelburst29]

Health minister: Brazil is 'losing battle' against mosquito
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160126/news/301269845/

Back dated Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 - RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's health minister says the country is sending some 220,000 troops to battle the mosquito blamed for spreading a virus suspected of causing birth defects - but he also says the war is already being lost.

Marcelo Castro said that nearly 220,000 members of Brazil's Armed Forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito eradication efforts ahead of the country's Carnival celebrations ( Feb. 5-10). Agency spokesman Nivaldo Coelho said Tuesday details of the deployment are still being worked out.

Castro also said the government would distribute mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women who receive cash-transfer benefits.

But the minister also said the country is "badly losing the battle" against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

"The mosquito has been here in Brazil for three decades, and we are badly losing the battle against the mosquito," the ministers said as a crisis group on Zika was meeting in the capital, Brazilia.


CDC-Oxford'Death Gene' is key to the Brazilian Babies riddle
_http://www.rense.com/general96/cdc_oxford.html

By Yoichi Shimatsu 2-8-16

The mobilization of 500,000 soldiers and public-health workers to spray pesticides across Brazil is effectively terminating a controversial British-American biotechnology project that has released millions of gene-engineered mosquitoes in a backfired experiment to combat the dengue fever virus (DENV). The Oxitec gene-manipulation technique called RIDL (Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal) is widely suspected of spreading a new virulent strain of ZIKA virus, and the Brazilian outbreak in turn raises fears of a link to microcephaly or reduced brain size in human embryos. (Oxitec is a corporate spinoff of Oxford University, even though most of its researchers are with less prestigious British schools or from the United States.)

First of all, this essay explains how the recent cases of Brazilian microcephaly were not caused by ZIKA but are instead a “side effect” of the RIDL gene-transfer. The so-called Death Gene blockage, using the GATA binding protein, can affect the same gene in human embryos as in the targeted mosquito pupae. The OX513-A captive mosquito program releases protein-carrier male mosquitoes to mate with the wild local female mosquitoes. The lethal protein enters the eggs to disrupt embyonic growth, causing the offspring to self-destruct (auto-side) before they reach adulthood. However, these same mother mosquitoes can then transfer the dangerous protein into women, thereby seriously harming human embryonic development of the brain, nerves, heart and testicles. Damage to the GATA-1 protein in human embryos is associated with Down Syndrome, a brain disorder similar to Brazilian microcephaly. (While there are many other causes of microcephaly, the new Brazil type is extraordinarily severe.)

[...] The female aeges aegypti mosquitoes are blood-feeders in contrast to the shorter-lived males, which subsist on flowers and therefore are sater to handle and raise. The eggs of males can withstand a higher temperature than the female eggs, which die off with exposure to heat and are thus easily separated out.

When the hatched males become pupae, a gene-interfering protein called tTA is introduced into their bodies. The tTA (tetracycline-controlled Transcriptional Activation) makes the captive mosquitoes dependent on the antibiotic tetracycline. Without this antibiotic, the protein becomes activated and attaches to the GATA-transcription gene in the mosquito’s DNA, blocking organ maturation and thereby resulting in “auto-cide”.

After growing wings in early adulthood, the tetracycline-dosed tTA-carrying males are released into the wild in large swarms to mate with wild local female mosquitoes. The tTA protein is transferred via mating into the target females. The mother mosquito is not immediately killed off (as she is not tetracycline dependent). The tTA penetrates her eggs, which like their father, requires tetracycline to prevent gene shutdown.

The female mosquito lays her eggs in a watery environment, and these tetracycline-dependent eggs hatch into pupae. As the pupae grow (while any tetracycline residue breaks down), the tTA is activated and attaches to the tetO complex surrounding the GATA gene sections of the mosquito DNA. The GATA gene sequence reverse-transcribe (encode with mirror effect to produce) GATA proteins, which provide the “master-plans” for embryonic development of organs and muscles. A blocked gene creates mangled proteins, meaning the pupae have no chance of becoming fully formed adult mosquitoes.

Mother Mosquito Bites Human The obvious flaw in the Oxitec method is the fact that the female mosquito is not killed early on. To provide sustenance to the eggs in its sac, the mother mosquito feeds on the blood of birds and mammals, including humans. Oxitec guarantees that the dengue virus cannot replicate inside the female’s saliva glands, due to the presence of RIDL, and therefore she represents no threat of infection to humans, other than an annoying bite. That claim has proven overly optimistic, considering the many cases of mosquito-derived ZIKA virus infections inside the field-test zones.

The situation becomes more serious when the mosquito bites a pregnant women, thereby transmitting the lethal gene-blocking protein. In the early development stage, human embryos are not much different from mosquito pupae. About 44 percent of genes in the DNA of mammals are shared with insects, due to common evolutionary ancestral species. Therefore, RIDL will have a disruptive effect on the GATA sequences in human DNA. In mammals, seven types of GATA proteins are crucial for development of embryos into healthy normal children.

