Post : Did H5N1 Bird Flu Vaccines Cause a Pandemic?
URL : [link removed]
Posted : April 23, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Author : Vincent Iannelli, MD
Tags : bird flu, cherry picky, fact check, flu strains, H5N1 vaccines, Peter McCullough, vaccine strains, wild strains
Categories : Anti-Vaccine Propaganda

Why do some people think that H5N1 bird flu vaccines have caused a new flu pandemic?

[link removed] Most anti-vaccine influencers ( [link removed] ) don't like being called out by fact checkers like Community Notes.

The usual suspects...

Did H5N1 Bird Flu Vaccines Cause a Pandemic?

I guess that they have decided to go in a different direction this time, since the whole lab leak theory ( [link removed] ) for the COVID-19 virus hasn't taken hold...

Peter McCullough ( [link removed] ) 's theory is that we are now dealing with an epidemic of H5N1 in wild birds because "Asian countries have deployed vaccines since 1995, and China started vaccinating poultry in 2004."

> "Vaccination likely has backfired and may have been the artificial introduction of H5N1 Bird Flu into farming operations and the food supply. ( [link removed] ) "
>
> Vaccination of poultry for Bird Flu has backfired

So instead of the simple fact that H5N1 bird flu has been commonly seen in wild birds over the years and these wild birds can easily mix with domesticated poultry, to Peter McCullough ( [link removed] ) , it makes more sense to blame vaccines.

Vaccines that are only now being given to domesticated poultry in more countries because folks in those countries are already dealing with outbreaks of H5N1 and want an alternative to culling or killing all of their birds.

> "Vaccination may be considered as part of a suppression or eradication strategy in an outbreak. Certain unique circumstances may call for protective vaccination."
>
> Policy and Approach to HPAI Vaccination

But what about China?

> "China, which consumes most of its poultry production domestically, has been vaccinating against avian influenza for nearly 20 years and has managed to sharply reduce outbreaks."
>
> Insight: Bird flu alarm drives world towards once-shunned vaccines

They have been vaccinating their domesticated poultry for over 20 years with success.

Now the WHO has warned about the "inappropriate use of vaccination in poultry to try to prevent the spread of bird flu" and that culling should be the first response. And culling is the first response to an outbreak around the world, even in China.

> "From 2004 to 2013, more than 110 outbreaks in domestic poultry occurred in 23 provinces and caused severe economic damage to the poultry industry in China. Since 2004, over 36 million poultry have been depopulated to control the disease."
>
> Assessment of China’s H5N1 routine vaccination strategy

But unlike many other countries, they also have a routine vaccination strategy. A strategy that does have some risks, including that strains can mutate...

> "Compared with culling strategies without vaccination, culling strategies with routine vaccination can markedly reduce an H5N1 epidemic’s severity and duration at the national level in China."
>
> Assessment of China’s H5N1 routine vaccination strategy

And when a new H5N1 genotype was detected in China among vaccinated poultry, those birds were culled.

Another complaint has been that their vaccination strategy is also expensive, but likely not so expensive when you look at how much money has been spent on culling over 140 million birds in the past few years in the US, UK, and EU!

How Do Chickens Get Bird Flu?

But still, could all of those H5N1 vaccines given to domesticated birds in China and some other countries be the cause of our current bird flu outbreaks?

One easy way to see that it is not at all like is to simply look at the strain of bird flu that is causing all of the problems right now.

> "During 2020, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses arose from previously circulating A(H5Nx) viruses and spread predominantly via migratory birds to many parts of Africa, Asia and Europe."
>
> Assessment of risk associated with recent influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses

The strain folks are concerned about right now is not a vaccine strain!

> "In December 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b virus emerged in Chile. We detected H5N1 virus in 93 samples and obtained 9 whole-genome sequences of strains from wild birds. Phylogenetic analysis suggests multiple viral introductions into South America."
>
> Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Clade 2.3.4.4b Virus in Wild Birds, Chile

And it didn't originate in China or any country that has been using a bird flu vaccine.

Anyway, chickens and other domesticated poultry don't get bird flu from vaccines.

