Brian Hooker and Andrew Wakefield complain to the CDC about its vaccine research. Everyone yawns.

conspiracy-theories-everywhere

The antivaccine movement and conspiracy theories go together like beer and Buffalo wings, except that neither are as good as, yes, beer and Buffalo wings. Maybe it’s more like manure and compost. In any case, the antivaccine movement is rife with conspiracy theories. I’ve heard and written about more than I can remember right now, and I’m under no illusion that I’ve heard anywhere near all of them. Indeed, it seems that every month I see a new one.

There is, however, a granddaddy of conspiracy theories among antivaccinationists, or, as I like to call it, the central conspiracy theory of the antivaccine movement. That conspiracy theory postulates that “they” (in the U.S, the CDC) have known for a long time that vaccines cause autism, but “they” are covering it up. In other words, the CDC has, according to this conspiracy theory, been intentionally hiding and suppressing evidence that antivaccinationists were right all along and vaccines do cause autism. Never mind what the science really says (that vaccines don’t cause autism)! To the antivaccine contingent, that science is “fraudulent” and the CDC knew it! Why do you think that the antivaccine movement, in particular Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., went full mental jacket when Poul Thorsen was accused of financial shenanigans (i.e., fraud) with grant money from the federal government? It was a perfect story to distract from the inconvenient lack of science supporting the antivaccine view that vaccines cause autism. More importantly, from the antivaccine standpoint, it was seen as “validation” that the CDC studies failing to find a link between autism and vaccines were either fraudulent or incompetently performed. Why? Because Thorsen was co-investigator on a couple of the key studies that failed to find a link between the MMR and autism, antivaccinationists thought that his apparent financial fraud must mean that he committed scientific fraud. They’re the same thing, right? Well, not really. There were a lot of co-investigators, and Thorsen was only a middle author on those studies, as I explained multiple times.

Enter William Thompson, a.k.a. the “CDC whistleblower,” or, if you’re on Twitter, the #CDCwhistleblower. There has been a new development sufficiently bizarre as to catch my attention, but first, since it’s been a while, here’s the mandatory recap.

Recall, back in August, that biochemical engineer turned antivaccine activist and epidemiologist wannabe, published a study, recently retracted, that basically provided strong evidence that Andrew Wakefield was wrong about the MMR vaccine being associated with autism. When I first saw Hooker’s study, even I recognized how utterly incompetently it was carried out, and I’m not even an epidemiologist or statistician. After all, it’s pretty obvious that data collected for a case control study should not be analyzed as a cohort study, but that’s just what Hooker did. When I first read the study, I was actually not as hard on it as I should have been. The more I’ve read, and the more I’ve found out, the more I’ve realized just how badly done it was. Contrary to what Hooker apparently believes, simplicity is not beauty in statistics, particularly when you fail to control for obvious confounders and analyze data incorrectly. The result was a “finding” that there was a 3.4-fold increased risk of autism associated with MMR in African-American boys. Never mind that the numbers of this subgroup were tiny and the data incorrectly analyzed. Never mind that the rest of the data were negative as negative could be for even a whiff of a hint of a correlation between vaccines and autism for any other subgroup and that the vast majority of the leaders of the antivaccine movement are your basic affluent white people who never showed much in the way of an interest in the problems of African-American children before. Suddenly, this finding was being likened to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment by Andrew Wakefield himself!

This incompetent study was the result, allegedly, of discussions between Hooker and a psychologist at the CDC named William Thompson. For reasons that are still not clear, Thompson, a co-author on an important study by DeStefano et al, confided in Hooker, who recorded much of what he said, an action whose legality is unclear given that it’s unclear where all of these recordings were made (one party or two party consent states), and then cherry picked bits to make it sound as though Thompson were confessing to some horrible crime of data manipulation to hide this “bombshell” result reported by Wakefield. Thus was born the “CDC whistleblower,” who featured prominently in the video likening DeStefano et al and the “coverup” to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. Later, Thompson released as statement through his lawyer characterizing the whole problem over DeStefano et al as being a scientific disagreement. Nonetheless, a new conspiracy theory was born: The “CDC whistleblower.” Thompson has said nothing publicly since then, and the mainstream media has basically ignored the story other than an interview with Ronan Farrow of MSNBC that basically trashed the claims of the antivaccine movement.

So, after two months of relentlessly trying to get the mainstream media to pay attention and utterly failing, Andrew Wakefield and Brian Hooker had to try something new. Yesterday, that something new dropped into the antivaccine blogosphere with a massive thud that no one heard outside of the echo chamber confines of sites like the antivaccine crank blog Age of Autism. For instance, everyone’s favorite hysterical antivaccine blogger Kent Heckenlively proclaims it as “The Hammer Falls!”:

Dr. Brian Hooker, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and attorney James Moody announced today they have sent a complaint by Federal Express to Dr. Harold Jaffe, Associate Director for Science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Dr. Don Wright, Acting Director of the Office of Research Integrity at the Department of Health and Human Services, claiming research misconduct in the 2004 paper, "Age at First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in Children with Autism and School-Matched Control Subjects: A Population-Based Study in Metropolitan Atlanta," which was subsequently published in the journal, Pediatrics.

The allegations are horrifying, not just for the millions of families who deal with autism on a daily basis, but for the picture it paints of a government agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), devoid of any shred of scientific integrity or what we once used to call "honor" in this country.

If these claims are shown to be true, we will be looking at nothing less than the greatest crime committed in the history of our republic, and a dark page in science which will be remembered for centuries to come.

Let’s just say that Heckenlively is prone to a little...hyperbole. I mean, seriously. Even if every allegation flowing from the fever dream conspiracy theory that is the #CDCwhistleblower were true, does Heckenlively really believe that this crime was worse than, say, slavery? The internment of Japanese-Americans in the early days of World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor? The real Tuskegee syphilis experiment? This is worse? It just goes to show how out of touch with reality these people are. But, then, this is Kent Heckenlively we’re talking about here. Reality and Mr. Heckenlively haven’t been in the same room for at least a decade, not to mention that this is Brian Hooker and Andrew Wakefield making an accusation of scientific fraud. In what bizarro world does Andrew Wakefield, the ultimate scientific fraudster himself, accuse anyone, much less CDC scientists, of scientific fraud? Then there’s Hooker, who is the most incompetent epidemiologist wannabe I’ve seen aside from his young Padawan Jake Crosby and whose big foray into epidemiology broke records in speed of retraction. Even more hilariously, his article was retracted from a new journal. It was so toxically bad that even a new journal, scrambling to establish itself and attract quality submissions, couldn't afford not to retract it. Pot, kettle, black, anyone?

The result of their delusional accusations is a 34-page letter to the Dr. Harold Jaffe, CDC Associate Director for Science, and Dr. Don Wright, Acting Director, ORI, along with an appendix. It’s a painful slog to read through, particularly given that it doesn’t discuss much that I haven’t already covered in detail here, here, here, here, here, and here. That’s not to say that there aren’t any new revelations, but most of them have little or nothing to do with the attacks on the science based on methodology, which have been covered, discussed, and thrashed out here and on other blogs until it was quite clear that Hooker had no clue how to do an epidemiological study and went into his “study” with a preconceived notion of what it should show.

The core of this complaint rests on this early paragraph:

We write to report apparent research misconduct by senior investigators within the National Immunization Program (NIP), Battelle Memorial Institute at the Centers for Public Health Evaluation (CPHE), and the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD), and to request an immediate investigation.

The Analysis Plan dated September 5, 2001 [Exhibit 2] set forth the objective of the research reported in the above-titled article, to compare ages at first MMR vaccination between children with autism and children who did not have autism, and to test the hypothesis that age of first MMR vaccination is associated with autism risk.

The research team, headed by Dr. Frank DeStefano, MD., (NIP) including Dr. William Thompson Ph.D., (NIP) Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, MD (NCBDDD), Dr. Tanya Karapurkar Bashin (CPHE), and Dr. Coleen Boyle, Ph.D., (NCBDDD) (collectively referred to by Dr. Thompson as “The Group”) found statistically significant associations between the age of first MMR and autism in (a) the entire autism cohort, (b) African-American children, and (c) children with ‘isolated’ autism, a subset defined by The Group as those with autism and without comorbid developmental disabilities.

Yes, we’ve heard this before, but not exactly in this way. The central charge is that the investigators altered the research plan after the study was under way. The charge basically goes this way. The CDC planned a case control study examining the age of receiving the MMR vaccine and whether it correlated with an increased risk of autism using data from the Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program (MADDSP). Seeing a result they didn’t like, they allegedly altered the plan in order not to report the “inconvenient” result that the MMR resulted in a 3-fold increased risk of autism among African-American boys. Explaining from scratch why this is BS would take a post of truly Oracian length. Fortunately, Wakefield and Hooker couldn’t keep their mouths shut. Wakefield had to go and make a video outlining the charges before he sent this letter to the CDC:

It came out about 11 days ago, and I actually thought of blogging it at the time, but I was burned out on the whole #CDCwhistleblower thing. So I let this cup pass for a change. Fortunately, Matt Carey took it on about a week ago, and that makes my job easier. It’s worth reading in its entirety, but the Cliffs Notes version is as follows. In the video, Wakefield zeros in on a single sentence that says “The only variable available to be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample is child’s race.” Based on that, and allegedly confirmed by Thompson during conversations with Hooker, Wakefield and Hooker claim that “decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data was collected,” further claiming, “Thompson’s conversations with Hooker confirmed that it was only after the CDC study coauthors observed results indicating a statistical association between MMR timing and autism among African-Americans boys, that they introduced the Georgia birth certificate criterion as a requirement for participation in the study. This had the effect of reducing the sample size by 41% and eliminating the statistical significance of the finding, which Hooker calls a direct deviation from the agreed upon final study protocol – a serious violation.’”

I discussed this aspect in my original post, namely how doing this was not the scientific fraud claimed, but at the time I didn’t have access to the original research plan. In any case, notice that that one sentence doesn’t even really mean that the investigators deviated from the plan, as race was always planned to be examined as a potential confounder for the whole group. As Carey put it:

There are two interesting points in the above. First, the sentence Mr. Wakefield highlights doesn’t say what he claims. The only variable available to be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample is child’s race. The plan doesn’t say that they will test and report race. Consider the context: this is a section of the plan called “statistical analysis”. Put in context with the entire paragraph, this sentence is clear: the full dataset is limited because it only has one variable available.

The CDC didn’t deviate from the plan when they didn’t report on race for the total sample because that was never in the plan.

Exactly. More importantly, Wakefield and Hooker are cherry picking. As Carey points out, the analysis plan doesn’t include a call to report on race separately in the total sample (the group without the birth certificates), and the CDC “approved analysis plan” did include analysis of a subset with birth certificate data. Use of birth certificate data to look for confounders was always an option in the plan. For example:

For the children born in Georgia for whom we have birth certificate data, several sub-analyses will be carried out similar to the main analyses to assess the effect of several other potential confounding variables.

And:

3) Analyses examining Gender Effects

Males are at substantially higher risk for autism and may be more vulnerable to the exposure associated with the MMR vaccine. We will analyze males and females separately and replicate the main objectives of the primary analyses as well as examine the potential confounders available from Georgia birth certificates.

In the complaint, Wakefield and Hooker even misquoted the analysis plan, as Carey also points out. The plan states, “The only variable available to be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample is child’s race.” The complaint quotes this as, “The only variable that will be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample will be the child’s race.” He had also verified that he was examining the same document that Wakefield and Hooker had.

Wakefield also tries to do a bit of statistical prestidigitation by claiming that one of the analyses proposed, analyses of “isolated” versus “non-isolated” autism were not done. “Isolated” autism is autism with no comorbid developmental disabilities, such as mental retardations. As Carey convincingly argues, this subanalysis was done. He even explains how, although the raw, unadjusted analysis appears to show an association between age at MMR vaccination (vaccination prior to 36 months) and autism, the adjusted, final analysis does not. Tellingly, Hooker’s study is praised in the complaint thusly:

Dr. Hooker has approved access to public datasets for the original raw data from the study provided by the CDC. Dr. Hooker was thereby able to repeat the original analyses and confirm The Group’s findings of an excess autism risk in African American children. Dr. Hooker’s reanalysis [Exhibit 4] was rigorously peer reviewed and published.6 Dr. Hooker’s paper was reviewed and approved by Dr. Thompson. Dr. Thompson has also supplied Dr. Hooker with his original data output and subsequent data runs of his analyses.

Funny how Wakefield and Hooker didn’t see fit to mention that Hooker’s study was retracted—and retracted over two weeks before they sent their letter to the CDC! Wakefield and Hooker owe me a new keyboard again (or I should know better than to drink anything, even water, while reading anything written by these two) for this, as well:

Dr. Hooker is a scientist, Assistant Professor at Redding University, California, an extensively published vaccine safety researcher, and the father of a child with autism. Dr. Wakefield is an academic gastroenterologist by training and a documentary film producer/director with Autism Media Channel. Both have standing to complain. Both have a strong interest in documenting this research misconduct and in securing a remedy for the severe damage it has caused: Dr. Hooker’s son was, as alleged in his petition for compensation to the NVICP, permanently damaged by vaccines. The ethically required and Congressionally - mandated compensation provided by this program has been denied to many children based in part on the misconduct alleged herein. He has also suffered scientific opprobrium for his position on vaccine safety. Dr. Wakefield first proposed a possible link between MMR and autism,7 and specifically, age of exposure to MMR and autism risk.8 Had The Group’s true findings been published as intended,9 well before their actual publication date in 2004, much of the damaged done to Dr. Wakefield’s career and reputation might have been mitigated. Mr. Moody is an attorney with a longstanding interest in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) and an expert in Whistleblower law.

