Swine Flu 1976
We all know that the purpose of studying history is to prevent one from making the same mistakes again, so let's compare this attack (March 2009) with a brief history of swine flu 1976.
On Bill Maher’s talk-show, "Real Time," dated May 01, David Kessler, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration discussed the topic of swine flu and pointed out that the danger lies in blowing it out of proportion or taking it too lightly. I feel that taking a middle-path approach is the practical one, where you take appropriate precautions but not necessarily panic and quarantine yourself in a nuclear shelter for the next 5 years.
This new strain of virus is yet another variation of the Influenza A Type virus based on a concept called the ‘antigenic shift’ and is similar to the swine flu outbreak in 1976 and 1918.
What makes this situation troubling is that since it’s a new strain of virus, your immune system has not been prepared for this kind of viral assault through conventional vaccination which can cause panic and the race begins between this new virus strain causing serious damage in large numbers and creating an effective vaccine to counter its effects. And for the people who are making jokes about this whole situation, Henry Kissinger was right when he said: “Even a paranoid man has enemies.” This is yet another repeat of the situation at Fort Dix in 1976.
Not only that, this swine flu attack has been declared as a “Phase 5” by the World Health Organization which is an indicator that this type of flu can cause a worldwide pandemic that can last for the next few years after their study of the recent cases of people who have contracted this new virus. This outbreak is on a much larger scale as compared to the Fort Dix swine flu outbreak in 1976.
The results of the testing samples indicate that the virus was transmitted from human-to-human, even in several countries where people have little or no contact with pigs. And even though I hate to say this, the numbers you’re getting on television are only vague counts of this viral attack. Reports of over 100 deaths in Mexico where this whole thing began have not been confirmed due to inability to test samples but should give you enough reason to be concerned. Ironically, only one person died from swine flu in 1976 whereas here it looks like that the numbers might be a little larger.
While this whole situation has reached a certain level of critical mass, I can’t help but recall the late George Carlin’s rant on his HBO special “You’re all diseased” where he provides a hypothetical scenario of a super-virus taking out weaker humans purely due to the lack of a strong immune system that hasn’t had any practice for a while due to this mindless obsession to over-protect oneself constantly from germs.
I’m not trying to make a point here by blaming people for who they are but just clarify that ‘Darwinism’ exists today in different forms and will continue to thrive no matter how safe we thing we are.
So, while I do feel sorry about the deaths that have occurred so far… I do recognize that the adage ‘survival of the fittest’ reigns supreme albeit in a new form… and it’s time for us to handle the situation with dignity, grace and intelligence that befits the human race, the ones at the top of the food chain.
What are your thoughts on the media coverage? Did you know about swine flu 1976?
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i knew about the 1976 incidents because i have been researching the biology and history of influenza viruses and pandemics for years. the media sometimes seem to have been crying wolf when a new strain emerges, gets news play, and then doesn’t go on to cause any devastation. then people get complacent about this stuff. but history shows that totally new strains of flu don’t necessarily start out highly pathogenic right away. they may circulate in animal populations (like pigs) for some time before acquiring the mutation that really puts them on the map. that is what is thought to have happened in 1918. the virus got some traction in the early months of the year, but then seemed to fade away, only to come back in winter and cause a great loss of life. it may be that with the new H1N1 strain that it will circulate for another year or two before doing any real harm, or it might prove no more serious than the current seasonal strains of H1N1 and H3N2 that have been circulating for decades. the only thing that we can be sure of right now (May 2009) is that the story isn’t over.
Very interesting, thanks for the insight.
Thanks for sharing this article of yours. It helps us determine on how swine flu was originated and affect thousands of people around the world, especially today. I hope that this outbreak will soon end.