Damage to the GATA-1 protein is associated with Down Syndrome, the diminished skullcap condition similar to the recent cases of microcephaly in Brazilian infants. Autopsies done on aborted fetuses indicate that the Brazilian microcephaly are far more severe than Down Syndrome, showing smoothness of the brain surface with a complete absence of the rills and wrinkles necessary for cognition and sensory functions. Notice how the news media are not discussing the severity of the damage. (ZIKA fragments were found in all microcephaly-affected babies, indicating the involvement of the Aedes aeqypti mosquito.)

Brain damage more severe than Down Syndrome is due to the tTA effect on production of the GATA-4 protein. GATA-4 interacts with a co-factor called FOG-2 (friend of GATA), to promote and manage development of the embryonic brain, nerves and heartbeat. The physical abnormalities caused by the Oxitec “death gene” on the other five GATA proteins can be expected to appear as the Brazilian infants grow further.

Section 2: Gene-based Biological Warfare The first major outbreak of Zika virus occurred in April and May 2007 on Yap island, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia in the South Pacific. Of the island’s 7,400 residents, antibodies against Zika were found in 74 percent of the population. No deaths were attributed to ZIKA, and none of the patients were hospitalized. Long-term nerve damage known as Guillaine-Barre Syndrome was reported. In the following year, local health workers reported an increase in cases of microcephaly in newborns, a claim disputed in other reports.

The Yap outbreak was an extraordinary phenomenon for several reasons.

Over the past 60 years since its discovery by the Rockefeller Institute in a monkey in the Zika Valley of Uganda, only 14 cases in humans had been reported. The distance from the coast of East Africa to Yap is 11,000 kilometers, and not a single resident of Yap had ever visited Africa. A few Filipinos, presumably medical workers, had contact with Zika virus, but none were reported in Yap.

Yap is an isolated island community making it an ideal “laboratory” for an illegal human experiment and clinical study. The nearest major island is Guam, the former headquarters of the U.S. Naval Research Lab 2, which had since been relocated to Indonesia (where it supplied lab assistants to the notorious “super-flu” researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka at University of Wisconsin). The local health care system is primarily funded with U.S. foreign aid.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder A dozen-member team of American epidemiology experts flew to Guam and then Yap during that Zika outbreak. The research observer delegation was led by a U.S. Air Force colonel, a veterinarian assigned in the previous year to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as an attache of the U.S. Health Department’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. His teammates included a female Air Force medical official with top-security clearance; and several researcher from the CDC Vector-Based Diseases laboratory at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. One physician was dispatched by the Pasteur Institute hospital in Tahiti, and antiterrorism medical expert in Micronesia completed the roster. (Due to the risks of international crime and terrorism, their names and positions are not mentioned here.)

The tandem appearance of Zika virus and microcephaly in Yap is identical to the current situation in Brazil. By 2007, several methods to insert blocking genes or RNA fragments into mosquitoes had already been developed and field tested. So the question arises: Did the Pentagon deliberately introduce the Zika virus to Yap or merely respond to a mystery outbreak?

 

[casper]

Who "wants" to Zika virus postpone the Olympics game in Brazil?

It is estimated that in Brazil Zika virus infected a few hundred thousand to as many as 1.3 million people.

Quote:
"USOC refused to issue any recommendation for athletes. They just sent a message to women who are pregnant or considering pregnancy not to travel to Brazil."

"We were told that if we are concerned about a virus that does not travel to Brazil," said the president of the American Alliance mečevalačkog Donald Anthony added: "The decision was not easy, but if you fear for the health of athletes may be better not to travel to Rio."

The director of the US Equestrian Federation Will Connell said that he will leave the decision to each athlete individually.

"I think it's only fair. If someone is afraid it is normal to give up the time," said the Connel who believes that only a small number of athletes and other staff to give up time for the Olympic Games.

"I do not think it would be giving up a lot," said Connell.

link:
https://translate.google.hr/translate?sl=hr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=hr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegram.hr%2Fsport%2Famericki-sportasi-su-dobili-dozvolu-da-propuste-olimpijske-igre-zbog-straha-od-zika-virusa%2F&edit-text=



American wrestler Adeline Gray said:
"Imagine, if you plan to in the months after the Olympics have a baby, it would be horrible. Maybe it changed my decision on arrival."
She added that her coaches forbid swimming pools in Brazil up to the competition.


I have the impression that the Zika virus "deliberately" thrown into the world with the purpose of delaying or reduced inflow of people in Brazil.
Here I mean the deliberate destruction of tourism and the economy of this country.

 

[angelburst29]

Argentine and Brazilian Doctors Name Larvicide as Potential Cause of Microcephaly
http://www.naturalblaze.com/2016/02/argentine-and-brazilian-doctors-name-larvicide-as-potential-cause-of-microcephaly.html

A report from the Argentine doctors’ organisation, Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns,[1] challenges the theory that the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil is the cause of the increase in the birth defect microcephaly among newborns.