Hooker is an “extensively published vaccine safety researcher”? A PubMed research reveals five publications that might have anything to do with autism or "vaccine safety," including the retracted one. Subtract the retracted paper and a paper dismissing paternal age as a risk factor for autism (clearly it must be the vaccines, then!), and only three publications that have anything to do with vaccines remain. That’s hardly “extensively published.” Of course, Wakefield’s standing in this is dubious at best, too, given that his reputation and career were almost entirely destroyed in England, not the US.

So we know that Wakefield and Hooker are dishonestly cherry picking evidence in their letter, but there’s one bombshell that shocked the hell out of me and goes a long way towards explaining something that’s always bothered me about this affair. Why? Why did Thompson confide in Hooker? What drove him to it? It turns out that, if Hooker and Wakefield are telling the truth about this (and I really take anything they say with an enormous grain of salt), Thompson was (and presumably still is) prone to anxiety issues (at minimum), depression, and delusions, which first manifested themselves in a big way a decade ago, around the time he was preparing to present the results of this study to the Institute of Medicine and was facing the likelihood of being called to testify in front of a Congressional committee whose chair was notorious for his antivaccine views. After citing an e-mail from Thompson to Julie Geberding, the then-director of the CDC (which I discussed), in which Thomspon expressed anxiety about appearing in front of a Congressional committee, Wakefield and Hooker write:

In the end, Dr. Thompson signed off on The Paper that was published in Pediatrics [Exhibit 1]. However, his name was withdrawn from the roster of those due to present to the IOM on February 9, 2004. In reporting a discussion that he had had with his whistleblower lawyer Thompson stated:

Ya know, I’m not proud of that and uh, it’s probably the lowest point in my career that I went along with that paper and I also paid a huge price for it because I became delusional.24

In his recorded call with Dr. Thompson of 5.8.14, Dr. Hooker pressed the Dr. Thompson on whether he raised his concerns about the omission of significant data with The Group in the days leading up to the IOM meeting.

Dr. Hooker: Did you raise that…did you raise that issue at the time?

Dr. Thompson: I will say I raised this issue…I will say I raised this issue, the uh…two days before I became delusional.

This reference is important: three days before the IOM presentation Thompson – faced with either presenting false data or taking responsibility for the vaccine-autism link in front of potentially hostile parents of autistic children25 - stopped sleeping, and became profoundly depressed and “delusional.” Crucially, he reports no prior history of mental disorder.

Dr. Thompson went on to confirm, to Dr. Hooker, that the DeStefano 2004 paper was the reason for these acute psychological problems.

Dr. Thompson: It is one of the reasons I became delusional because I was so paranoid about this being published.

Citation 24 is claimed to be from a phone conversation between Hooker and Thompson dated May 24 2014. That was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Hmmm. That was during Autism One. Brian Hooker gave a talk at Autism One on May 23. One wonders if he was still there, one does. Why? Because Illinois has one of the most Draconian laws in the country when it comes to being a “two party” consent state with respect to recording conversations. That’s a minor consideration, though. The major consideration is that, if this conversation occurred as represented, then Hooker just divulged highly personal medical information about Thompson, namely that he suffered some sort of mental breakdown, complete with paranoia, delusions, and depression, right before IOM conference ten years ago. This, after having bragged about how he was Thompson’s “confessor,” like a priest. How vile can you get? In order to imply that the magnitude of the "crime" Thompson was being forced to be party to was so massive that it led him to some sort of mental breakdown in the days leading up to the IOM conference, Hooker betrayed Thompson's confidences about a very personal issue.

Oh, wait. This is Hooker and Wakefield we’re talking about.

It’s now clear to me that Thompson is a bit of a fragile soul, easily rattled. From the sketchy description in Wakefield's and Hooker's complaint, he sounds as though he suffered a bout of what sounds like an anxiety disorder, but I don’t know enough to tell. Anxiety disorders can be profoundly crippling and lead to the sort of behavior described. Either way, anxiety disorder or no anxiety disorder, depression or no depression, it’s quite clear that, even at his best, Thompson melts under pressure, and that explains a lot. In the end, though, Wakefield's and Hooker's complaint is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Their first play, the video likening DeStefano et al and the "coverup" of "vaccines causing autism in African American boys," failed miserably. For all the Twitter bombing of the #CDCwhistleblower hashtag, the mainstream media barely took notice, and rightly so. There was nothing to see there. Of course, as I’ve pointed out many times before, Wakefield’s name is so toxic that his involvement with this whole affair virtually guaranteed that no one of any consequence would take it seriously. If Hooker had written this letter, sent it to the CDC, and publicized it out of the blue, he might have fooled some credulous mainstream media outlets into doing a story or two about it. Making this play now, after having been associated with Wakefield and after all the #CDCwhistleblower craziness, virtually guarantees that nothing will come of this.

But it sure will rile up the antivaccine crazies. That’s the point, after all.

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The particular irony for me is that the UK has no institutional mechanisms for the investigation of research fraud and misconduct, and the pursuit of the perpetrators. Thus, Wakefield's fraudulent Lancet study of 1998, when he excluded data, changed diagnoses, misrepresented pathological findings and outright lied, was no amenable to inquiry until he was arraigned before the ponderous General Medical Council.

Some people have asked whether The Letter by Wakefield to ORI and Harold Jaffe is a publicity stunt. Well, yes, but more importantly it is part of the sick projection that goes on among people such as Wakefield, and his retainers, including many of the parents who make fraudulent claims of having witnessed injury by vaccines. A boutique case of such a parent was revealed recently, but there are many more.

It is this projection which I believe substantially drives all the allegations and smears about "pharma shills" and conspiracies. These people, and especially those around Wakefield, who work with him and lie for him, seek to salve their consciences with the conviction "Well, what we said may not have been entirely accurate, but that's nothing compared with those mass murderers."

Wakefield's activities at present are essentially a revenge attack: a bid to inflict harm on those who have shunned and dismissed him for what he is. Then, of course, if his complaints are thrown out, the conspiracy theory gets bigger, and on it goes.

This rightfully reviled man is no longer speaking to the scientific and medical community. With Wakefield, it has always been about the money as much as anything. Now, he is speaking to conspiracy theorists, crooks, cranks and quacks who he is presently back attempting to sucker for cash.

This is a wealthy charlatan, embittered by his fall, who now projects his own ethics onto others.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 22 Oct 2014 #permalink

At this point it makes me wonder. It is known now, that Wakefield's Lancet study was funded and results were tweaked to fit the scenario. One has to assume that Wakefield knows that whole vaccines-autism thing is a bunch of phantasms piffle in the wind.

And yet he stands by it. Is it just that there's so much cash to grab from anti-vaccine movement or did he start believing at some point? I just can't imagine how it must be to continue the scam for such a long time.

By The Smith of Lie (not verified) on 22 Oct 2014 #permalink

Wakefield must be so hard up for readies at the moment that he has to go and talk about his delusional theories linking them to chiropractic manipulation.

So this has to be about money. I can't believe that Wakefield would start a lawsuit where his own activities in this mess would come under scrutiny, so this really has to be a publicity stunt to keep the dollars rolling in.

Actually, scratch that. Wakefield might be stupid enough to do such a thing, but surely his lawyers would talk him out of it?

What I am still, almost 24 hours later still chuckling about is the fact that Hooker got his position and university wrong in the letter. How could anyone be that incompetent and then want to be taken seriously?

For someone who lives in a house made of very thin glass, Wakefield seems awfully determined to hone his stone-throwing skills.

By Guy Chapman (not verified) on 22 Oct 2014 #permalink

“The only variable that will be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample will be the child’s race.”

v.

“The only variable available to be assessed as a potential confounder using the entire sample is child’s race.”

That's not even trying. It also makes it so obvious the whole mess is about generating publicity and keeping the the anti-vax crowd whipped up into a donating frenzy, and nothing at all to do with honest concern about the research process, or making a real complaint to the CDC. I'd hope that the pathetic transparency of the ploy might help some more people see through Wakefield, but I suspect he knows his marks too well. It's sad, really.

By The Grouchybeast (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

@Grouchy - it is all about playing to the "faithful." So, Wakefield is doing:

1) Soliciting money for a new "documentary"

2) He'll charge money to sell this new "documentary" to the faithful.

Pretty sad that the only person who sees this clearly on the other side is Jake, for slightly different reasons.

"Dr. Brian Hooker, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and attorney James Moody announced today they have sent a complaint by Federal Express"

Well there you go, this has got to be unbelievably significant and important, otherwise they would have sent it by regular mail.

It could foreshadow the start of a new ad campaign - "When it's really, really bull$hit, it has to go Fed Ex".

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

God, if you folk only knew what a buffoon Jim Moody is. He turned up at Wakefield's GMC hearing, and I had to have him thrown out of the press room on grounds of ludicrousness.

And I love all the cc-ing at the bottom of The Letter. In newspapers, you used to get a lot of stuff like this. By pre-digital legend, they would be written in green ink.

To me, Moody is the clown clone to a similar character we have here called Clifford Miller. Miller's only half the waistband, but similarly basks in the glow of Wakefield's approval.

Miller's letters have so much cc-ing you want to check for HM the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

I think it's all meant to look Very Serious, but it usually makes the recipients laugh. Jim Moody - oooh, I'm scared.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

The letter also lets slip that this is really more about Wakefield than social justice. Consider this line:

Had The Group’s true findings been published as intended,9 well before their actual publication date in 2004, much of the damaged done to Dr. Wakefield’s career and reputation might have been mitigated.

Wakefield's involvement in this is all about getting back at the establishment that called him out for his fraud. The way he exploits others to try to prop himself up is sickening. Not surprising, though.

I forgot to add that Moody wrote a similar doorstop of a letter after Wakefield was found guilty on four counts of dishonesty and god knows how many of unethical conduct towards children.

It was addressed to the GMC and basically wanted half the witnesses against Wakefield struck off for perjury or something. I don't know the full detail because I could never bring myself to actually read it, and I'm not sure that anybody else did, either.

I think Mr Moody eventually sat on the last copy and it was never seen again.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Of course, we have only Wakefield's word that this was even sent......

And still, not even mentioning the retraction of the study - well, as soon as anyone looks it up & sees the official retraction notice, that'll kill things right there and then.

Dr. Thompson: It is one of the reasons I became delusional because I was so paranoid about this being published.

And yet Thompson's name remains on that study.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Well there you go, this has got to be unbelievably significant and important, otherwise they would have sent it by regular mail.

If there were really anything actionable here, they wouldn't have sent it by FedEx, they would have arranged for the appropriate county sheriff's office to serve the complaint on the targets. That, as I understand it (IANAL), is how one normally proceeds with lawsuits.

The bit Orac quoted about Thompson's mental state only makes sense if the complaint were written by Thompson's lawyers and he were suing the CDC. But we all know that Hooker and Wakefield aren't lawyers, and according to Brian Deer above, the one actual lawyer involved, Mr. Moody, isn't a very good one. But this is apparently not a lawsuit.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

well before their actual
publication date in 2004, much of the damaged done to Dr. Wakefield’s
career and reputation might have been mitigated

Did Wakefield not think to spellcheck / proofread this before it was sent? Illiterate rubber-faced oaf.

By Rebecca Fisher (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

A. Note that the letter is date October 14, last Monday. If it was sent, Wakefield kept the contents and the act quiet for a week.

B. The complaint actually did address the retraction - in an extremely problematic manner. Note 6 says: "“Measles-mumps-rubellavaccinationtimingandautismamongyoungAfrican-Americanboys:a reanalysisofCDC data,”TranslationalNeurodegeneration,2014,3:16. Followingpublication,thispaperwaswithdrawn,allegedlyduetoDr.Hooker’sfailuretodisclosehisboardmembershipofFocus
Autism,thestudysponsor.Dr.HookerdiddisclosethatthestudywasfundedbyFocusAutism.Atthe timethatFocusAutismagreedtofundthestudyDr.Hookerwasnotontheboardandwasnotunderconsiderationforsuch.Thematterremainsunderreview.SeeDr.Hooker’sfullstatement[Exhibit5]."

For comparison, here is what the actual retraction - which I know was put on this site before, but to save people time - says: "The Editor and Publisher regretfully retract the article [1] as there were undeclared competing interests on the part of the author which compromised the peer review process. Furthermore, post-publication peer review raised concerns about the validity of the methods and statistical analysis, therefore the Editors no longer have confidence in the soundness of the findings. We apologise to all affected parties for the inconvenience caused." http://www.translationalneurodegeneration.com/content/3/1/22

By Dorit Reiss (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

When I first read through AJW and BH's magna opus, I was struck by the use of the word 'delusional': was Thompson truly delusional or is he trying to garner our sympathy?
Having delusions is quite serious, a break from reality usually associated with SMI; of course, anxiety is no walk in the park either but was he suggesting something more- perhaps to beg off appearing and thereby excusing himself from any criticism, then or now?

And though I take that particular descriptive with a grain of salt, I'm sure that he did have real problems and suffered.

And wouldn't you know, in walk BH and AJW: the latter has made a career manipulating the emotions of people who also have psychological issues or who suffer from extreme worries about their autistic children

Like the alt media creatures I survey, AJW has made a fortune off of worry and fear. And now, he's in the movie business spreading the cheer. Perhaps he'll go the film festival** route as another altie conspiracy monger has because they award prizes which you can display conspicuously on your woo-filled website.

I can see it.