They get bird flu from infected birds, including wild birds and other domesticated birds.

> "Domesticated birds (chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc.) can become infectedwith bird flu A viruses through direct contact with infected waterfowl orother infected poultry, or through contact with surfaces that have beencontaminated with the viruses."
>
> How Infected Backyard Poultry Could Spread Bird Flu to People

And then, if a person handles an infected animal, they can rarely get sick too.

Vaccination of Poultry for Bird Flu Has Not Backfired

Although Peter McCullough ( [link removed] ) concludes that vaccination of poultry for bird flu has backfired, many of the sources he uses in his article actually come to the opposite conclusion ( [link removed] ) !

> "Current vaccines, when well-matched to field strains (in quantity and quality), administered properly (timing, frequency and method of administration) and combined with a wide range of other measures have prevented financial losses in poultry farms and reduced the risks to human populations."
>
> Are current avian influenza vaccines a solution for smallholder poultry farmers?

Of course, he cherry picks ( [link removed] ) quotes from those articles to make them sound like they support his propaganda.

They don't though.

> "In conclusion, we find that vaccination in Asian poultry likely reduced the inter-species transmission of these viruses."
>
> Association of poultry vaccination with the interspecies transmission and molecular evolution of H5 subtype avian influenza virus

And he doesn't mention that vaccination has worked before to end bird flu outbreaks.

Italy vaccinated their way out of H7N1 and H7N3 bird flu outbreaks affecting turkeys, chickens, and guinea fowl in 2000 and 2001.

> "To effectively contain the disease, protect the economic sustainability of the poultry sector and reduce potential pandemic risks, all available tools must be reconsidered including vaccination."
>
> Avian influenza vaccination: why it should not be a barrier to safe trade

And guess what?

The strategy didn't backfire!

And it is supported by the World Organization for Animal Health ( [link removed] ) .

The strategy of anti-vaccine influencers ( [link removed] ) to blame everything ( [link removed] ) and anything ( [link removed] ) on vaccines is backfiring though ( [link removed] ) .

More on Bird Flu Vaccines

* How a Bird Flu Pandemic and H5N1 Vaccines Have Become Misinformation Hot Topics ( [link removed] )

* What is Disease X? ( [link removed] )

( [link removed] ) Come for the Misinformation About Vaccines and Stay to Buy Supplements ( [link removed] )

* The 3 Components of Anti-Vaccine Propaganda ( [link removed] )

* Avian influenza vaccination: why it should not be a barrier to safe trade ( [link removed] )

* Insight: Bird flu alarm drives world towards once-shunned vaccines ( [link removed] )

* Policy and Approach to HPAI Vaccination ( [link removed] )

* Success Factors for Avian Influenza Vaccine Use in Poultry and Potential Impact at the Wild Bird–Agricultural Interface ( [link removed] )

* Assessment of China’s H5N1 routine vaccination strategy ( [link removed] )

* Return of the Bird Flu ( [link removed] )

CDC - How Infected Backyard Poultry Could Spread Bird Flu to People ( [link removed] )

WHO - Assessment of risk associated with recent influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b viruses ( [link removed](h5n1)-clade-2.3.4.4b-viruses )

* USDA starts highly pathogenic avian influenza vaccine trials ( [link removed] )

* Are current avian influenza vaccines a solution for smallholder poultry farmers? ( [link removed] )

* Association of poultry vaccination with the interspecies transmission and molecular evolution of H5 subtype avian influenza virus ( [link removed] )

* Development of Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) Real-Time PCR for African Horse Sickness Virus Serotype 1 ( [link removed] )

* Why Chickens Aren’t Getting Their Flu Shots ( [link removed] )

* The use of vaccination to combat multiple introductions of Notifiable Avian Influenza viruses of the H5 and H7 subtypes between 2000 and 2006 in Italy ( [link removed] )

* Vaccination reduced the incidence of outbreaks of low pathogenicity avian influenza in northern Italy ( [link removed] )

( [link removed] ) Conspiracy theorists flock to bird flu, spreading falsehoods ( [link removed] )

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