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Subject:
Unleashing a Pandemic: U.S. Style
wjhii
7/5/2005 8:39:21 PM
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Unleashing a Pandemic: U.S. Style
by William John Hagan
Houston Home Journal
July 6, 2005
Allow me pose a hypothetical scenario. Around 1958 a virulent strain of influenza kills 70,000 Americans. Let?s give it the name: ?H2N2?. When the pandemic ended the United States Government stored samples for research purposes. Years pass and by 2005 no one in the population born after 1968 had immunity. If the public was exposed to H2N2 today, millions could potentially die due to population growth and the fact that in1958 people had some immunity toH2N2 stemming from the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million people. Also, today?s flu vaccine does not protect against H2N2. Then add to our story an obscure organization called the American College of Pathologists (APC) whose work is conducted under the watchful eye of the government?s Center for Disease Control (CDC). One day in October 2004, the APC accidentally ships samples of the H2N2 virus to 5000 labs in 18 countries. One of those samples was sent by mail to Lebanon, a Middle Eastern nation dominated by political anarchy, terrorist organizations and, occupied by Syria. The sample never reaches its intended destination, it gets lost in the mail. At this point, a virus which could be one of the most effective terrorist weapons in history is lost somewhere in a nation that is home to almost every major terrorist group in the Middle East. The virus is in play and anyone could end up with the prize.
Does this sound like an upcoming Tom Clancy novel? Frighteningly, this scenario isn?t a work of fiction but reality. Upon learning these facts, I was seriously concerned that the United States had lost a potential weapon of mass destruction in a nation that was occupied by Syria, a supporter of anti-American terrorism. I pictured the H2N2 virus being transported to Damascus where it could easily be turned over to Al-Qaeda. I was relieved to learn that the sample of H2N2 had been found at an airport. I took solace in the fact that a crack team of US intelligence operatives must have taken custody of the virus and returned it to the United States for destruction. That peace of mind quickly eroded when I interviewed David Daigle at the Center for Disease Control. Even today, over a year later, the United States Government has little knowledge of the final resting place of the missing H2N2 and they have done almost nothing to confirm its actual destruction.
To my surprise Mr. Daigle informed me that, before I informed them, the CDC did not even know the H2N2 had been found at an airport. Furthermore, he stated that ?the federal government did not directly destroy the remaining stocks of H2N2; rather [the Lebanese] were sent notifications to destroy the strain.? So, we asked them nicely to destroy a virus which could be used as a weapon against millions worldwide? How, then, do we know that Syrian controlled Lebanon actually destroyed this potential weapon? According to Mr. Daigle, they ?faxed verification?. Wait a minute. They sent us a FAX?
Despite the United States Government?s claim that all mistakenly shipped samples were destroyed, the realty is that we don?t really have any proof of what actually happened to the missing H2N2. The only evidence our government has of its destruction is a FAX. I contacted the Syrian Embassy and asked if they possessed H2N2 samples. Unsurprisingly, they have failed to respond.
The facts related to the shipment and loss of H2N2 in Lebanon demand a criminal investigation of those responsible. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats in Washington seem more concerned with propaganda about national security then actually investigating real-life violations by our own government.
Letters to the editor can be e-mailed to: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Visit William John Hagan on the web at:
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