** smaller festivals obviously.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Dorit Reiss: Nice catch:

"The complaint actually did address the retraction – in an extremely problematic manner. Note 6 says: ““Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination timing and autism among young African-American boys: a reanalysis of CDC data,” Translational Neurodegeneration, 2014, 3:16. Following publication, this paper was withdrawn, allegedly due to Dr. Hooker’s failure to disclose his board membership of Focus
Autism, the study sponsor. Dr. Hooker did disclose that the study was funded by Focus Autism. At the time that Focus Autism agreed to fund the study Dr. Hooker was not on the board and was not under consideration for such. The matter remains under review. See Dr. Hooker’s full statement [Exhibit 5].”

Has Mr. Hooker provided documentation in the form of the actual letter, which detailed the reason(s) for the retraction from the Journal of Translational Neurodegeneration?

Hooker failed to mention that he has a twelve-years-pending claim on behalf of his autistic child for "vaccine(s) injury" in the United States Court of Federal Claims....a claim which is being stalled by Hooker and his attorney who keep making motions for extensions to produce more medical records.

That letter of retraction from the Journal would also explain why the undeclared COIs of the (unnamed) peer reviewers is a factor for retracting Hooker's "reanalysis".

@lilady - Hooker seems to be holding that particular piece of information very close to his vest.....I'm sure he doesn't want the faithful to fully understand what he did, so he can continue to spin the messaging behind the retraction.

Through the magic of Windows 7, I have found Mr Moody's document after Wakefield's GMC hearing.

It is headed thus:

Before the General Medical Council
London, United Kingdom
______________________________________

In the Matter of:
Dr. Richard Charles Horton (#2927877)
Dr. David Maxwell Salisbury (#1413890) Docket No:
Dr. Arie Jeremy Zuckerman (#0870254)
Dr. Michael Stuart Pegg (#1560424)
Dr. Michael Llewellyn Rutter (#0639943)

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
(Breach of duty of honesty and candor; False Testimony; Misuse of Professional Position, Failure to Disclose Conflicting Interest, False Expert Testimony)

.....

104 pages. Similar eccentric typeface and pompous tone. Similar droning on and on about everything and nothing.

He gives his DC bar credentials at the end, so, if he is writing on behalf of a client, he has a rich client or his rates are so low that he is doing it as a recreational pursuit.

Anyhow, it's what in England we call "bollocks". I think, after it was archived, they had to call the plumbers to the GMC's toilets.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Perhaps he’ll go the film festival** route as another altie conspiracy monger has because they award prizes which you can display conspicuously on your woo-filled website.

I can see it.

** smaller festivals obviously.

You know I love ya, babe, but predicting the past isn't much of a skill.

http://www.ocktoberfilmfest.com/#!film-festival-winners-2014/c19jo

Best Documentary "Who Killed Alex Spourdakalis"

Two friends, Jordan and Quincy head out on a Saturday night in New York City. Jordan, who was recently dumped out of a relationship and Quincy, who recently took a I.T. job link up for the first time in months hoping to have a good night. However, by the end of the night, the term 'good' becomes entirely subjective. Neither of them could have imagined the chaos that would ensue.

Um... whut?

By Rebecca Fisher (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Hmmmm - looks like for some reason they posted the story line from A Saturday Is a Terrible Thing to Waste.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3021518/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

It would be cool if the story line was from the real winner, and A Saturday Is a Terrible Thing to Waste was the real winner of the 'Best Documentary' award, but it looks like A Saturday Is a Terrible Thing to Waste is a comedy.

@ Johny:

I stand corrected. He's at it already. Shades of Gary Null ( see website for list of his awards from other luminous fests)

AND it is one of the smaller festivals ( disclosure: I have a relative who knows about these things and I've attended a few of the more well-known affairs which are also hilarious ).
And I'm glad you love me.

@ Rebecca:

Perhaps the reason his film won was because it mixed up with the one about Jordan and Quincy.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Judged best documentary at one of the dozens of film festivals in NYC, out of a field of two.

Polly Tommey, Wakefield's partner at the Autism Media Channel did the honors of interviewing those who viewed the film. The film is being promoted on several events sites and on AoA.

Who do you think those film viewers are?

@ Johnny :

Ha ha.Cross post.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Um… whut?

That was the Best Short Film for 2013.

Here's another weird thing. The Letter from Wakefield etc, begins with a reporting of "apparent research misconduct", elsewhere described as "alleged".

But isn't this the Andrew Wakefield who made a YouTube video complaining that it was conduct worse than the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and saying that the CDC was worse than Stalin, Pol Pot and Hitler?

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Oddly, the Wakefield joint appears to have been titled "b.c.d." on the schedule, as well as others.

Judged best documentary at one of the dozens of film festivals in NYC, out of a field of two.

There look to have been three: Wakefraud (not listed on the main program page), The Eastenders, and Someone You Love: The HPV Epidemic.

Andy and an STD.
About right.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

there were undeclared competing interests on the part of the author which compromised the peer review process

Being on the board of the funding agency would indeed be an example of an undeclared competing interest, but the retraction note does not specify the nature of the competing interests, so we don't know if that was an issue. I suspect the editors can't be more specific than that, out of reasonable fear of being sued. Of course, there is also the bit about the post-publication peer review. Usually that would be handled by a comment and reply exchange, but this case was apparently found too egregious for that route--again I can only guess, but probably the editors, on reading the paper, agreed with the commenters who were asking, "How the #*@$ did this get past the referees?" (A question I have asked myself several times regarding papers I have read.)

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Detail on why this letter would appear to a publicity stunt rather than serious complaint:

Huge chunks of the letter are a narrative supposedly related by William Thompson, yet Thompson himself does not confirm any of it, nor do his previous public statements. Throughout this narrative are select fragmented quotes allegedly from Hooker’s recorded conversations with Thompson. The quotes are so sparse, we can guess Thompson actually uttered those words, but we have only Hooker and Wakefield’s word that they are representing the context properly.

Unless Thompson himself comes forward to say, “Yes, I said that about that. The letter is an accurate representation of my conversations with Brian Hooker.” or Hooker releases full copies of his original digital recording files to the public, there’s no reason to think the narrative in the letter is accurate. I doubt Thompson will break his silence voluntarily, especially since his ‘priest’ has violated the confessional by cherry picking quotes where Dr. Thompson refers to himself as “delusional.” Of course, it was only Hooker who claimed a confessional type relationship with Thompson. Thompson himself has said nothing of the sort.

If this was anything but a publicity stunt, why would they divulge their Whistleblower had become “delusional” before he even spoke to them? Wouldn’t that undermine any testimony he might give in support of the claims? “Dr. Thompson, how do you know that your recollections of events are accurate, and not the product of your mental distress?” Of course, Thompson was undoubtedly using "delusional" figuratively, rather than as defined by the DSM. But if this was a real complaint, and the authors expected to get anything supporting it from Thompson in the future, you'd think they'd make that clear, yes?

My guess is that Hooker will never release the recordings voluntarily. For doing so will make it obvious that they are greatly exaggerating, mischaracterizing, or just outright lying about what Thompson said, and the proof is the highly selective audio editing in the videos AMC has already put online.

In gambling terms, they’re bluffing, and if anyone calls the bluff I guess they’ll fold.

If they had any cards, wouldn’t they play them now? (sincere question; anybody got a plausible explanation?) If they’re still BFFs with Thompson. wouldn’t he issue at least some hint of verification? If any part of the recordings could put any of those short quotes in a context even consistent with the narrative in the letter, wouldn't H&W release those selected longer segments now?

One particular grammatical ambiguity caught my eye:

The following narrative is based upon contemporaneous documents including study protocols, analysis plans, notes, emails, and other communications from the respective participants and their managers at the CDC, provided by Dr. Thompson to Dr. Brian Hooker Ph.D and Dr. Andrew Wakefield MB.BS.

What this language implies is that Thompson had some direct exchange with Wakefield, that WT sent documents directly to AJW. But it could just mean that Thompson supplied documents to Hooker and Hooker only, which Hooker then passed on to Wakefield. That distinction strikes me as a pretty big deal, and if I was Andy Wakefield, and William Thompson had indeed sent me documents directly, I’d be damn sure that was unambiguously stated in my letter of complaint. From what Brian Deer says about AJW — and who knows Wakefield better? — he’s way too smart to let an opportunity to pad his credibility slide by, and he’s more than slick enough to construct a clever phrasing that implies more than he’s got, but doesn’t actually pin him in a lie. (‘Well we meant the documents were provided to the team of BH & AJW which in practice just meant sending them to Brian.’)

About the provenance of the letter:
Hooker’s employer and title are mis-identified in the body of the letter in a way that is devastatingly insulting to Hooker. He's identified as "Assistant Professor at Redding University, California." There IS a Redding University — a notorious online diploma mill scam that doesn't have a mailing address anywhere on its website. Hooker is actually employed by Simpson University, located in Redding, California — a small 4-year Christian College founded in 1925.

Simpson's website lists his job title as Associate Professor of Biology. His CV, however, says Assistant Professor, but it’s dated November 2012. What this means, for those not familiar with American academia, is that Hooker has recently advanced to Tenure, and now has lifetime job security. Promotion and tenure from Assistant to Associate is a big deal, and it is inconceivable that Hooker would not correct that, AND the name of the school, if he were paying attention at all.

However, Moody, as an attorney, and AJW as a Brit, wouldn’t know the difference between a diploma scam existing only in cyberspace, and an accredited Christian college with a real campus, sports teams 1200 resident students, ranked #153 out of 236 among Four Year Colleges in the US by guidance counselors, (tied with Alma, Burlington, Centenary, Lycoming and Ripon, if those mean anything to anybody).

In short the fact Hooker has tenure at a real college (even a not particularly distinguished one) gives him MUCH higher status than “Assistant Professor at Redding University” (which would actually be a bad thing).

What this suggests is Hooker wasn’t involved at all in drafting the text, that the letter was written by attorney Moody based on discussions/exchanges with AJW (seemingly confirmed by BD's catch that the letter is set in a typeface idiosyncratic to Moody.)

So this just confirms what most of us have already concluded:

1) A stressed-out and misguided William Thompson confided some stuff to Brian Hooker, who thoroughly abused Thompson for his agenda — getting his paper published to legitimate the vaccines-cause-autism narrative.

2) The only character in the tale suffering from actual long-term delusions is Brian Hooker. He shared what he got from Thompson with Andrew Wakefield, who thoroughly abused Hooker for his agenda — promoting Andrew Wakefield as anti-vaccine hero who has been wrongly discredited by a media/CDC conspiracy.

As Orac notes, by glomming onto the 'Whistleblower Revelation' as soon as he got the chance AJW virtually guaranteed Hooker's paper would get withdrawn. Had AJW held onto his powder, the journal would likely have been none the wiser, the paper would have gone up online long enough on to get some measure of legitimacy, some citations, yada yada. But, nooo! It's all about AJW.

Wakefield has so little concern for his supposed wingman neither he or his legal flunky bothered to vette their letter and get his credential right, at least to the point where they didn't connect him to ludicrous academic scam.

I was thinking the letter is 34 pages of blather built around one sentence on page 4, as an excuse to re-broadcast and legitimate that sentence to the anti-immuno faithful: "Had The Group’s true findings been published as intended, well before their actual publication date in 2004, much of the damaged (sic) done to Dr. Wakefield’s career and reputation might have been mitigated." But then, if that was the point, you'd think somebody would have proof-read that sentence, so... well, I don't know.

Shades of Gary Null
I hope you are not secretly writing slashfic; the world has done nothing to deserve "50 Shades of Gary Null ".

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

At least there are some anti-vaccine advocates who concede this whole thing has pretty much been an epic failure for the anti-vaccine crowd.

"The whistleblower issue has been poorly handled from start to finish. I don't think it will ever be taken seriously. Unfortunately as soon as Wakefield's name was attached to it, it was probably doomed to failure.

The illegally used recordings by doctor Hooker, the information being dealt out piece-meal in a sensationalist manner rather than just delivering all the obtained information up front..... This has done nothing but give scientists/society at large the "proof" they've been looking for that vax skeptics will not let something like the truth or ethics stop their agenda. Puts them on the same level as the CDC as far as I'm concerned."

The complaint is dead on arrival. It serves the purpose of gathering publicity, at least within their own community.

What else might it be for? Some speculation:

1) to pad out the "documentary" that Mr. Wakefield claims to be working on.

He doesn't seem to have much content now, does he? Especially once he leaves his "Tuskegee Experiment" video out. Adding a few minutes on the complaint and the response might get him to 10 minutes of total time.

2) Notice the cc list. Includes Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and an African American member of congress. I think Mr. Wakefield could be trolling for some reaction that he could use. Rather than sending them, oh, say, his "The CDC are worse than Pol Pot" video, he gets the legitimacy of a complaint to the CDC.

Notice that Mr. Wakefield waited over a week to release his complaint. That gave the people he sent it to the chance to read without pesky blog articles like the one above popping up on search engines.

Since announcing the complaint he's only gathered another $85 for his "documentary"
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/film-exposes-massive-us-governmental…

Between Wakefield's facebook page and the AoA facebook page, they got about 80 shares.

And if you look at earlier posts by Mr. Wakefield on his FB page, you can see his own supporters getting pissed off with the way he's dribbling information.

Which is all to say, this has not been a big PR win for Mr. Wakefield.

By Matt Carey (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

He's been turning out these kind of documents for a decade now. Most of them have come my way, and I've spent much of that decade analysing them and preparing replies.

It's reasonably well-paid work, but is a huge diversion from journalism. I think I've now reached the point when I write most fluently in numbered paragraphs. The annoyance for me is that, while I get abused by everyone from Ben Goldacre to malignant cranks for my relatively modest published output in numbers of words, I have written many hundreds of thousands in my duties in dealing with Wakefield for lawyers, media executives, regulators and so forth. Journalistically, it leads nowhere, because mostly its only read by a dozen people, if that.