The increase in this birth defect, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head and often has brain damage, was quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, according to the Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, the Ministry failed to recognise that in the area where most sick people live, a chemical larvicide that produces malformations in mosquitoes was introduced into the drinking water supply in 2014. This poison, Pyriproxyfen, is used in a State-controlled programme aimed at eradicating disease-carrying mosquitoes.

The Physicians added that the Pyriproxyfen is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese “strategic partner” of Monsanto. Pyriproxyfen is a growth inhibitor of mosquito larvae, which alters the development process from larva to pupa to adult, thus generating malformations in developing mosquitoes and killing or disabling them. It acts as an insect juvenile hormone or juvenoid, and has the effect of inhibiting the development of adult insect characteristics (for example, wings and mature external genitalia) and reproductive development. It is an endocrine disruptor and is teratogenic (causes birth defects).

The Argentine Physicians commented:

Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added Pyriproxyfen to drinking water are not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on the Zika virus for this damage.

They also noted that Zika has traditionally been held to be a relatively benign disease that has never before been associated with birth defects, even in areas where it infects 75% of the population.

Larvicide the most likely culprit in birth defects Pyriproxyfen is a relatively new introduction to the Brazilian environment; the microcephaly increase is a relatively new phenomenon. So the larvicide seems a plausible causative factor in microcephaly – far more so than GM mosquitoes, which some have blamed for the Zika epidemic and thus for the birth defects. There is no sound evidence to support the notion promoted by some sources that GM mosquitoes can cause Zika, which in turn can cause microcephaly. In fact, out of 404 confirmed microcephaly cases in Brazil, only 17 (4.2%) tested positive for the Zika virus.

Brazilian health experts agree Pyriproxyfen is chief suspect The Argentine Physicians’ report, which also addresses the Dengue fever epidemic in Brazil, concurs with the findings of a separate report on the Zika outbreak by the Brazilian doctors’ and public health researchers’ organisation, Abrasco.[2]

Abrasco also names Pyriproxyfen as a likely cause of the microcephaly. It condemns the strategy of chemical control of Zika-carrying mosquitoes, which it says is contaminating the environment as well as people and is not decreasing the numbers of mosquitoes. Abrasco suggests that this strategy is in fact driven by the commercial interests of the chemical industry, which it says is deeply integrated into the Latin American ministries of health, as well as the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organisation.

Abrasco names the British GM insect company Oxitec as part of the corporate lobby that is distorting the facts about Zika to suit its own profit-making agenda. Oxitec sells GM mosquitoes engineered for sterility and markets them as a disease-combatting product – a strategy condemned by the Argentine Physicians as “a total failure, except for the company supplying mosquitoes”.

The poor suffer most Both the Brazilian and Argentine doctors’ and researchers’ associations agree that poverty is a key neglected factor in the Zika epidemic. Abrasco condemned the Brazilian government for its “deliberate concealment” of economic and social causes: “In Argentina and across America the poorest populations with the least access to sanitation and safe water suffer most from the outbreak.” The Argentine Physicians agreed, stating, “The basis of the progress of the disease lies in inequality and poverty.”

Abrasco added that the disease is closely linked to environmental degradation: floods caused by logging and the massive use of herbicides on (GM) herbicide-tolerant soy crops – in short, “the impacts of extractive industries”.

The notion that environmental degradation may a factor in the spread of Zika finds backing in the view of Dino Martins, PhD, a Kenyan entomologist. Martins said that “the explosion of mosquitoes in urban areas, which is driving the Zika crisis” is caused by “a lack of natural diversity that would otherwise keep mosquito populations under control, and the proliferation of waste and lack of disposal in some areas which provide artificial habitat for breeding mosquitoes”.

Community-based actions The Argentine Physicians believe that the best defence against Zika is “community-based actions”. An example of such actions is featured in a BBC News report on the Dengue virus in El Salvador. A favourite breeding place for disease-carrying mosquitoes is storage containers of standing water. El Salvadorians have started keeping fish in the water containers, and the fish eat the mosquito larvae. Dengue has vanished along with the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. And so far, the locals don’t have any Zika cases either.

Simple yet effective programmes like this are in danger of being neglected in Brazil in favour of the corporate-backed programmes of pesticide spraying and releasing GM mosquitoes. The latter is completely unproven and the former may be causing far more serious harm than the mosquitoes that are being targeted.

