by John Leake, Lew Rockwell:
When Dr. Peter McCullough, Nicholas Hulscher, and I investigated reports of what is being represented to the public as a new clade of H5N1 bird flu, it became apparent to me that life sciences professionals—at least those outside the clique that is performing Gain-of-Function research on H5N1—are lacking sufficient information to ascertain the reality of this phenomenon.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
This is why, in our discussions about our paper—Proximal Origin of Epidemic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b and Spread by Migratory Waterfowl—I emphasized the urgent need for further investigation of this phenomenon. As we wrote in our Conclusion:
The proximal origins of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4b may be the USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) in Athens, Georgia and the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Genetic evidence and historical context suggest that laboratory activities, including serial passage and GOF research, could have contributed to the emergence of H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. However, causation has not been established, and further investigation is urgently needed to confirm these findings and to identify all H5N1 laboratory leaks that may have occurred with a focus on mallard ducks and other migratory waterfowl, which have the potential to infect a large number of poultry and livestock facilities around the world. A moratorium on GOF research including serial passage of H5N1 is indicated to prevent a man-made influenza pandemic affecting animals and humans.
A few notable life science professionals who publish on Substack have apparently drawn the conclusion that concerns about Gain-of-Function work on H5N1 are either overblown or completely unfounded. Based on my careful reading of the literature on H5N1, I am not so sure.
The public is being told that there is an influenza virus circulating that primarily affects birds, but that has also expanded its host range to infect mammals—most notably domesticated cattle and marine mammals. I suspect that some elements of this representation are based in factual reality, while others may be exaggerated or fabricated.
The proper why to get to the bottom of this story is to launch a criminal investigation, the rationale for which is the massive destruction of property that has already occurred—namely, the culling of millions of chickens and the purported deaths of hundreds of thousands of cattle in California.
If these animals were killed by masked brigands, an investigation would be performed to detect the perpetrators and to prosecute them for wanton destruction of livestock. It is only because the deaths of these animals are allegedly the result of a natural phenomenon—and not human agency—that no criminal investigation has been launched.
Here it should be noted that the USDA is aware of a 2021 paper titled ‘H5Nx Viruses emerged during the suppression of H5N1 virus populations in poultry’ by a research team of the University of Georgia:
We show that H5Nx viruses emerged during the successful suppression of H5N1 virus populations in poultry [in China], providing an opportunity for antigenically distinct H5Nx viruses to propagate. Avian influenza vaccination programs would benefit from universal vaccines targeting a wider diversity of influenza viruses to prevent the emergence of novel subtypes [6].
The findings of these researchers present an illustrative case of Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche’s thesis that mass vaccination with nonsterilizing vaccines can result in the emergence of a new, more virulent viral strain [7]. As the University of Georgia team note, “In particular, we show that the widespread use of H5N1 vaccines likely conferred a fitness advantage to H5Nx viruses due to the antigenic mismatch of the neuraminidase genes” [6].
Likewise, conventional wisdom has it that H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was first detected in October 2020 in the Netherlands, and that this clade purportedly evolved from H5Nx viruses and possesses even greater pathogenic functions [8].
An especially striking feature of the newly emerged H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b is how rapidly it spread from birds in Europe to birds in North America. This rapid spread contrasts with the previously slow intercontinental spread of the goose/ Guangdong-lineage of H5N1. After emerging in China in 1996, it was first detected in Europe in 2005, and then in the United States in 2014 [9].