The fact is, Andrew Wakefield is not an intelligent man. Even his mother told me he had to retake his high school exams in order to get into medical school. All of his research findings failed. He was utterly incompetent in laboratory, his peers tell me. Other researchers have practically formed a queue to tell me how they tried to explain things to him, and he took no notice.

I have long since given up attempting any kind of dialogue with anti-vaxxers, because they will lie and distort, intercut video clips and do anything to manipulate and damage. But, years ago, I did point out (and was more recently quoted saying) that if I wanted to show that MMR caused autism I wouldn't go through the gut. It's always the defendant who wants to string out the chain of causality.

A lawyer pulled out Wakefield because he was the only person in Britain with any kind of theory - ridiculous as it was - as to how MMR could do any harm. He was a former trainee bowel surgeon doing - failed - research in a medical school. Of no distinction or relevance really to anyone. But the lawyer was desperate because he wanted to be in the big league - trips up to London, meetings with counsel etc - but he had no case. So Wakefield got control, and the hopes of 1,600 British families and then 6,000 American families were raised and then dashed in litigation that could only ever have failed. Many of these are the angry, bitter voices that you see on blogs, who don't know whose been hurting them.

Personally, if I was an anti-vaxxer, I would dump him. Find somebody - virtually anybody. Offer Marcel Kinsbourne double his present income from vaccine court, and an electric wheelchair, if necessary. But you only have to see how Wakefield (Stalin, Pol Pot and Hitler) killed the Thompson/Hooker thing to understand what a liability he is to them.

But he's very good at getting money out of people - whether its the drug industry, lawyers, distraught mothers of disabled kids, or Barry Segal - and what he does with that money is live the life of Riley with his hard drinking, globe trotting English friends who have turned autism into a cash crop.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Never mind that the rest of the data were negative as negative could be for even a whiff of a hint of a correlation between vaccines and autism for any other subgroup and that the vast majority of the leaders of the antivaccine movement are your basic affluent white people who never showed much in the way of an interest in the problems of African-American children before.

Hey, Mike Adams was on it.

"When I first read through AJW and BH’s magna opus, I was struck by the use of the word ‘delusional'"

What's striking is how delusional Hooker and his antivax allies must be, to think that any complaint or media stunt co-organized by Andrew Wakefield could ever be taken seriously.

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

I feel like I should get some popcorn, as this is great reading. I find this whole thing fascinating. It's like a never ending soap opera. Even the comments here in are educational and fascinating.

What I wonder is what is it going to take to turn the tide for the parents who are so utterly convinced that their child is damaged by vaccines and can be cured? Is there anything that will convince them or are they always going to glom on to these crazy Wakefield projects?

Great catch Dorit.

@ Dangerous Bacon:

You are correct, oh dangerous one, but I would bet real money that these antics will pad AJW's coffers - although I'm not sure exactly how. Direct donatiions possibly? Invitations to speak at events? A new book? Consults?

Here are some figures:
amongst the faithful, AoA counts about 10K facebook** and TMR about 30K. The Vaccine Machine ( not as dedicated to ASD per se but anti-vax) counts 50K IIRC. Most likely the first two overlap greatly as they do with the Canaries/ Health Choice.

Not everyone is exactly otaku*** about Andy or The Cause but at dedicated events, he can fill an auditorium ( Autism One) - he has a fan base. Recently one of the TMs died and the others were able to raise 25K USD in a week or two. They sponsor e-conferences frequently at 40 USD. AoA recently had an education (heh) conference and is involved with a book talk ( with Skyhorse)- these cost more than the above.

Thus he has an audience who will pay to see him or buy books or send money to defend him or his cause.

I'm sure that his spread in Austin requires landscapers, pool boys and cleaning help. I doubt he does these chores himself.

** I am loathe to rely upon facebook numbers because not everyone uses it ( but the cohort most amenable probably does) and people can add other family members etc. Not the greatest measure but bear with me.
*** obsessively engaged

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 23 Oct 2014 #permalink

Send a bill out for that new keyboard. Custom made by Orange County Choppers style would be sweet!

Everytime I go to the USA I have to assert that I have never engaged in "acts of moral turpitude" which wiki tells me in the USA specifically means:
"conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals."

So why exactly are you letting him stay there guys? Not that I particularly want him back, but I suppose we should take care of our own bad eggs

@JCL
That crap is so the folks barring the gates have an excuse if they don't like the look of you but have no other evidence to bar entry. Sort of like disorderly conduct charges used far and wide by lazy or ignorant cops to detain and annoy people who most often get those charges dropped after the fact.

@MikeMa - indeed - though I'd be a bit surprised if anyone actually ever answered 'yes'.
Still, if Wankfield did ever answer 'no' then I assume its some kind of offense to lie about it and maybe some nice fellow in Beaumont could explain the error of his ways before you chuck him out :)

I’d be a bit surprised if anyone actually ever answered ‘yes’

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations:

Before he [Gilbert Harding] could go to New York he had to get a US visa at the American consulate in Toronto. He was called upon to fill in a long form with many questions, including "Is it your intention to overthrow the Government of the United States by force?" By the time Harding got to that one he was so irritated that he answered: "Sole purpose of visit."

I have also seen that attributed to Quentin Crisp, if memory serves.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

At my naturalization interview, I asked if anyone ever said "yes" to that question and got the reply "We catch the stupid terrorists pretty easily"...

That reminds me of the Freakonomics guys who pointed out that suicide bombers never buy life insurance from their banks, which is one way of finding them, along with unusual deposit and withdrawal patterns. It was only in a later book they admitted that this was a trick, and that security agencies watched for people who tried to buy life insurance from their bank after the first book and several interviews with the authors mentioning this were published. As they also pointed out, who goes to their bank to buy life insurance?

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

JCL@41: I don't dispute the legal definition you give, but in the US, "moral turpitude" is almost always associated with sexual activity. Meaning that running a house of prostitution (even in a country where it is legal to do so[1]) will get you excluded, but research fraud won't. Many of the English who settled Massachusetts were religious fanatics, and religious fanaticism has played a large role in US history ever since.

Krebiozen @46: Life insurance via your bank is frequently sold in this country, but rarely bought. Periodically I get offers to buy life insurance from the banks where I have accounts. The first $10k is free to me, but I have no need for more than that. I'm sure some people have bought life insurance that way, but I would think "There's one born every minute" would be an adequate explanation.

[1]Even if that country happens to be the United States. Prostitution is legal in some counties in Nevada, but employment in that profession has been used as grounds to deny a green card or US citizenship.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

At my naturalization interview, I asked if anyone ever said “yes” to that question and got the reply “We catch the stupid terrorists pretty easily”…

My understanding is that most of those questions aren't really so much about catching 'stupid terrorists'... it's so that if they later discover that you did do something you claimed you didn't, they can throw you out on the grounds of making false statements to a federal agent even if nothing else you did was actually illegal.

By Jenora Feuer (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

I have the feeling from recent events, and Brian Deer's last post that AJWs days as anti-vax avatar are just about over. He really pulled he rug out from under Hooker, and I can't imagine anyone trying to propagate a plausible-seeming vaccine-autism link will be foolish enough to go near AJW again. As BD notes, there are plenty of other vaccine-autism theories out there, and conspiracy theorists don't need any kind of intellectual consistency.

They can easily denounce AJW as being part of the conspiracy for his own profit and move on to another prophet. After all, AJW didn't get involved until there were already enough parents into vaccine mythology that they'd hired the shyster who arranged the kickback scheme for Andy.

BD wrote above:

So Wakefield got control, and the hopes of 1,600 British families and then 6,000 American families were raised and then dashed in litigation that could only ever have failed. Many of these are the angry, bitter voices that you see on blogs, who don’t know whose been hurting them.

I just don't see how Wakefield has hurt these people. I think they've been hurting each other by mutual reinforcement. Hopes for the litigation they initiated were going to be dashed AJW or no, as vaccines do not cause autism, yes? They BELIEVED, and went looking for someone to back up their belief with some pseudoscience. If AJW was the only "Dr." in Britain with any kind of theory at the time, is that still the case? Obviously, here we have/had Brian Hooker, whose CDC "re-analysis" doesn't depend on AJW's gut-problem theory.

Denise: Since you watch these things, do you see any candidates for an AJW replacement and/or a gut-theory replacement waiting in the wings? More importantly, do you gauge these folks even need a plausible theory to go on? Isn't the origin story supplied by the template enough: "My son got his shots and then I saw the life go out of his eyes!" Isn't the rest just frosting on the cake of an absolute need to have some specific conspiratorial evil to blame for the 'destruction' of their should-have-been-perfect kids? A need that will be answered one way or another, by hook or by crook?

Prostitution is legal in some counties in Nevada, but employment in that profession has been used as grounds to deny a green card or US citizenship.

That's not actually filed under moral turpitude, though.

@ sadmar:

Let me think about that for a while.
I also have to go to buy food which can be an intellectual burden as well.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

Andy Wakefield's favorite investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson has scrubbed her blog clean of any and all comments that question her authority about vaccines and epidemiology.

She's now an expert on Enterovirus D-68 and she weighed in with this gem:

http://sharylattkisson.com/cdc-polio-like-enterovirus-spreads-linked-to…

"The U.S. death toll from the mysterious Enterovirus D-68 continues to rise.

The latest CDC update on the current outbreak of the polio-like Enterovirus D-68 states that it has now been detected “in specimens from eight patients who died and had samples submitted for testing.” That’s one more death than was disclosed in last week’s update. The CDC account does not provide any information as to where the patient died and does not disclose his/her name, age or other details."

Um, Sharyl. Where were you when journalistic integrity courses were being taught and why do you believe that the CDC would violate patient confidentiality laws and regulations, to satisfy your need to report "the truth" to your readership.

Scroll down to see the comment that Sharyl hasn't scrubbed from her website:

"drjohn
October 23, 2014 at 9:57 pm #

Enterobama virus kills"

Is it any wonder then, why CBS booted her out the door?

I just don’t see how Wakefield has hurt these people. I think they’ve been hurting each other by mutual reinforcement. Hopes for the litigation they initiated were going to be dashed AJW or no, as vaccines do not cause autism, yes? They BELIEVED, and went looking for someone to back up their belief with some pseudoscience.

Christ on a cracker. Wakefield used his title and position at Royal Free to not only validate the GSK lawsuit parent's belief but crafted the mechanism and precise vaccine component responsible and convinced them that he could treat and cure their children. He convinced them they were right rather than use his position responsibly. That is just the start of how Wakefield hurt these people. It's a really stupid argument to claim that, "well, they were already hurting themselves." Sheesh.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

Science Mom:
" Wakefield convinced them that he could treat and cure their children."
Yes, I see that is hurt. And it's disgusting. Thank you for the correction. I meant no apology for the scumbag to begin with, but if he did that he surely made things worse, added injury on top of injury, and is thoroughly inexcusable for that.

However, it's 'really stupid' to just call an argument "really stupid." Even if you can refute its points, which you have not, you might might better refer to it as "mistaken" or "inaccurate" reflecting a more rational, science-like engagement with the question.

"He convinced them they were right rather than use his position responsibly."
I shall ask you for evidence that they were not entirely convinced of their rectitude before he showed up, and that responsible use of his position would in any way have changed their mind.

I would assume a number of other physicians in Britain had opined that no link could be drawn between MMR and ASD. Had AJW added his voice to that chorus, I doubt it would have meant much. Perhaps one could argue that having been approached by the attorney to engage in what he knew to be fraud, Wakefield should have reported the scheme to the authorities, participated in a 'sting' operation that would have put the attorney in jail and scuttled the lawsuit, and this would somehow have helped the families. That would strike me as quite a reach...

But my argument is that Wakefield is secondary. My claim was the parents were "hurting each other by mutual reinforcement" of vaccine mythology. If anyone cares to build an argument to the contrary, please present it. I shall even offer two tips to anyone so inclined: 1) anticipate the counter-argument; ask yourself what evidence and lines of reasoning will likely be employed to support the opposite case and rebut your position; 2) assume the party you seek to engage has a handy checklist of logical fallacies and false argumentation at hand, and prepare your case accordingly.

I wonder, with all these cases, is there some sort of vexatious litigant status that can be conferred on some of these folks to prevent them for wasting the court's time? It would seem like this is eating up a lot of court resources.

sadmar :
"But my argument is that Wakefield is secondary. My claim was the parents were “hurting each other by mutual reinforcement” of vaccine mythology. If anyone cares to build an argument to the contrary, please present it. I shall even offer two tips to anyone so inclined: 1) anticipate the counter-argument; ask yourself what evidence and lines of reasoning will likely be employed to support the opposite case and rebut your position; 2) assume the party you seek to engage has a handy checklist of logical fallacies and false argumentation at hand, and prepare your case accordingly."

Science Mom can speak for herself, but I find your comment insulting.

How about we do it this way : 1 - You show that the parents were “hurting each other by mutual reinforcement” and that AJW had no significant impact on their hurt (quality and quantity). 2 - We will attempt to refute your demonstration if we find flaws in it.

And remember, we are looking for evidence!

EBA

By Edouard Brière… (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

kruuth: It's not an actual court case, so no.

By justthestats (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

Sadmar: I'm afraid you're not getting it. The lawyers and the parents and the journalists and the public BELIEVED Wakefield when he said he had found evidence that MMR caused inflammatory bowel disease.

He basically pulled that out of his ass after sending a series of blackmail letters to the UK department of health, generally along the lines of: "I have no evidence that measles virus in MMR causes bowel disease, but I might publish to that effect; you must give me money".

