Bird flu oops

Now this is interesting. .----- Original Message -----From: rescueahorse@ comcast.netTo: adoptahorse ; equine freecycle network ; NewEnglandEquineRes cuesSent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 1:06 PMSubject: ALERT - Baxter Pharmaceuticals "Accident" contaminates vaccineswith Avian Flu (H5N1) combined with H3N2 - creating worldwide Pandemic AlertPlease read and take precautions.Mike and Chris DodgeFoundersH.O.R.S.E. Rescue & Sanctuaryhttp://www.hrsny. orgSubject: ALERT - Baxter Pharmaceuticals "Accident" contaminates vaccineswith Avian Flu (H5N1) combined with H3N2 - creating worldwide Pandemic AlertIt may be a good idea to avoid getting innoculated (human or animal) withany flu vaccines for awhile unless you can determine if the vaccine was madeby Baxter Pharmaceuticals.Apparently Baxter Pharmaceuticals has "accidentally" mixed live Avian Flu(H5N1 and H3N2) into some of their vaccines, which were then shipped tomedical distributors in 18 countries. This was "discovered" by Baxter onFebruary 6, 2009 but they don't say what steps they've taken to remedy thesituation, nor what countries are involved, nor which vaccine is involved.The problem is that combining these two (H5N1 and H3N2) results in the AvianFlu being easily assimilated into the human and animal bodies.Baxter Pharmaceuticals issued a press release but isn't talking about theincident - they are using the cover that it is "proprietary information. "Baxter says the infected vaccines were meant to be used on animals - nothumans.The World Health Organization and the European Centere for Disease Controlare reportedly watching the situation very closely (as reported in CanadianPress).Please read the Canadian Health article (quoted below) for the bestinformation about this which I've been able to find.Other aspects of the world press, based on what Baxter is willing to say,reports that 18 of Baxter's lab employees were seen and treated with TamiFlufor avian flu exposure, that the vaccine killed live ferrets (who weren'tsupposed to die), caused laboratories to be sanitized, and that the vaccinewas shipped to subcontractors in 4 countries: Austria, German, Slowenia,and the Czech Republic, who in turn may have shipped it to medicaldistributors in 18 countries (those countries as yet unnamed). This was alldiscovered in early February but Baxter still doesn't want to release newinformation on it.Canada Health reports that 36 or 37 people were exposed, and that Baxterbecame aware of the problem on February 6th when innoculated ferrets died atthe Czech facility.("Ferrets are susceptible to human flu strains, but they don't die fromthose infections. Preliminary investigation found the material wascontaminated with H5N1 flu virus, which is lethal to ferrets.")The World Health Organization is reportedly recommending that worldgovernments stock up on and use Baxter's H5N1 Avian Flu vaccine to protectagainst the Avian Flu pandemic which may be created by Baxter's accidentalrelease of this contaminated.Speculation abounds that Baxter's "inexplicable accidental release" mayresult in Baxter making huge profits from the sales of its H5N1 Avian FluVaccine around the world to protect against what Baxter themselves hassomehow unleashed.I found some confirming non-alarmist but highly questioning articles forthis:Bloomberg.com had the article (shown by Google) but has pulled it from itswebsite, yet the Bloomberg article is referred to extensively in otherarticles. Here's the Bloomberg article as reprinted from another site,which apparently is the Baxter International press release:Baxter International Inc. in Austria unintentionally contaminated sampleswith the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in three neighboringcountries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease.The contamination was discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the CzechRepublic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samplesearly this month. The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter,which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, SigridRosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview."This was infected with a bird flu virus," Rosenberger said. "There weresome people from the company who handled it."The material was intended for use in laboratories, and none of the labworkers have fallen ill. The incident is drawing scrutiny over the safety ofresearch using the H5N1 bird flu strain that's killed more than three-fifthsof the people known to have caught the bug worldwide. Some scientists saythe 1977 Russian flu, the most recent global outbreak, began when a virusescaped from a laboratory.The virus material was supposed to contain a seasonal flu virus and wascontaminated after "human error," said Christopher Bona, a spokesman forBaxter, in a telephone interview. (Michelle Fay Cortez and Jason Gale,Bloomberg)