Notes

1. Report from Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns regarding Dengue-Zika, microcephaly, and mass-spraying with chemical poisons. 2016. Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns. http://www.reduas.com.ar/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=109

2. Nota técnica e carta aberta à população: Microcefalia e doenças vetoriais relacionadas ao Aedes aegypti: os perigos das abordagens com larvicidas e nebulização química – fumacê. January 2016. GT Salud y Ambiente. Asociación Brasileña de Salud Colectiva. ABRASCO.https://www.abrasco.org.br/site/2016/02/nota-tecnica-sobre-microcefalia-e-doencas-vetoriais-relacionadas-ao-aedes-aegypti-os-perigos-das-abordagens-com-larvicidas-e-nebulizacoes-quimicas-fumace/

 

[angelburst29]

Russia develops Zika medicine prototypes
http://rbth.com/news/2016/02/17/russia-develops-zika-medicine-prototypes_568499

Russia has developed prototype medicines, which may prove effective against the Zika virus Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova has said.

"We have developed prototypes, experimental medicines, which have the potential to be very efficient in Zika therapy; we can now think about the development of vaccines," Skvortsova said in an interview with the Russia Today channel.

Russian specialists will join international groups, which will study the virus.

"Today, we have discussed with WHO Director General Margaret Chan, the involvement of leading Russian scientists in the international groups studying the effect of Zika virus mechanisms on particular segments of human nerve tissue. We will soon become engaged in these international groups," she said.

On speaking about the price for the Russian vaccine against the Zika virus she said it would be at the level of the medicine's prime cost.

"I should say that the prime cost of our vaccine is not very large - I'd rather not disclose the amount because a market is always a market, but, we need to understand that this vaccine is necessary for the prevention of a severe, lethal, epidemic. I think it is amoral to make money in such situations. So, the price will be at the level of the prime cost plus the profitability required for maintaining production," Skvortsova said.

The health minister also said that Russia provided free Ebola vaccines to the first 4,000 people who were inoculated in Guinea.

 

[angelburst29]

‘Like it’s been nuked’: Millions of bees dead after South Carolina sprays for Zika mosquitoes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/01/like-its-been-nuked-millions-of-bees-dead-after-south-carolina-sprays-for-zika-mosquitoes/

On Sunday morning, the South Carolina honey bees began to die in massive numbers.

Death came suddenly to Dorchester County, S.C. Stressed insects tried to flee their nests, only to surrender in little clumps at hive entrances. The dead worker bees littering the farms suggested that colony collapse disorder was not the culprit — in that odd phenomenon, workers vanish as though raptured, leaving a living queen and young bees behind.

Instead, the dead heaps signaled the killer was less mysterious, but no less devastating. The pattern matched acute pesticide poisoning. By one estimate, at a single apiary — Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply, in Summerville — 46 hives died on the spot, totaling about 2.5 million bees.

Walking through the farm, one Summerville woman wrote on Facebook, was “like visiting a cemetery, pure sadness.”

A Clemson University scientist collected soil samples from Flowertown on Tuesday, according to WCBD-TV, to further investigate the cause of death. But to the bee farmers, the reason is already clear. Their bees had been poisoned by Dorchester’s own insecticide efforts, casualties in the war on disease-carrying mosquitoes.

On Sunday morning, parts of Dorchester County were sprayed with Naled, a common insecticide that kills mosquitoes on contact. The United States began using Naled in 1959, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes that the chemical dissipates so quickly it is not a hazard to people. That said, human exposure to Naled during spraying “should not occur.”

In parts of South Carolina, trucks trailing pesticide clouds are not an unusual sight, thanks to a mosquito-control program that also includes destroying larvae. Given the current concerns of West Nile virus and Zika — there are several dozen cases of travel-related Zika in South Carolina, though the state health department reports no one has yet acquired the disease from a local mosquito bite — Dorchester decided to try something different Sunday.

It marked a departure from Dorchester County’s usual ground-based efforts. For the first time, an airplane dispensed Naled in a fine mist, raining insect death from above between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The county says it provided plenty of warning, spreading word about the pesticide plane via a newspaper announcement Friday and a Facebook post Saturday.

Local beekeepers felt differently.

“Had I known, I would have been camping on the steps doing whatever I had to do screaming, ‘No you can’t do this,'” beekeeper Juanita Stanley said in an interview with Charleston’s WCSC-TV. Stanley told the Charleston Post and Courier that the bees are her income, but she is more devastated by the loss of the bees than her honey.

The county acknowledged the bee deaths Tuesday. “Dorchester County is aware that some beekeepers in the area that was sprayed on Sunday lost their beehives,” Jason Ward, county administrator, said in a news release. He added, according to the Charleston Post and Courier, “I am not pleased that so many bees were killed.”

Spraying Naled from the air is not unprecedented, particularly when covering areas that cannot be reached by truck. In a single year in Florida, more than 6 million acres were fumigated with the chemical, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency argued in January that the technique should be used to curb Zika in Puerto Rico.

But the insect neurotoxin cannot discriminate between honey bees and bloodsuckers. A profile of the chemical in Cornell University’s pesticide database warned that “Naled is highly toxic to bees.”