Then, after making good on his threat, a lawyer approached him and they did a deal: the lawyer wanted to show MMR caused brain damage; Wakefield wanted to show it caused Crohn's disease.

So Wakefield (after failing to find Crohn's once he'd got into the small bowels of a bunch of autistic kids, some of whose mothers would have let him cut their arms off if they thought it might help) made up a story about how it caused a new kind of bowel disease that went on to cause brain damage, and then concocted clinical and pathological data in the 1998 paper, to try to show it.

He is a very plausible individual, and he convinced very senior lawyers that he could prove this. In the end, £26.2 million of British taxpayers' money was thrown at this, all of which was pocketed by a ragbag bunch of so-called experts (the drug industry had bought up everyone with any real credibibility) and lawyers.

Parents - who had been led to believe they could get up to £3 million each - got nothing.

It was all bullshit, all various kinds of fraud. Not one bent cent of reputable work in the whole thing.

The vaccine court re-run in the US was pretty much along the same track.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

Wouldn't the fact that Wakefield falsified the dates when autism was first noted, necessarily imply that the paents themselves, at that point, hadn't decided that the MMR had caused the autism, and therefore that he convinced them that it did?

@ sadmar:

Well**, I don't see anyone filling Andy's shoes YET -more on that later.

These advocacy groups sponsor conferences where there's beaucoup de woo : AJW appeared at both Autism One's event in May and the new Autism Educational Conference ( last weekend- see websites for lists of speakers). The TMs offer e-conferences ( see the TMR website for speakers) on Energetic Healing/ GMOs, Organics and Food Allergies/ Homeopathy. Take a peek at their offerings.

As you can see, the GI hypothesis is alive, well and producing crap as would be expected: these folk spin folktales about physiology wherein the connection betwixt the brain and the digestive system resemble a Rube Goldbergian machine and not at all like anything I studied in neurophysiology. MInd- boggling!

Because of this angle, food becomes an important concern for both 'damage' and repair- thus,many presentations orthorectically focus on diet, bizarre meals and handfuls of supplements for children who have ASDs.

Now getting back to Andy:
he holds a distinguished position for anti-vaxxers as Scientific Revolutionary, Blessed Martyr and Celebrity Hottie- all rolled into one. Women fans seem to love him although I can't see why- he's not really good-looking, he's too slick and he seems more concerned about his own appearance ( how he looks personally as well as his lifestyle) than anything or anyone else.

He functions as a figurehead for the movement as well as a role model for the many doctors, woo-meisters, parents and advocates who would ascend to his level. Although WE may view him as an arrogant, corrupt, awful charlatan- his loyalists see him as the answer to their problems.

** how can I follow BD?

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

Smart lady, Denice. No one can follow Brian Deer, when it comes to the history of Wakefield's anti-vaccine movement in the U.K....and no one can follow the many science bloggers (Orac, Dr. G and his colleagues at SBM, Matt Carey, Science Mom/Catherina, Ken Reibel and so many others) who've researched and accurately reported Wakefield's leadership of the anti-vaccine movement in the United States.

Kudos to all the RI Regulars who have posted tens of thousands of comments on science blogs and on mainstream media blogs, as a counterbalance to Wakefield's groupies' and troll's comments.

@ lilady:

What I DO see happening over the past few years is that the line between autism woo and generalised woo is becoming more and more indistinct:
the TMs and AoA / Canaries/etc talk about chronic illness as well as ASDs so perhaps they'll be able to reel in a few concerned parents of kids with asthma or even adults with allergies and arthritis ( and that's only the conditions beginning with A); they also discuss issues concerning the parents' health ( esp TMR/ MacNeil) and address worries about the purity of foods ( and of essence, I suppose).

On the other side, astute woo-meisters like Null and Adams and Health Freedom Fighters like Bolen et cie attempt to draw in autism parents to more generalised woo for both children and adults which is a lucrative business.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

I think you've hit upon what the anti-vaxxers and scammers are doing. They definitely have blurred the lines in order to appeal to a wider audience. Add some key phrases ("health freedom") and a generous helping of "Big Pharma/Farma" conspiracies...and they have positioned themselves appropriately for assorted cranks.

The Canary Party has all sorts of other-than-vaccines topics on its website such as Count Stan's cancer treatments, anti-GMO articles, environmental toxins and such. As if....Ginger, Mark, Jennifer and the other Canaries give a damn about these non-vaccine issues. With them it is the vaccines and the vaccines and the vaccines.

Meanwhile, at Jake's blog the weird comments are getting truly bizarre.

Jake provides this link to "Jim Moody's" involvement with Wakefield going back to his BMC Fitness-To-Practice Hearing. Many of the key players, including the parents of the children in Wakefield's study, who declared their undying love and devotion to Andy then and now, (but who never testified on his behalf at the GMC Hearing), are mentioned. There are comments posted on AoA from those parents.

When I've confronted those same non-testifying parents and John D. Stone on blogs to ask them why they didn't testify on behalf of Wakefield...I never get a reply. I wonder why?

http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/05/read-complaint-filing-and-parent-let…

Lilady: such is the endless irony of all this that the letter Jake links to is itself fraudulent. Not only in its false claims that the parents were not able to participate - each of them was approached by the GMC's lawyers and asked for their assistance - but also in the list of signatories.

The stench from everything touched by the mothers Thomas and Kessick in their involvement with Wakefield ought to overpower right-thinking people.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 24 Oct 2014 #permalink

There's no need to be a lawyer here or in the U.K. to know that to offer up false testimony during an administrative hearing about the sequence of events leading up to the childrens' bowel scopings and L.P.s, which is fabricated, leaves the witnesses open to charges of perjury.

Yes indeed, those are my show stopper questions which I pose to the mums and to Mr. Stone on science blogs...and which go unanswered.

Finally, after years of misleading other parents who still hold to the now thoroughly debunked belief that their childrens' autism was caused by leaky bowels which spilled measles vaccines strains into their bloodstream past the the blood brain barrier...and without mentioning that the lawyer Richard Barr, allowed Wakefield and his cronies to loot millions of Pounds Sterling, the bottom-feeding lawyer Richard Barr may be getting his long delayed comeuppance:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/26/mmr-autism-lawyers-sued-…

Thompson – faced with either presenting false data or taking responsibility for the vaccine-autism link in front of potentially hostile parents of autistic children25 – stopped sleeping, and became profoundly depressed and “delusional.” Crucially, he reports no prior history of mental disorder.

Dr. Thompson went on to confirm, to Dr. Hooker, that the DeStefano 2004 paper was the reason for these acute psychological problems.

Dr. Thompson: It is one of the reasons I became delusional because I was so paranoid about this being published.

Sounds like Bipolar,

Sorry for the blockquote fail.

I meant:

Thompson – faced with either presenting false data or taking responsibility for the vaccine-autism link in front of potentially hostile parents of autistic children25 – stopped sleeping, and became profoundly depressed and “delusional.” Crucially, he reports no prior history of mental disorder.

Dr. Thompson went on to confirm, to Dr. Hooker, that the DeStefano 2004 paper was the reason for these acute psychological problems.

Dr. Thompson: It is one of the reasons I became delusional because I was so paranoid about this being published.

Sounds like Bipolar,

@ ann:

You know, 'delusion' and 'paranois' could also be hyperbole and excuses for wanting out of a presentation and now, for his participation in the so-called cover-up and then, 'confessing' to Hooker.
.
Symptoms like paranoia and delusions are usually associated with SMI which is much less prevalent than other garden variety disorders. Also SMI generally shows up at an earlier age than Thompson was and is.

But obviously I can't diagnose anyone.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

@ lilady:

There's another phenomena I left out:
parents who seek to make a business of their martyrdom-
they start advocacy groups and create blogs, write books or lecture AND advise other parents. I'm sure you know the names as well as I do.

Freud wrote about *secondary gain* or 'advantage through illness' when someone utilises a problem for self- advancement, special privilege and gain of all sorts.
Parents trumpet their status as devoted carer and saintly, tireless advocate to perhaps make up for their 'loss', i.e. an 'imperfect child' ( in their own eyes) and unexpected additional personal involvement in care. It also boosts their wounded self-esteem and relieves their sense of isolation by providing a group for socialising ( and bad group therapy).

Quite a few have written books and try to serve as media voices as well as mentor younger parents. Others hawk food products or woo-ful treatments as we know only too well. AoA and TMR both now list themselves as 'charities' ofr which devotees may proselytise and solicit funds. Several actively harangue governmental officials or stir up twitter storms and most likely fritter away their lives on facebook. They might even assist in the production of films.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

I understood the description of Thompson becoming "delusional" to mean that he accepted the CDC reality tunnel instead of the one antivaxxers consider to be reality.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

We could pick apart Thompson's story for days on end. Delusional? I don't think so, because you cannot hide that while you are employed...unless, of course, he was on medical leave.

Then we have the curious case of Thinking Mom/Autism One interviewer "Tex". Try to avoid concentrating on her odd and inappropriate mannerisms during this and other interviews:

http://thinkingmomsrevolution.com/thinking-out-loud-anesthesia-and-auti…

Tex is a co-author of the TMR book and Tex, IMO, has some business interests in the quack products hawked at the A-1 Conference...but I digress.

Here, Tex informs us that her child's autism was not caused by vaccines; it was the anesthesia given to her child during a surgical procedure. She fits right in with the rest of the Thinking Moms whose children's autism is not caused by vaccines.

All the Thinking Moms and the AoA critters who blog and post comments achieve secondary gains within their online communities. Those fixations on their children and the roles they assume as martyrs do not serve them well, in the offline communities where they live. In the real world, people sense that you have some deep emotional problems and they avoid you.

@ Deince Walter #72

The views they express are almost like that of the Puritans, with "toxins" being swapped in for "sin".

To them, saying that autism is a genetic condition is blaming them for their child's autism. To them, The Medical Establishment (praise Glaxxon, Profits be Upon Him) is telling them little Sophie/Ava/Mason/Jacob is autistic because of your toxic genes- and because they're Bad Mothers.

To them, is is all the stereotypes of bad medical conduct throughout the ages being perpetrated on them. It's the early 1900s psychoanalyst telling a mother that her child is a criminal because she has a toxic womb, and only had a child as an act of revenge against her own mother. It's a 1950s social worker telling a mother that her child is a juvenile delinquent because you coddled him too much as a child, were too lenient in your discipline, and hugged him too much. It's the early 1990s child therapist telling a mother that her child is acting out because you were too cold towards her as a child, were too strict in your discipline and didn't hug her enough.

The mothering forums provide a welcome security blanket. After all, they are Moms (TM) and who knows a child better than their Mom? Certainly not some doctor! Also, it's the 2010s, who needs a fancy pants degree when you can just Google it! Everyone is an expert!

Just World Fallacy is also strongly present:

Only bad people do bad things, and they deserve whatever punishments they get. People who live a healthy lifestyle and eat only organic, non-gmo, overpric- uh, whole-istic foods can]t get sick, therefore something or someone else must be causing it. Besides, only Bad Mothers have sick children or Bad Children.

Good Mothers deserve perfect children. Obviously, the Good Children are being stolen and swapped with changelings, but a Good Mother can get the Pure, Good Child back if she tries hard enough. It doesn't matter what the brute, unfeeling changeling is put through to achieve this end (look at some of the comments about "screaming, diapered autistics" that some wonderful people have left) as long as the Good Mother is reunited with her Good Child.

The claws come out too:

Bad Mothers are poor mothers who give their children store brand bread and Kraft peanut butter when it's on sale. I'm a Good Mother that spends more per week on a family of three then they do in a month for a family of five. I spent as much on my baby's stroller as they did on a used car.

Bad Mothers are working mothers. I am a Good Mother that spends every waking moment I can with my child, and I micromang- uh, am involved in all aspects of their life.

Bad Mothers give their kids formula and use disposable diapers. I am A Good Mother that breastfeeds, wears my baby, uses cloth diapers...

Bad Mothers trust Outsiders (doctors, teachers, etc) with their children. I am A Good Mother who knows what's best for my family.

They strive to display all the signs of purity, as surely no Pure Person could have an imperfect child.

This isn't to blame all mothers, or to say that it's a mentality that only afflicts women - just look at Mike Adams, the Health Danger. Ultimately, it's the children that suffer.

i'm also a long time lurker, recent commentator. My younger brother is autistic (diagnosed as Asperger's), and the things I have seen from organizations like AoA are absolutely disgusting.

[Wakefield]really pulled the rug out from under Hooker
...who pulled the rug out from under Thompson... who pulled the rug out from under his co-authors.

To slightly misquote the Goons, this is one of those tricks which should only be performed on radio, by experienced idiots.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

Horatio, well done and right on point. Thanks.

@Edouard:

How about we do it this way : 1 – You show that the parents were “hurting each other by mutual reinforcement” and that AJW had no significant impact on their hurt (quality and quantity). 2 – We will attempt to refute your demonstration if we find flaws in it.

There's little need, as it's self-refuting: "My claim was the parents were 'hurting each other by mutual reinforcement' of vaccine mythology."

The MMR mythology – if the word is to have any meaning at all – didn't exist prior to Wakefraud's introducing the character into the μῦθος that had previously only had DPT pacing around on stage.

@ Horatio:

Welcome aboard: Draconis will be so pleased with you.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

As the discussion gets fragmented across different threads, let me back up a bit. I'm trying to think through what I have come to see as two different issues: 1) combating the anti-immuno movement's effects on rising incidents of VPD, 2) how to understand the devaluation and mistreatment (minor to murder) of ASD children by their parents, and what might be done to help those kids. The primary connection between the two that interests me is this: By highlighting the pathology of the 'Big Pharma broke my child' crowd, the broad anti-immuno discourse can be discredited, resulting in fewer immunization refusals — the premise being that the vast majority of parents who decline immunization are not True Believers, but 'regular folks' who have caught wind of the scare from a distance and are worried just enough to not make the appointment for their children to get their shots.

