Give me proof. I just think we look like a bunch of right wing kooks when we are on here opening up threads that there is a good possibility that there is bio-terrorism in the swine flu outbreak when there is absolutely no proof.
I work in the healthcare profession and we sell the flu kits that diagnose flu. We will see how this flu outbreak goes but remember the media wants to scare you so they can sell more newspapers and sell more media time.
Proof is in the pudding as they say. This could be a bug that just mutated on its own. I hope you are right and this is just all Y2k like hysteria.
Here’s some proof:
On antigenic drift, from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigenic_drift
“As in all RNA viruses, mutations in influenza occur frequently because the virus’ RNA polymerase has no proofreading mechanism, providing a strong source of mutations. Mutations in the surface proteins allow the virus to elude some host immunity, and the numbers and locations of these mutations that confer the greatest amount of immune escape has been an important topic of study for over a decade[3][4][5].
Antigenic drift has been responsible for heavier-than-normal flu seasons in the past, like the outbreak of influenza H3N2 variant A/Fujian/411/2002 in the 2003 - 2004 flu season. All influenza viruses experience some form of antigenic drift, but it is most pronounced in the influenza A virus.
Antigenic drift should not be confused with antigenic shift, which refers to reassorment of the virus’ gene segments. As well, it is different from random genetic drift which is a very different but important process in population genetics.”
“In the influenza virus, the two relevant genes are the surface proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. The hemagglutinin is responsible for entry into host epithelial cells while the neuraminidase is involved in the process of new virions budding out of host cells. The host immune response to viral infection is largely determined by the immune system’s recognition of these influenza antigens. Vaccine mismatch is a potentially serious problem. Antigenic Drift is the continuous process of genetic and antigenic change among flu strains.?