Although the insecticide was known to kill bees, to South Carolina beekeepers spraying had not been as significant a concern as parasites, disease and other hive threats. As South Carolina Beekeepers Association President Larry Haigh told the Post and Courier in June 2015, many counties will spray at night, when honey bees do not forage for pollen. Plus, given sufficient warning, beekeepers will shield their hives and protect the bees’ food and water from contamination.

Sunday was different. Summerville resident Andrew Macke, who keeps bees as a hobby, wrote on Facebook that the hot weather left bees particularly exposed. Once temperatures exceed 90 degrees, bees may exit the nest to cool down in what is called a beard, clustering on the outside of the hive in a ball. Neither Macke nor Stanley had covered their hives.

And then came the plane.

“They passed right over the trees three times,” Stanley said to ABC 4 News. After the plane left, the familiar buzzing stopped. The silence in its wake was like a morgue, she said.

As for the dead bees, as Stanley told the AP, her farm “looks like it’s been nuked.”

A Summerville resident started a Change.org petition calling for Dorchester County to halt aerial Naled spraying. It is unclear whether those who lost bees are pursuing other recourse.

 

[JEEP]

FLASHBACK from Dr. Mercola dated June 7, 2016:

Experts Admit Zika Threat Fraud

We’re in the midst of prime mosquito season for much of the U.S. While the exact beginning and end of mosquito season are debatable, The Washington Post recently used Google search data to pinpoint the shape of mosquito season in the U.S.1

Presumably, Google searchers for mosquitoes increase as mosquitoes ramp up their activity in any given area. Using this premise, The Washington Post found that mosquito searchers shoot up in May and increase steadily through July, then drop off throughout the coming fall and winter months.

In the U.S., mosquito season is viewed as more of an itchy nuisance than a health threat, but that has changed somewhat this year, at least perceptually.

Fears of Zika virus, which some believe may be associated with suspected cases of the birth defect microcephaly, started in Brazil and have quickly spread throughout the U.S. But are such fears warranted?

Experts Admit Zika Threat Risk ‘Near Zero’

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide $622 million to fight Zika virus. Yet, by White House estimates, this is "woefully inadequate." They've recommended directing $1.9 billion to fight this latest declared public health emergency

But mosquito experts are questioning the extent of emergency that actually exists. Chris Barker, Ph.D. a mosquito-borne virus researcher at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told WebMD:2

"I think the risk for Zika actually setting up transmission cycles that become established in the continental U.S. is near zero.”

Barker expects Zika to go the way of other tropical diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever and chikungunya, in the U.S. with perhaps small clusters of outbreaks in southern states and little activity elsewhere.

Even in the Florida Keys (Florida, along with Louisiana and Texas, is said to be one of the states most at risk of mosquito-borne illnesses), the Monroe County Tourist Development Council reported:3

“Dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika viruses are currently not a health threat in the Florida Keys including Key West …

There has never been a report of a locally acquired case of chikungunya or Zika anywhere in the Florida Keys, according to officials at the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County.”

No Locally Transmitted Cases of Zika Virus Reported in U.S.

As of May 25, 2016, Zika has not been spread by mosquitoes anywhere in the continental U.S.4 Calls to control the Aedes mosquitoes, which may carry Zika, have increased nonetheless, including in New York state, where experts say the risk of local transmission is low.

Laura Harrington, Ph.D., chair of Entomology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York told WebMD:5

"Here in New York state, there's been a lot of pressure placed on mosquito-control districts to do as much as they can. And, they're really strapped for resources, and there's not a huge risk of transmission … ”

Maps released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show it’s possible for Aedes mosquitoes to travel as far north as New York, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri and California. According to Harrington, the maps are inaccurate and causing unnecessary hysteria. Harrington continued:6

"They're showing this mosquito in places where there's no way you're going to find them … It's really unfortunate, because it's causing a lot of hysteria in places where people should be focusing on other health issues, like Lyme disease."

GE Mosquitoes to Fight Zika Virus?

Biotech company Oxitec has created genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes that carry a “genetic kill switch.” When they mate with wild female mosquitoes, their offspring inherit the lethal gene and cannot survive.7

To achieve this feat, Oxitec has inserted protein fragments from the herpes virus, E. coli bacteria, coral and cabbage into the insects. The GE mosquitoes have proven lethal to native mosquito populations.

In the Cayman Islands, for instance, 96 percent of native mosquitoes were suppressed after more than 3 million GE mosquitoes were released in the area, with similar results reported in Brazil.8

Oxitec is seeking to release the GE mosquitoes in the U.S. to fight Zika, but as pointed out by Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston to USA Today, the GE mosquitoes have not been shown to reduce rates of diseases such as Zika.9

The GE mosquitoes may also prove to be too expensive for areas that are plagued with mosquito-borne diseases.

Environmental red flags have also been raised. The potential exists for these foreign genes, which hop from one place to another, to infect human blood by finding entry through skin lesions or inhaled dust.