In terms of #2, I was discussing the role of "ideologies of parenting" in this, and I think Horatio's comments are spot on in illuminating how the pathological extremes are rooted in and supported by more common ideas that go back at least to Puritanism.

If there's any truth to what Horatio is saying, the problem with #2 to begin with goes deeper than Andrew Wakefield And whatever role Wakefield played in focusing that pathology on MMR, that's where it is now. I'm just asking what's the better rhetorical strategy against the 'two-step-flow' influence of AoA and TM in the wider community: to focus on a now discredited con-man, or to focus on the monstrous underbelly beneath all that surface concern?

Two areas where this seems to get mucked up in the discussion: 1) conflation of 'parents with ASD children' and 'parents with disturbing ideas about their ASD children', 2) while a condemnation of the Bad Ideas (or sick minds) of AoA etc. parents may be in order to reduce their influence on immunization rates, it does nothing to help their children.

In order to help the kids, we either need to get them away from their parents (problematic and unlikely), or try to keep parents from going down the dark path. After-the-fact punishment is not going to help. To 'head 'em off at the pass' we need to understand what's going on in their heads, that we might begin to think about effective ways to push them in a different direction, which means considering explanations for their thoughts, feelings, and actions, which are just that — explanations and not excuses.

BD
Can you help me out on the chronology?
• How/why/when did AJW get onto MMR in the first place? Normally con-men try to exploit existing worries, but they do also drum up new ones.
• When did AJW begin sending blackmail letters to the health department? It seems that would be after he did his 'research' but before he submitted to Lancet, yes? What, if anything, led him to think they would be concerned enough to grease his palm?
• When did Barr begin to sign up clients and pursue his case against the pharmaceutical companies? When/where/how did the parents who gave Barr the idea that a suit should be brought against MMR get the idea that MMR had harmed their children in the first place?

EBA
I don't grasp what you find insulting about my comment.

Sadmar: Wakefield got interested in MMR when he read in a newspaper that the British government had directed the withdrawal of two brands of the vaccine on grounds that the mumps component was (crudely) running a bit hot and causing a higher than acceptable level of viral meningitis.

This was in 1992. Within about a week (it might be 8 or 10 days), he started sending what became a series of letters in which he asked for money and said that, while he had no evidence of this and had done no research on it, he might well start finding that the measles component caused (his interest) Crohn's disease. And the government wouldn't want that in the media, now would they?

The department of health - which did not give direct grants to medical researchers - regarded his approach as a shake-down.

Simultaneously, a low-calibre provincial lawyer, who had some published expertise in house conveyancing, saw the same newspaper report.

By Brian Deer (not verified) on 25 Oct 2014 #permalink

BD #81
Thanks! That's helpful. AJW does seem to be 'patient 0' of an epidemic of crapola.

Its fascinating to study how these cultures come together and grow, what seeds they crystallize around...

So, Wakefield saw an opening to coerce the health department into funding on some positive pretext, thinly disguising a threat, is that it? He was trying to get paid as a researcher for worthless research by implying he could do PR damaging research if he wasn't otherwise occupied, or something?

Sorry to be asking you so many specific questions. I'll stop.

Is there any source with a blow-by-blow narrative account of this sorry story with all the relevant details? I mean, going back even before 1992 to look at how both normal folks and cranks viewed vaccines, the history proceeding up to the 1992 story of the bad batch, the formation of JABS, and so on? I've looked at a lot of stuff on briandeer.com. There's a timeline in the BMJ series, but it doesn't have narrative detail. And the news stories focus, as they should, on the news topics in journalistic form.

I still think the mindset of warrior moms is a social problem that precedes AJW and ought to be looked at on its own. However I do seem to have missed how central AJW was in turning what could have been fuzzy discontent into a focus on MMR.

(The location field is a pop culture reference to "Eating. Humble Pie")

Sadmar: "Two areas where this seems to get mucked up in the discussion: 1) conflation of ‘parents with ASD children’ and ‘parents with disturbing ideas about their ASD children’, 2) while a condemnation of the Bad Ideas (or sick minds) of AoA etc. parents may be in order to reduce their influence on immunization rates, it does nothing to help their children.:"

A trap I fell into earlier in the week. It's unfortunate that 'parents with disturbing ideas about their autistic children' is the dominant group in the media and on the net.

Horatio: Agreed, though I'm surprised you didn't get as castigated as I did. Oh well, welcome to RI. I really loathe the perfectionist parents, since it's not just autistic children they feel the need to fix. It's children with ADD, asthma, depression or even kids who just read under the covers at night.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 27 Oct 2014 #permalink

@ PGP:

It's not just children but adults who don't fit the prescribed template...
need I remind you of their rants against childless people!
and SB people. Sceptics, Professionals. Sarcastic people.

And a few of the culprits comment right here!
Take a bow, brothers and sisters!
We bad.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 27 Oct 2014 #permalink

DW: I haven't actually seen any rants about the general population of childless people (unless it's the usual 'those selfish slobs are judging me' that hardcore parents indulge in.) If a specific attack exists- linkie?
Specific childless people. though, that I've seen. Science based- well, none of them can afford to admit that science and genes exist, so I'm not surprised.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 27 Oct 2014 #permalink

@ PGP:

Actually, it involved specific individuals ( who shall remain nameless) and interspersed commentary ( including an allusion to yours truly) that I've observed over the past few years. Similarly, I've seen a few Bolen-esque references to sceptics.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 28 Oct 2014 #permalink

@sadmar
Hopefully, what I found insulting in your comment should be clearer following your exchange with BD, but just to make sure:

You made a hypothesis (“the parents were ‘hurting each other by mutual reinforcement’ of vaccine mythology.”) without knowing the facts (evidenced by your later questions to BD) or presenting any evidence. When someone disagreed with you, you proceeded to lecture her on she should present evidence for her hypothesis (“If anyone cares to build an argument to the contrary, please present it. I shall even offer two tips to anyone so inclined: 1) anticipate the counter-argument; ask yourself what evidence and lines of reasoning will likely be employed to support the opposite case and rebut your position; 2) assume the party you seek to engage has a handy checklist of logical fallacies and false argumentation at hand, and prepare your case accordingly.”)

You made other valid points in your other posts (e.g. the problems with some of these parents do not end with anti-vaccine quackery, and that should be addressed too), but I thought the condescension you showed in that comment deserved to be addressed.

Edouard Brière-Allard

I don't frequent these parts too often anymore due to my impending thesis defense, but Orac, you should really consider writing about this excellent new paper:
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3129.html
It would be great to see a reasoned, science-based discussion surrounding the prevention of actual vaccine-induced events.

All posts by SAME old vax profiteers:
WHY DON'T THE NAMES EVER CHANGE?
"Everyone yawns...."

This is much more interesting.....
"West Africa: Progress Towards Ebola Vaccine Would Have Been Faster Had Bioterrorism Research Been Completed"
By Sam Jones and Sarah Boseley

"Global vaccine alliance chief Dr Seth Berkley says waning fear of biological attack slowed Ebola work started a decade ago

Progress towards a potential Ebola vaccine would have been faster if the international community had followed through on work begun 10 years ago when western countries were worried about terrorists using Ebola as a potential biological weapon, according to the head of the global vaccine alliance.

The claim, from Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, came as the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said that a vaccine to fight the west African Ebola outbreak will come "too late for this epidemic" and may not be ready in sufficient quantities until 2016. On Thursday, Professor Peter Piot, one of the scientists who discovered the virus, warned the outbreak may not end until the world has a vaccine against the disease.

However, Berkley said that - had work that was begun a decade ago been seen through - it may well have laid the groundwork for a vaccine by now.

"We have had an effort to try to make a vaccine for Ebola going on now for about 10 years," he said.

"The two [vaccine] candidates that people are talking about now started 10 years ago. But they weren't started because of the problem in Africa, they were started because of a worry from wealthy countries about bioterrorism: that's where the money came from and that's where it went ... The west's interest in and fear of biological warfare has not sustained and has changed."

Berkley said that the efforts had run out of steam because "Ebola is a sporadic disease in very poor countries", making it an unattractive market for big drug companies.

Despite GSK's downbeat forecast, experts believe that the vaccination of frontline healthcare professionals working in west Africa, which could happen as early as January, may help the fight against Ebola.

Professor Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University's Jenner Institute and lead investigator in the vaccine's UK safety trial, said: "If the vaccine does provide protection against Ebola, vaccinating doctors and nurses could be very useful. It would offer them some protection - a group at very high risk - and help break the chain of transmission, which might well help end the outbreak."

GSK is already manufacturing 10,000 doses of the vaccine, which is unprecedented ahead of any trial results. If it proves effective, which it has done in animals, there will be an urgent need to use it.

"It has always been understood that an Ebola vaccine for use across the general population would not be available for some time, but thousands of doses of the vaccine will be available early next year if current trials continue to progress well," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust.

"That is critical: it would mean that high risk groups, especially healthcare workers, could be vaccinated within months, with a real impact on the epidemic. We also do not know how long this epidemic will last: a population-level vaccine available in 2016 could yet make an important contribution."

Berkley said the world had repeatedly failed to learn the lessons of previous epidemic outbreaks such as Sars and bird flu, and urged the international community to ensure that funding and research for such emergencies was continuously maintained.

"From a global perspective, the one thing I can promise you is that, given evolution, given the use of antibiotics, we will have epidemics of disease and antimicrobial resistance," he said. "So the question is how do we keep a level of vigilance and work both on the ability to respond quickly when these things happen, but also, how do we make sure that we have mechanisms to create vaccines, drugs and interventions that make sense for this in an accelerated fashion?"

The current outbreak, he said, provided an opportunity to plan for the future and get serious about infectious diseases.

"We need to think about how we accelerate products and make sure we're trying to create them," Berkley said…"

"Gavi, a public-private partnership that estimates it has immunised almost half a billion children and prevented six million deaths since its foundation in 2000, is now considering what role it can play in bringing forward a viable vaccine as quickly as possible.

As the alliance does not conduct research and development, one of the options would be using Gavi's money to guarantee a market for an Ebola vaccine, thereby freeing up private pharmaceutical firms to conduct accelerated trials. Gavi's board is due to consider its response in the first week of December."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201410231697.html
I AM SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE THE EBOLA VACCINE, YES?
LOL!

Peter Hubbard: Ebola vaccine "lab rat" BUSTED!

He’s not a lab rat, just a CDC (CIA) RAT!

Here’s his bio:

Fuels Analyst Consultant
Pace Global Energy Services LLC, a Siemens Business

Pace Global Energy Services LLC
4401 Fair Lakes Court
Fairfax, Virginia 22033
United States
Company Description: Pace provides an objective and independent view of fuel commodity prices and delivered fuel costs based on a detailed, fundamental approach. Pace combines our…

Background
Employment History
Project Analyst, Contractor
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Project Analyst, Middle East, North Africa and Europe
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Mission Director
U.S. Agency for International Development

Mission Director of USAID, ...
www.guyanachronicle.com, 21 April 2008 [cached]
Mission Director of USAID, Mr. Peter Hubbard, explained that the workshop is designed to facilitate the enhancement of quality news gathering and production to promote excellence in journalism.
Among the gathering were Minister of ...
www.guyanachronicle.com, 10 Nov 2007 [cached]
Among the gathering were Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand, Chief of CDC, Dr. la Mar Hasbrok, Director of USAID, Mr. Peter Hubbard, Officers, non-commissioned officers (NCOs) other ranks of the GDF.
The presentations by Mr. Peter ...
www.guyanachronicle.com, 7 Nov 2007 [cached]
The presentations by Mr. Peter Hubbard, USAID Mission Director in Guyana and Mr. Carl Larkins, Chief of Party of the Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) project were not only informative, but served as testimony to the potential of Guyana's agriculture sector.
Ambassador Mr. David Robinson; USAID ...
www.guyanachronicle.com, 27 Oct 2007 [cached]
Ambassador Mr. David Robinson; USAID Mission Director Mr. Peter Hubbard; New Guyana Marketing Corporation General Manager, Nizam Hassan; and several representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) project.
Industry News | TelStaff - Wireless and Mobile Phone Recruitment
www.telstaff.co.uk [cached]
New chief Peter Hubbard to lead major push to grow managed services
http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Peter-Hubbard/1170590411

Here’s NPR’s “feel good” story on the vaccine evangelist……(I’m sure he got the placebo)
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/25/358789957/ebola-vaccine-tester-feels-a-re…

EBOLA EXPOSED

NOTHING NEW. JUST ANOTHER EUGENICS OUTBREAK…….14 years ago.

NEWS RELEASE

Release: No.00-EV/13
Date Mailed: October 19, 2000
For Immediate Release
Contact: Elaine Zacky,208/265-2575; 800/336-9266

AIDS/Ebola Author Defends Embattled African Presidents:
Reports Outbreaks May Be "Man-made" and CIA-linked

"Regarding Ebola, as detailed in Emerging Viruses, the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Frankfort/Main, Germany, (named for the early pioneer of immunology, infectious disease transmission, and drug therapy) was among the first vaccine research and development facilities to received a shipment of contaminated monkeys associated with the first outbreak of the Marburg virus, the mother of Ebola, in 1967. As detailed in my letter to President Mbeki, Litton Bionetics's history and affiliations to the Merck pharmaceutical company, and other US biological weapons contractors that worked for the CIA at that time, is highly unsettling, if not frankly incriminating.

