H1N1: Spreading the Conspiracy

By: Ali Younes

In the Middle East, a vast conspiracy connects a popular Arabic news channel, with a graphic email chain, and the Libyan leader Muamar Qadafi. All three in one way or another claim that the vaccine for H1N1 “swine flu” disease is part of western conspiracy that not only is manufacturing a cancer-causing vaccine for the disease, but also created the disease itself in western laboratories.

During his visit to NY last September, the Libyan leader Muamar Qadafi claimed in an interview with the BBC that swine fu was “a disease made by western companies so as to create a vaccine for it, and then sell it in order to make a fortune at the expense of third world people”

Popular Arabic news channel Al Jazeera, interviewed American Dr. Leonard Horowitz, regarding the swine flu disease and its impact on public health. Dr. Horowitz; however, is a dentist, and has no scientific background or training in infectious or allergic diseases. Dr. Horowitz claimed during the interview that the “swine flu” disease was made in a laboratory. An Arabic language email that supposedly explain in detail the “western plot” that created the disease quoting several unverifiable sources and misconstrued scientific resources.

Amid this fog of information and uncertainty and in order to discern science from fiction, Al Jazeera talk show host Ahmad Mansur a respected journalist, featured [on his popular show, without borders] a dentist Leonard Horowitz as an expert on swine flu”. Horowitz has made claims that the US government is secretly involved in “depopulating” the world of Africans and other non-whites among his other conspiracies. According to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, “Horowitz is a known conspiracy theorist” whose website Tetrahedorn.com is more concerned with selling books and “holistic medicine” than treating people or writing scientific papers on infectious diseases.

His books include “Love: the real Da Vinci code” “Pirates of the sacred Spiral Emerging viruses Aids &Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional?” and “Overcoming your fear of the Dentist”

[According to Dr. Horowitz’s resume, his primary expertise is in the field of dentistry, selling books and holistic medicine.] Dr. Horowitz resume posted on his website, says nothing that indicates that he has any academic or scientific experiences or background in infectious diseases the likes of H1N1; rather, his experiences were more in “public speaking about health issues. Dr. Horowitz argued on Al Jazeera that he interviewed one of the top doctors specializing in [viruses] on www.floss.com to confirm his theory that the H1N1 virus is a laboratory made virus. The website, as the name indicates has more to do with teeth cleaning and flossing than infectious disease and dangerous viruses.

Dr. Horowitz’s claims are corroborated by an email that was translated into Arabic by a blogger as a “good deed” and directing the readers to a website where one can buy a “cure” for Swine flu” that big companies” do not want you to know about”. As a supportive evidence, the email cites a British study that criticized the drug Tamiflu as a treatment for seasonal flu, and a German lung specialist by the name of Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg who claimed that the “swine flu vaccine is “causing cancer”

The source of this email is Mercola .com. which appears to be the main source of those claims about the vaccine and its “dangerous effect on people” Mercola .com is a web site that sells and market dieting and natural health products and is owned by Dr. Mercola who is an osteopathic physician, not a traditional Medical Doctor, MD

Joseph Mercola; according to the US Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) has received two warnings from the agency for marketing nutritional products in a manner which violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act More, a 2006 Business Week editorial criticized Mercola's marketing practices as "relying on slick promotion, clever use of information, and scare tactics.

Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, MdB, whose statement, Dr. Mercola cites as evidence for his own claims, is not supported by any clinical evidence as reported by German paper Bild which Mercola cites as the source of his quote. Wodarg, also, offered no proof to support his claim. Bild describes Wolfgang Wodarg as a politician, specialist in lungs, hygiene and environmental medicine”, his website, however, has more about European politics, military and weapons systems than “swine flu” or any other medical issue.

As for the British study by British Doctor Jane Burch cited by Mercola as evidence to support his “conspiracy theory” The study as reported by Reuters was not about “swine Flu” but rather about the seasonal flu and the medication used for it. The study found, according to a Reuters report that Tamiflu and Relenza which used to treat seasonal flu might not be effective for healthy adults. “This suggests that the drugs should be reserved for people who need them the most, the researchers concluded”

The impact of an information stampede in the Arab World is enormous. It contributes to shaping an adverse public opinion of the “swine flu” disease and the vaccines that are meant to cure. Uninformed opinions and misinformation can cause a public health disaster in certain countries where access to information might be limited.

In the Middle East, this type of environment perpetuated by unsuspecting main stream media, social media, and email chains has created confusion and blurred the lines between truth and fiction. That said, questions regarding the safety of the vaccine are valid and should be addressed by the proper agencies and qualified doctors and the public should assured of its safety.

The world is a market place, it is essentially governed by supply and demand economics whether you want to sell oil, or buy potatoes. Creating diseases so as to make an antidote for it is criminal and is one thing, but to develop a vaccine so that it will prevent another 1918 flu pandemic is another. If we calculate the costs that governments are paying those companies in order to buy the vaccine so as to vaccinate their populations, we find it is much cheaper than having a pandemic that could end up killing millions of people and might destroy entire nations.

Last week, National Public Radio, (NPR) which is one of the most respected American media outlets had on its program, (Talk of the Nation) Dr. Anthony Fauci who is the Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIH. Dr. Fauci is a world renowned expert on the subject of infectious diseases spoke on Talk of the Nation with Dr. Fauci about the H1N1 vaccine and its effect on people and who should or should not take it.

Dr. Fauci explained in the interview that there are two types of the vaccine; one made from dead cultures which is called the “ inactivated vaccine” which means that the virus is being grown in eggs then killed or purified which then can be taken in its purified form and given to someone who is infected with the virus . The other type is made from attenuated or weakened vaccine which then can be given in a form of a flu mist to people who range in age from 12-49 years old. The vast majority of vaccines made in the US will be in the first kind, but the flu mist form will be available to those who can use it.

At the same interview Dr. Fauci answered questions about the 1976 incident at the US Army base at Fort Dix in New Jersey, the same incident Dr. Horowitz mentioned on his floss.com site where some soldiers were found to be infected with N1H1 [according to Dr. Fauci this was a different virus despite having the same designation of H1N1] virus and were treated at the time. That particular incident, said Dr. Fauci, did not spread outside the base and was contained. The difference between the 1976 swine flu outbreak and this one is that this one is very new, and never seen before despite having the designation of H1N1 which is a general and common designation to flu viruses.

In the Arab World, rumors, misinformation and lack of proper government and media awareness campaigns that are based on scientific evidence are what fueling those unfounded and unreal conspiracies. Furthermore, having people who have no medical qualifications in infectious diseases, and whose line of work is to sell vitamins, nutritional products, and fictional books as experts in infectious diseases is irresponsible

Ali Younes is not an expert on allergic or infectious diseases, rather, a writer and an analyst.

He can be reached at: Ali.Younes@charter.net

© CopyrightS by Ali Younes