Such transmission could potentially wreak havoc with the human genome by creating "insertion mutations" and other unpredictable types of DNA damage.10

And according to Todd Shelly, an entomologist for the Agriculture Department in Hawaii, 3.5 percent of the GE insects in a laboratory test survived to adulthood despite presumably carrying the lethal gene.11

It’s important to remember, too, that Oxitec wants emergency approval based on the supposed threat of a disease that has yet to have even one locally transmitted case.

Biotech Company Calls for ‘Emergency Approval’ of Controversial GE Mosquitoes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed with an environmental assessment submitted by Oxitec12 and stated that GE mosquitoes will not have a significant impact on the environment. Technically, this is referred to as a “finding of no significant impact” (FONSI).13

The FDA’s report is only preliminary, but Oxitec wants the FDA to throw caution to the wind and give the GE mosquitoes emergency approval in order to fight the Zika virus.

If approved, Oxitec, in partnership with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD), plans to release the GE mosquitoes, which go by the name of OX513A, in Key Haven, Florida, an island of the Florida Keys located about 1 mile east of Key West.

More than 270,000 people have submitted comments criticizing the FDA’s environmental assessment, and numerous environmental groups are calling for the agency to conduct a more thorough review of the GE mosquitoes’ risks. Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said:14

“The FDA really missed the mark on this one … The agency seems so eager to speed the process along that they have failed to do a real review of the potential risks, and are ignoring widespread concern in the community where the release will happen.”

No Permits Required to Spray Near Water

A Clean Water Act permit is generally required to spray pesticides in areas where they might end up in water. The permit is intended to keep the toxic chemicals from contaminating water, but now the Zika virus has been used as an excuse to do away with this common-sense precaution.

The language was inserted into the Zika Vector Control Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives. It would exempt pesticide applicators from needing a Clean Water Act permit, even when spraying near water.

Critics argued the bill would do little to help fight Zika virus, since mosquito-control agencies already have authority to apply pesticides in emergency situations to prevent the spread of infectious disease without applying for permits.

Opponents say the bill has nothing to do with combatting Zika and, instead has been on the table for years, with the majority pushing for its passage “under whatever name” was convenient at the time.15

Aerial Mosquito Spraying Linked to Increased Risk of Autism

Greed is pushing for a number of potentially dangerous “solutions” to combat mosquitoes and related diseases. By removing requirements for permits when spraying pesticides near water, it’s likely the use of these chemicals will skyrocket, including via aerial spraying.

Unfortunately, many may suffer as a result. In research presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2016 Meeting, aerial pesticide exposure was linked to an increased risk of developmental delays and autism spectrum disorder among children.16 The study compared children living in zip codes where aerial pesticide spraying was used each summer to combat mosquitoes that carry the eastern equine encephalitis virus, with children living in non-aerial-spraying zip codes.

Children exposed to the aerial pesticide spraying were about 25 percent more likely to be diagnosed with autism or have a documented developmental delay than those living in areas that used other methods of pesticide application (such as manual spreading of granules).

If authorities use the supposed threat of Zika to increase aerial spraying, it could increase children’s risk of brain disorders, which is the opposite of what anti-Zika campaigns are supposed to achieve.

Are There Other Potential Explanations for an Increase in Microcephaly?

It's possible Zika-carrying mosquitoes could be involved in suspected cases of microcephaly, but there are other factors that should be considered as well. For starters, the outbreak occurred in a largely poverty-stricken agricultural area of Brazil that uses large amounts of banned pesticides.

Between these factors and the lack of sanitation and widespread vitamin A and zinc deficiency, you already have the basic framework for an increase in poor health outcomes among newborn infants in that area. Environmental pollution and toxic pesticide exposure have been positively linked to a wide array of adverse health effects, including birth defects. For instance:

• Vitamin A deficiency has been linked to an increased risk of microcephaly
• The CDC lists malnutrition and exposure to toxic chemicals as known risk factors
• The CDC also notes certain infections during pregnancy, including rubella, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis, and others are risk factors

Natural Ways to Repel Mosquitoes

Many experts agree that the threat of an epidemic outbreak of Zika virus on continental U.S. soil is virtually nonexistent. So you needn’t go dousing your backyard in chemicals in an attempt to stay safe from the Zika virus (whose connection to birth defects is still being explored). If however, mosquitoes are bothersome for you, there are some steps you can take to encourage them to live elsewhere.

Draining standing water, including pet bowls, gutters, garbage and recycling bins, spare tires, bird baths, children’s toys and so on, is important. This is where mosquitoes breed, so if you eliminate standing water you’ll eliminate many mosquitoes. Planting marigolds around your yard also works as a bug repellent because the flowers give off a fragrance that bugs do not like. This is a great way to ward off mosquitoes without using chemical insecticides.

A simple house fan could also help keep mosquitoes at bay if you’re having a get-together in your backyard or, for a longer-term solution, try installing a bat house (bats are voracious consumers of insects, especially mosquitoes).