Relatedly, Stanford University's Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the author of The Population Bomb, is considered the grand patriarch of population control and a leading voice for depopulating areas of Africa, while another likely descendant of the immunology pioneer, Dr. S. Paul Ehrlich, Jr., became Surgeon General of the US in 1976,just prior to the first large Ebola outbreak in Zaire and the Sudan, when he was called upon to defend the US Army's open air biological weapons tests on unwitting American civilians and military personnel.

Ebola, you may know, is recognized as among the most ideal biological warfare agents discussed by David Baltimore in Biological and Toxin Weapons Today (Oxford University Press, 1986). Baltimore, currently the President of the California Institute of Technology, is recognized as among the world's leading experts in the field of molecular biology, recombinant virology, and biowarfare. Additional incriminating evidence linking Dr. Baltimore to a 1969 military requisition for AIDS and Ebola-like viruses is also provided in my book. (See pp. 508-509 and 421.)

The Ugandan shipment of contaminated monkeys that arrived in Europe's top vaccine production labs was administered by Litton Bionetics, the Army's sixth top biological weapons developer during the late 1960s.

According to two experts discussing the mysterious Marburg virus outbreak of 1967, Dr. Rudolph Siegert of the Hygiene Institute of the Philipps University in Marburg, and Dr. Seymour Kalter from the Southwest Foundation's primate lab and the National Cancer Institute's leading diagnostician of viruses that were believed to be "emerging" iatrogenically from labs, the Marburg virus was "man-made.”

http://www.lightstreamers.com/Horowitz/PressAIDS.html

FEATURED ARTICLE

Early Hepatitis B Vaccines and the “Man-Made” Origin of HIV/AIDS

by Leonard G. Horowitz, D.M.D., M.A., M.P.H.

"This article regards a matter of global urgency transcending better known AIDS threats. It describes a universal challenge posed by ever increasing numbers of plagues predicted to depopulate at least half of the world’s current human inhabitants within two generations. This documented science virtually proves, through the process of elimination and a review of the most updated evidence, the origin of HIV/AIDS as an iatrogenic (i.e., man-made) outcome of specific vaccination experiments.

Considered reflection on this AIDS science, along with the sociopolitical correlates and antecedents of this current catastrophe, reveals the likelihood that myriad other immune
dysfunctions, autoimmune diseases, and cancers, including leukemias, lymphomas, sarcomas, and other ailments linked to viral infections, have resulted from previously engineered microbes that have by accident or intent found their way from cancer virus laboratories into humanity’s bloodstream by way of the most trusted public health preventative—vaccinations.

If what you are about to read is true, and each point is precisely stated and meticulously documented, beyond extensive depopulation, humanity’s very survival may hinge on this recognition, its implications, and our considered response. Especially relevant, when reflecting on the following facts, is the wisdom addressed by the late World Health Organization (WHO) AIDS czar, Dr. Jonathan Mann, whose life ended tragically on Flight 111 enroute to a European AIDS conference. “More than a medical scientific problem,” Dr. Mann said, “AIDS is a sociopolitical imposition.”"

"In brief, a well documented, theoretically viable, and generally neglected evolutionary route of SIVagm to HIV-1 zoonosis sequentially involves: 1) Polio vaccine recipients worldwide, including gay men in New York, and Blacks in Central Africa, were exposed to simian viruses including SV40, SFR (Simian Foamy Retroviruses containing reverse transcriptase), SIVagm, and perhaps others from the mid-1950s, through at least the 1960s;2,4 2) Between 1965 and 1970, researchers in NYC “isolated” and then inoculated the MS-2 strain of HB virus into the above cited New York and African HB vaccine study “volunteers.”2,30 3) Human derived HB viruses, and potentially activated retroviral sequences, were then transferred to chimpanzees, then back again to humans in NYC and central Africa during the development and testing of four genetically altered subtypes of the pre-1975 experimental HB vaccine.32,33 HIV-1 progenitor contamination, recombination, and/or transmission risks were likely increased during this process by: a) human incubation for more than a decade of polio vaccine contaminants and recombinants including SV40, SFR, and possibly SIVagm; b) the pooling of infected blood serum donated by hundreds of gay American and Black African polio vaccine recipients who had subsequently received injections with chimpanzee cultured strains of HB virus; c) the biohazardous laboratory conditions and viral containment problems reported by the HB vaccine investigators and their affiliates; and finally 5) The four pooled serum-derived HB vaccines that were administered to thousands of test subjects by 1975, primarily gay males in NYC and central African Blacks. This series of events provides the best explanation for an early to mid-1970s “punctuated origin event” most precisely fitting the etiological determinations of the HIV-1/AIDS pandemic.10

Again, it should be noted that the African “volunteers” inhabited a geographic area consistent with the highest rates of HIV-1 seroprevalence. Among the nations where rates are highest, HB studies were conducted in: Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda, Kenya, Swaziland, and the northeastern part of South Africa. According to circumstantial evidence, eastern Zaire bordering the West Nile region of northwest Uganda also hosted such trials.2,25-27

Historic Precedence for the HB Vaccine Hypothesis

There is historic precedence for this precise HB thesis. According to Beale, the risk of HB viruses contaminating human blood serum and subsequent vaccinations was determined as early as 1942. Then, more than 62 deaths and 28,500 cases resulted from serum HB contaminated yellow fever vaccines.31

According to Hilleman, early yellow fever vaccines also delivered leukemic retroviruses to human populations due to caged animal and laboratory contaminations and concomitant vaccine transmissions.13

Dr. Hilleman additionally reinforced this “punctuated origin” thesis by describing the risks he encountered by importing contaminated African sub-human primates for vaccine research and development at the Merck pharmaceutical company. Between the late 1950s through the 1970s, Dr. Hilleman told Harvard medical historian Edward Shorter in 1987, “I brought African greens in. I didn’t know we were importing AIDS virus at the time.”13

Given these statements of fact, it is reasonable to suggest, as stated above, the earliest HB vaccine pilot studies may have activated an endogenous or exogenous HIV-related retroviral gene in one or more of the primates,24 fulfilling the “starburst phylogeny” antecedents advanced by Myers et al.10

During the Royal Society’s symposium on the origin of AIDS, Hooper’s 1950s OPV/AIDS hypothesis was largely rebuked because he failed to establish the use of chimpanzees by the Wistar Institute in the production of the suspected OPV.18 Moreover, this vaccine was not given selectively to New York’s gay male population. Curiously, Merck’s early 1970s hepatitis B vaccine trials that did involve gay men in NYC, and Blacks in central Africa, partially prepared in Litton Bionetics (LB) exported/Merck imported African chimpanzees, ironically went without mention."

http://www.originofaids.com/articles/early.htm

GOT CANCER?
Here’s the since REMOVED CDC webpage describing this vaccine poisoning:

"Frequently Asked Questions about Cancer, Simian Virus 40 (SV40), and Polio Vaccine

SV40 is a virus found in some species of monkey. Soon after its discovery in 1960, SV40 was found in polio vaccine. More than 98 million Americans received one or more doses of polio vaccine during the period (1955–1963) when some of the vaccine was contaminated with SV40. SV40 has been found in certain types of human cancers, but it has not been determined that SV40 causes these cancers. The majority of evidence suggests there is no causal relationship between receipt of SV40-contaminated vaccine and cancer; however, some research results are conflicting and more studies are needed. For more information, see the fact sheet."

"(the FDA only tested vaccines produced as far back as 1972, because there were no existing lots of OPV at FDA that were produced between 1962 and 1972).”

"Who received SV40-contaminated polio vaccine in the U.S.?
More than 98 million Americans received one or more doses of IPV (the injected form of the polio vaccine) during the period (1955–1963) when some of the vaccine was contaminated with SV40. However, not all doses of IPV were contaminated. It has been estimated that 10–30 million of the 98 million people who received a polio shot actually received a vaccine that contained SV40 (Shah and Nathanson, 1976). In addition, about 10,000 volunteers who received an experimental oral polio vaccine (OPV) between 1959–1961 may have been exposed to SV40 (the vaccine was later licensed in 1963, subsequent to SV40 removal from the seed stock). All of the evidence to date indicates that after 1963, all vaccines on the U.S. market were free of SV40.

"Were any other people in the United States possibly exposed to SV40-contaminated vaccines?
Yes. SV40 was a contaminant of respiratory syncytial virus given to a few volunteers in an experimental study of infection with the live virus (Shah and Nathanson, 1976). In addition, SV40 was also found in adenovirus vaccines given to more than 100,000 young men in army camps in the 1950s and 1960s to protect them from respiratory infections (Sherwood et al., 1961)."

"SV40 was linked with mesothelioma after tumors developed in hamsters that were injected with SV40 into the lungs, heart and abdomen (Cicala et al., 1993). Mesotheliomas are rare cancers usually located in the lining of the lungs in humans and are associated with asbestos exposure. SV40 has been found in 47% to 83% of human mesothelioma tumors (Carbone, 1999). In addition, reports have documented an association between SV40 and brain and bone tumors (Jasani, 2001).”
https://web.archive.org/web/20100308102630/http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesa…

I AM SURE THE CASE STUDIES ON RESULTS OF THIS ARE AS ACCURATE AS THE 2004 VACCINE STUDY CO-AUTHORED BY FRAUD WHISTLE BLOWERE DR. THOMPSON!

MUST SEE! MERCK’S HILLEMAN (DEVELOPER OF THE AUTISM CAUSING MMR VACCINE) SPILLS THE BEANS! THIS IS PROPHETIC OF BIOWARFARE EBOLA!
Uploaded on Apr 18, 2011
In this interview Dr. Maurice Hilleman reveals some astounding revelations. He admits that Merck drug company vaccines (Polio) had been deliberately contaminated with SV40, a cancer-causing monkey virus from 1953 - 63.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13QiSV_lrDQ

Wellcome Ebola...we've been waiting for you!

"The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is proud to be the professional home for scientists, clinicians and program professionals who lead the fight against infectious disease – in the lab and on the ground. Amidst this rapidly evolving global public health situation, ASTMH will host its 63rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans November 2-6. The world’s leading scientists on tropical medicine and global health will gather to share the latest findings on malaria, dengue, cholera, as well as Ebola and many other diseases that impact our world.

The nature of our community’s work coupled with the timing of the meeting has raised concern among health and government officials in our host city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The Society has been contacted by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) regarding their plans to implement a travel advisory that affects our upcoming conference.

Each state within the U.S. has legal rights and responsibilities to set its own public health policy to meet perceived local public health needs and concerns. While the state of Louisiana’s policies are outside of the scientific understanding of Ebola transmission—and acknowledged by the state health officials’ own admission—we recognize that the state has determined its policy in this matter. ASTMH does not agree with the policy as outlined by the Louisiana DHH. "

http://astmh.org//Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/IntheNews/EbolaSt…

Novavax sees 'several billion-dollar global opportunity' as it plans Ebola vaccine clinical trial by year-end
Oct 30, 2014, 2:42pm EDT
"That's what CFO Barclay "Buck" Phillipstold me this week after the Gaithersburg-based company announced it planned to begin Phase 1 clinical trials by December. Novavax announced this week at the 8th Vaccine and ISV Conference in Philadelphia that it's the only company targeting the NEWEST STRAIN of the virus which emerged in Guinea this year and has killed thousands in West Africa.
"Clearly this is a pathogen we need to address," said Phillips.
The Ebola vaccine, he added, is potentially a “SEVERAL BILLION DOLLAR global opportunity."
Multiple vaccines and treatments for Ebola are under development around the region. Rockville-based biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions Inc. could begin manufacturing its experimental Ebola drug, ZMapp, at its Baltimore facility. The feds recently gave $14.4 million to Baltimore's Profectus BioSciences Inc. for work on an Ebola vaccine. And earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health announced it was beginning human trials for an Ebola vaccine.
Phillips told me Novavax is using a DIFFERENT STRATEGY because it can make a gene sequence of the protein that surrounds a virus and build the vaccine to trigger an immune system response completely based on that protein. Other companies still rely on using a virus of some sort to trigger that response, he said.
Novavax also found its ADJUVANT TECHNOLOGY, or the substance it created to enhance immune system responses to its vaccines, worked well with the vaccine candidate, Phillips said.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2014/10/novavax-sees-several…

Africa: Human Trials of Ebola Vaccines By Year's End
The World Health Organization has announced that TWO potential Ebola vaccines will be ready for human trials by DECEMBER. Successful trials could lead to HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of available doses in 2015.

Extensive trials of two newly developed Ebola vaccines could begin before the end of the year, a World Health Organization (WHO) official told reporters on Friday.

"All is being put in place to start efficacy tests in the affected countries as early as December," said Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director general for health systems and innovation.

The announcement came after the UN health agency held PRIVATE talks with officials from the three most affected nations - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - as well as health experts, PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVES and funding agencies. The two most advanced EXPERIMENTAL drugs, one of which is produced by GLAXOSMITHKLINE, will go to human trials FIRST, with five other vaccines scheduled to begin testing in March.

However GSK's Chief Executive, Andrew Witty, cautioned on Thursday that companies needed some sort of PROTECTION FROM GOVERNMENTS, considering the normally YEARS-long procedure for SAFETY testing must be reduced to MONTHS.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will participate in the testing. If all goes well, hundreds of thousands of doses could be rolled out by mid-2015.

Kieny warned NOT to expect miracles, saying "vaccines are not a magic bullet, but when ready they MAY be a good part of the effort to turn the tide against the epidemic."

Concerns over the COST of combating the virus were also addressed in the closed-door discussions hosted by WHO. Drug makers assured the UN health agency that vaccines will be kept affordable.