It’s best to avoid using bug zappers in your yard, as these may actually attract more mosquitoes while killing beneficial insects. Insect foggers designed to clear insects out of your backyard should also be avoided, as they require the use of strong, potentially harmful, pesticides and don’t offer lasting protection.

Even those clip-on repellents and fans that are widely sold are best avoided, as they contain even more toxic ingredients than repellents that can be applied to your skin, and they pose an inhalation hazard.17

Some experts also recommend supplementing with one vitamin B1 tablet a day from April through October, and then adding 100 mg of B1 to a B-100 Complex daily during the mosquito season to make you less attractive to mosquitoes. Regularly consuming garlic may also help protect against mosquito bites, as may the following natural insect repellants:

• Cinnamon leaf oil (one study found it was more effective at killing mosquitoes than DEET18)
• Clear liquid vanilla extract mixed with olive oil
• Wash with citronella soap, and then put some 100 percent pure citronella essential oil on your skin. Java citronella is considered the highest quality citronella on the market
• Catnip oil (according to one study, this oil is 10 times more effective than DEET19)

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/06/07/zika-virus-threat.aspx

 

[JEEP]

Dr. David Brownstein has written a series of articles on Zika:

Feb 9 - Zika Thoughts: No Panic Needed
http://blog.drbrownstein.com/zika-thoughts-no-panic-needed/
Excerpt:
Something is causing microcephaly in this Zika-infested area of Brazil. It is interesting that the area where the residents are suffering with microcephaly is the same area where 800,000 genetically modified mosquitoes were released to counter both dengue and Zika viral infections. Could there be a link between the cases of microcephaly and the release of the genetically modified mosquitoes? Yes, but it is much too early to draw this conclusion.

What else could be causing the microcephalic problem? Interestingly, pregnant women of Brazil were required to get a new vaccine—DTwP (the whole-cell pertussis vaccine). Perhaps there is a problem with this new vaccine? Asking the proper questions can only begin the thought process to finding the correct answers. By the way, this new vaccine contains aluminum hydroxide which is a known neurotoxin that has no business being injected into any living being. (To be fair, many vaccines in the U.S. also contain aluminum.) Also, I have seen reports that pregnant Brazilian women were encouraged (perhaps required) to also receive the MMR vaccine. Are the DTwP and MMR safe to give during pregnancy? Nobody knows as there have been no randomized studies on whether these vaccines are safe or effective for pregnant women. (Of course, we have it no better here—there are zero randomized studies showing the same thing with the flu vaccine or the TDaP vaccines which are routinely given to pregnant women in the U.S.)

Could this problem be caused by a pesticide or other environmental toxin? Hopefully future research will answer all these questions. Right now, I would not rule out any of the ideas I have thrown out here. As for Zika causing the epidemic—I doubt it.

July 8 - Zika, Schmika: How To Waste $2,000,000,000
http://blog.drbrownstein.com/zika-schmika-how-to-waste-2000000000/
Excerpt:
Zika refers to the virus spread by mosquitos. It was first described as coming from the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947. Zika has affected many tropical countries including many in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific. And, over the last 70 years, there has not been an epidemic of microcephaly—children born with small heads, in any of these countries until a few months ago. Microcephaly made headlines early this year when a Brazilian doctor reported an epidemic increase in children being born with small heads—microcephaly. This doctor also noticed that many of the children who were born with small heads had mothers who were infected with Zika during their pregnancy.

The Powers-That-Be, including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) quickly jumped on this story in order to squeeze money out of the U.S. The WHO declared Zika a global pandemic and the CDC promptly asked Congress for $2,000,000,000 dollars to study the illness and develop a vaccine against Zika. A recent bill from Congress proposed spending about $1,000,000,000 studying and creating a vaccine for Zika.

Do we really need another vaccine against an illness that has never been proven to cause any serious illness, including microcephaly?

If Zika were responsible for causing the microcephaly epidemic in Brazil, where are the epidemics in all the other countries where Zika is endemic? For example, in Colombia, a recent New England Journal of Medicine study of nearly 12,000 pregnant women infected with Zika found zero microcephaly cases. (1)

Clearly, there is something causing the acute rise of microcephaly in Brazil. I doubt it is Zika.

Aug 19 - Zika, Schmika: Part II. The Story Gets Worse
http://blog.drbrownstein.com/zika-schmika-part-ii-the-story-gets-worse/
Excerpt:
At the same time the CDC was asking for nearly $2 billion to study and develop a vaccine against Zika, The World Health Organization stated in its Zika situation report, “No scientific evidence to date confirms a link between Zika virus and microcephaly…” (1)

However, the CDC doesn’t seem to understand how science should actually work. On April 13, 2016—seven weeks after the CDC requested $1.9 billion dollars, the CDC announced that the Zika virus was, in fact, “…a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects. (2) Furthermore, in the same press release, the CDC stated, “This study marks a turning point in the Zika outbreak. It is now clear that the virus causes microcephaly. We are also launching further studies to determine whether children who have microcephaly born to mothers infected by the Zika virus is the tip of the iceberg of what we could see in damaging effects on the brain and other developmental problems. We are working to do everything possible to protect the American public,” said Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., director of the CDC.

Unbelievable. The Director of the CDC states that Zika is confirmed to cause microcephaly and other fetal brain defects without a single, rigorous, study to back this up.

How does this happen when Zika has been around for nearly 70 years without ever being shown to cause microcephaly or other fetal brain disorders?

I can tell you how this happens; Money talks. The CDC is looking for any excuse to convince Congress to free up nearly $2 billion to manufacture a vaccine that is simply not needed. The truth is that once you are infected with Zika, you are immune to it. A vaccine for Zika would probably be easy to manufacture and would bring untold billions of dollars into the coffers of the CDC and Big Pharma.

Sep 2 - Zika, Schmika Part 3: $19.8 Million for Unneeded Zika Vaccine
http://blog.drbrownstein.com/zika-schmika-part-3-ridiculous-zika-vaccine-coming-soon/
Excerpt:
I am tired of writing about this, but I feel this issue goes to the heart about what is wrong with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says it is “saving lives, protecting people”. What nonsense.

Folks, when you read this, I think you will come to the same conclusion I have: The CDC must be disbanded. They simply are not capable of ensuring our safety as they are bought off and owned by Big Pharma.

The CDC has asked our do-nothing Congress for $1.9 billion to study and develop a vaccine for Zika. Thankfully, our do-nothing Congress did not fund this goose chase as Zika has never been proven to cause much more than a self-limited benign illness in nearly all who have acquired it. And, keep in mind, a lot of people have been infected with Zika as it has been around since 1947 and infected tens of millions of people. And, those infected with Zika over the last 60 years have not suffered with microcephaly. Only a small portion of Brazil has suffered with a microcephaly outbreak. Other areas of Brazil and many other countries that surround the Equator have not suffered with a microcephaly outbreak. So, why am I writing about this again? Today, Big Pharma Takeda announced that they will receive (hold your breath) $19.8 million from the U.S. Government to develop a vaccine against Zika.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-takeda-zika-virus-0903-biz-20160902-story.html
[...]
I could think of a lot better ways to spend $1.9 billion. How about taking that money, disbanding the CDC and starting over with an independent Government agency that has no Big Pharma ties. And, let’s ensure this new agency works for us, not for Big Pharma. That would be a start.

I am hoping this is my last post about Zika. I am also wondering when the time will come for us–the citizens of this wonderful country-to stand up and say we have had enough.

 

[angelburst29]

Miami Beach citizens have confronted city authorities over the aerial spraying of a toxic substance intended to kill disease-carrying mosquitos in an effort to stop the spread of the Zika virus.

Neurotoxin’: Floridians Freaked Out by Zika Mosquito Poison Spraying
https://sputniknews.com/us/20160908/1045073964/neurotoxin-aerial-spraying-zika-protest.html

The number of mosquito-borne Zika infections in and around Miami Beach has been on the rise, resulting in county authorities authorizing the spraying of a 1.5-square-mile area with chemicals intended to kill the flying insects, the primary carrier of the disease.

Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos Gimenez authorized the use of trucks with wind turbines to spray chemicals on the streets, and as well as aerial spraying.

The latter method has sparked controversy among citizens, concerned about the toxicity of Naled, one of the two insecticides being used.

Naled is an organophosphate insecticide, of the same class of compounds as nerve-agent chemical weapons.

With high exposure, Naled overstimulates the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, confusion, and, at very high exposures, respiratory paralysis and death. The insecticide has been banned in the European Union since 2012.

"Naled… can essentially kill anything," said Tanjim Hossain, a graduate research fellow at the University of Miami. "When a droplet of the insecticide touches a mosquito, it kills the mosquito pretty much instantaneously."

The spraying has resulted in citizen alarm, with protesters in the streets carrying banners saying "Stop poisoning us" and "Naled does more harm than good."

Miami Beach city mayor Philip Levine says he is "uncomfortable" with aerial spraying, but insists that medical and scientific recommendations must trump people's fears. "I am not comfortable with it, but I think it's important that we listen to the proper scientific and medical authorities and what they recommend," he said. Miami Beach City Commissioner Mike Grieco, however, is upset with developments, enough to call for a special meeting Wednesday in an effort to cancel scheduled aerial sprayings.

"It's a neurotoxin. We don't know the risks. It's been outlawed in Europe since 2012. It's something that has not been used in Miami, historically," he stated.

Gimenez claimed that aerial spraying of the toxin was recommended by Florida health officials and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, when the reporters contacted the CDC, the organization representative observed that "the decision whether or not to aerial spray is ultimately up to Miami Beach."