This news coincided with the EU pledging a further 600 million euros (720 million dollars) to the fight against Ebola. Just last week, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized the West for not doing more, and only vowing to fight the virus after it had reached the US and Europe.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201410271499.html

LOOKING FOR NEW BUSINESS:
The drug and vaccine landscape for neglected diseases (2000—11): a systematic assessment

(INCLUDES EBOLA)
"Background
In 1975—99, only 1·1% of new therapeutic products had been developed for neglected diseases. Since then, several public and private initiatives have attempted to mitigate this imbalance. We analysed the research and development pipeline of drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases from 2000 to 2011.
Methods
We searched databases of drug regulatory authorities, WHO, and clinical trial registries for entries made between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2011. We defined neglected diseases as malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs; WHO definition), and other diseases of poverty according to common definitions.
Findings
Of the 850 new therapeutic products registered in 2000—11, 37 (4%) were indicated for neglected diseases, comprising 25 products with a new indication or formulation and eight vaccines or biological products. Only four new chemical entities were approved for neglected diseases (three for malaria, one for diarrhoeal disease), accounting for 1% of the 336 new chemical entities approved during the study period. Of 148 445 clinical trials registered in Dec 31, 2011, only 2016 (1%) were for neglected diseases.
Interpretation
Our findings show a persistent insufficiency in drug and vaccine development for neglected diseases. Nevertheless, these and other data show a slight improvement during the past 12 years in new therapeutics development and registration. However, for many neglected diseases, new therapeutic products urgently need to be developed and delivered to improve control and potentially achieve elimination.
Funding
None.”
Table 6
NEW PRODUCTS IN CLINICAL TRIALS by neglected disease and product type (as of DECEMBER 31, 2011)
Table 6
Data are n (%). NCE=new chemical entity. NF=new formulation. FDC=fixed-dose combination. NI=new indication. NA=new association. NTD=neglected tropical disease (WHO definition).
* Cutaneous leishmaniasis (10), dengue fever (6), visceral leishmaniasis (4), Chagas disease (3), schistosomiasis (3), rabies (2), one each for echinococcosis, hookworm, human African trypanosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and cysticercosis or taeniasis.
† Viral haemorrhagic fevers (6), other arboviruses (6), Japanese encephalitis (3), one each for yellow fever, scabies, and snakebite.

NOTE: “NDT’S INCLUDE EBOLA (Viral haemorrhagic fevers)

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(13)70078…

Dr Peter Horby to lead fast-tracked Ebola trials
Investigational Ebola treatments are to be tested in West Africa for the first time as part of an international initiative to fast-track trials of the most promising drugs, for the disease that has already led to over 2,600 deaths.

A £3.2 million grant from the WELCOME TRUST will enable multiple partners around the world, including the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC), the University of Oxford, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Institut Pasteur, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Fondation Mérieux and the Global Health Network, to quickly establish clinical trials at existing Ebola treatment centres.

The unprecedented outbreak of the virus, one of the most virulent infectious agents known to man, has been declared a threat to international peace and security by the UN Security Council and prompted demands for an urgent response. In August a WHO expert panel unanimously concluded that in such exceptional circumstances it would be ethical to evaluate unregistered investigational treatments in people with Ebola virus disease.

Several potential interventions have shown promise in the laboratory, in animal studies on non-human primates, and in a small number of cases of compassionate intervention, but none has yet been tested for efficacy and safety in humans with Ebola. Any new drug needs to be evaluated within the rigorous settings of a clinical trial to assess whether it is doing more harm or good.

Led by Dr Peter Horby of the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford and ISARIC, this initiative will now allow candidate Ebola treatments to be assessed rapidly in patients so that those proving safe and effective may be adopted for use as soon as possible.

The funding will be used to establish a clinical trials platform involving the consortium and a number of sites in West Africa where treatments can be formally evaluated in patients with Ebola virus disease. Together with partner health authorities in affected countries, the consortium will assess which sites are suited for the trials, ensuring that activities do not adversely affect the delivery of patient care, staff welfare and safety, and centre operations. The WHO will then facilitate access to the treatments, and rapid ethical review and implementation of the trials in affected countries. The precise details of how the trials will be carried out are being discussed with all stakeholders, and, most importantly, the local communities who would be involved. It is possible that trials will involve both randomised and non-randomised arms.

Several candidate treatments are under consideration and a group of independent experts appointed by WHO will recommend which to prioritise based on factors such as which is likely to work best, the availability of the intervention, the ability to safely administer the intervention in treatment centre settings, and the capacity for manufacture to a useful scale. A number of pharmaceutical companies including Mapp Biopharmaceutical, Sarepta, and Tekmira are collaborating in the initiative and are providing key data on efficacy, safety, and production abilities for a number of potential treatments.

While awaiting the WHO recommendation on the products to be tested first, the consortium will begin immediately to work with counterparts in affected countries to assess the suitability of potential sites, and establish the infrastructure, staffing and systems of the clinical trials platform. During this phase investigators will also work with affected communities, local organisations, and national ethical and regulatory agencies to determine the best possible study design that can be achieved under the circumstances of the epidemic.

This latest announcement is part of a series of multi-million pound measures supported by the Wellcome Trust and enabling unparalleled international collaboration across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to tackle the public health emergency. These include the trial of a candidate Ebola vaccine in the UK and West Africa, and accelerated funding for humanitarian research into combating the outbreak.

Dr Peter Horby, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, University of Oxford, said: “The Ebola situation in West Africa is an ongoing tragedy of immense proportions and we urgently need to know whether any of these investigational treatments can save lives. In essence we need straightforward clinical trials, as for any drug for any disease, but new ways of working will be needed to provide rapid and reliable answers in perhaps the most challenging outbreak we have ever encountered. Effective drugs will not only help individual patients but will also increase community confidence in the value of Ebola treatment centres, thereby improving our chances of controlling the outbreak through isolation and treatment of infectious patients.”

Dr Jeremy Farrar, DIRECTOR OF THE WELCOME TRUST, said: “It is a huge challenge to carry out clinical trials under such difficult conditions, but ultimately this is the only way we will ever find out whether any new Ebola treatments actually work. What’s more, rapid trials, followed by large-scale manufacturing and distribution of any effective treatments, might produce medicines that could be used in this epidemic. The Wellcome Trust funding will allow these trials to happen quickly, and in an ethically and scientifically robust setting.”

Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General of WHO's Health Systems and Innovation, said: “In order to benefit the broader community, WHO confirmed that it is ethical to offer unregistered therapeutic interventions to Ebola patients in the context of the current outbreak, while ensuring that as much information on their safety and efficacy is collected as possible. This platform provides an excellent opportunity to put this recommendation into action.”

Dr Piero Olliaro, Senior Research Manager at TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at WHO, said: “This clinical trials platform will make it possible to rapidly test potential treatments in the affected West African countries. The data will be openly available, an important step for ongoing scientific investigations. The WELCOME TRUST'S financial commitment is an important and valuable contribution to helping us find new treatments for this terrible outbreak.”

http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/peter-horby-to-lead-fast-tracked-ebola-trials

WELLCOME TRUST HISTORY:

"Despite years of research, the present writer has been able to merely scratch the surface of the Rockefeller influences listed here. For instance, the huge Burroughs Wellcome drug firm is wholly owned by the "charitable” WELLCOME TRUST This trust is directed by Lord Oliver Franks, a key member of the London Connection which maintains the United States as a British Colony. Franks was Ambassador to the United States from 1948 to 1952. He is now a director of the Rockefeller Foundation, as its principal representative in England. He also is a director of the Schröder Bank, which handled Hitler's personal bank account, director of the Rhodes Trust in charge of approving Rhodes scholarships, visiting professor at the University of Chicago and chairman of Lloyd's Bank, one of England's Big Five.”
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/emullins.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zO64bUgQtc
PROOF! Ebola Expert Killed On MH17

Ebola Vaccine, Ready for Test, Sat on the Shelf

"GALVESTON, Tex. — Almost a decade ago, scientists from Canada and the United States reported that they had created a vaccine that was 100 percent effective in protecting monkeys against the Ebola virus. The results were published in a respected journal, and health officials called them exciting. The researchers said tests in people might start within two years, and a product could potentially be ready for licensing by 2010 or 2011.

It never happened. The vaccine sat on a shelf. Only now is it undergoing the most basic safety tests in humans — with nearly 5,000 people dead from Ebola and an epidemic raging out of control in West Africa."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/health/without-lucrative-market-poten…

"Professor David Heymann CBE, chairman of Public Health England and professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said no virus transmitted by bodily fluids – as Ebola is – had ever mutated to airborne transmission.

“There has never been a virus transmitted in this manner that converts to a respiratory virus, and there is no evidence that this has ever occurred in the epidemiology,” he said at a discussion programme on the virus in London on Wednesday night. He mentioned HIV and Hepatitis B as example of viruses transmitted by bodily fluids that had “never converted to a respiratory virus”.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the WELCOME TRUST, added that a sense of proportion should be kept when discussing Ebola.

“The chances of Ebola becoming airborne are extremely small. I am not aware of any viral infection changing its mode of transmission. It’s important we retain a sense of proportion and not exaggerate the risks for it changing and becoming airborne,” he told the Telegraph. “There is already enough fear and panic surrounding this epidemic."

http://thedailyresistance.com/ebola-could-become-airborne-united-nation…

"Here is another question that needs to be answered why does the CDC have a patent on a certain strand of ebola? Is this a false flag either by them bringing in the crisis or by letting this happening.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Pianka from University of Texas who states we need airborne ebola to kill most of the population. The elite openly talk about killing us through diseases like ebola, vaccines, cancer, poison in food and water so is it out of the realm of possibilities that this maybe let out to spread to wipe out large pockets of population. Look at the quotes do your own research come to your own conclusion but do not put your head in the sand and simply state conspiracy theorist, when its on record that the globalists all subscribe to this thinking."

"AIDS is not an efficient killer, he explained, because it is too slow. His favorite candidate for eliminating 90 percent of the world’s population is airborne Ebola ( Ebola Reston ), because it is both highly lethal and it kills in days, instead of years. However, Professor Pianka did not mention that Ebola victims die a slow and torturous death as the virus initiates a cascade of biological calamities inside the victim that eventually liquefy the internal organs."

http://thedailyresistance.com/is-the-ebola-outbreak-being-manufactured-…

http://www.robertscottbell.com/blog/ty-bollinger-dr-lee-cowden-dr-andre…

The original Ebola GUINEA PIGS! RIGGED TRIALS?

"Extensive trials of two newly developed Ebola vaccines could begin before the end of the year, a World Health Organization (WHO) official told reporters on Friday.

"All is being put in place to start efficacy tests in the affected countries as early as December," said Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director general for health systems and innovation.

The announcement came after the UN health agency held private talks with officials from the three most affected nations - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - as well as health experts, pharmaceutical executives and funding agencies. The two most advanced experimental drugs, one of which is produced by GlaxoSmithKline, will go to human trials first, with five other vaccines scheduled to begin testing in March.

However GSK's Chief Executive, Andrew Witty, cautioned on Thursday that companies needed some sort of protection from governments, considering the normally years-long procedure for safety testing must be reduced to months."

http://allafrica.com/stories/201410271499.html

LOOKS LIKE GSK’S ZOMBIE EBOLA VAX IS ELBOWING IT’S WAY TO THE FRONT!

"(Reuters) - Switzerland's drug regulator said on Tuesday it had approved the testing of an experimental Ebola vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline on healthy volunteers, some of whom will be traveling to West Africa as medical staff.
The trial will be conducted among 120 volunteer participants at the Lausanne University Hospital, with support from the World Health Organization.

The volunteers, who include many medical students, will be monitored for six months to determine both the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. There is a small control group of volunteers among them who will be given a placebo.

"Fifty front-line humanitarian workers going into the field will receive the vaccine. The other 70 are not being deployed and of those 20 will receive the placebo and 50 the vaccine," said hospital spokesman Darcy Christen.

"Volunteers going into the field will not receive the placebo, for ethical reasons."

There are currently no proven drugs or vaccines for Ebola but drugmakers, with backing from governments and donors, hope to produce millions of vaccine doses in 2015 by fast-tracking the normal lengthy development process.

GSK has estimated it might be able to make about 1 million doses of its vaccine a month by December 2015."

POOR PIERO!

"I'm very upset. And that's an understatement," says Piero Olliaro, a tropical diseases expert at WHO and a visiting professor at the University of Oxford, who learned this afternoon that he can't travel to New Orleans. Olliaro returned from Guinea on 22 October, where he had been scouting for sites to do clinical trials for candidate Ebola drugs."

"The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) is proud to be the professional home for scientists, clinicians and program professionals who lead the fight against infectious disease – in the lab and on the ground. Amidst this rapidly evolving global public health situation, ASTMH will host its 63rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans November 2-6. The world’s leading scientists on tropical medicine and global health will gather to share the latest findings on malaria, dengue, cholera, as well as Ebola and many other diseases that impact our world.

The nature of our community’s work coupled with the timing of the meeting has raised concern among health and government officials in our host city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The Society has been contacted by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) regarding their plans to implement a travel advisory that affects our upcoming conference.

Each state within the U.S. has legal rights and responsibilities to set its own public health policy to meet perceived local public health needs and concerns. While the state of Louisiana’s policies are outside of the scientific understanding of Ebola transmission—and acknowledged by the state health officials’ own admission—we recognize that the state has determined its policy in this matter. ASTMH does not agree with the policy as outlined by the Louisiana DHH."

"Ebo-LIE
October 8, 2014 at 5:05pm
People In the Western World Need to Know What's Happening Here in West Africa. THEY ARE LYING!!! "Ebola" as a Virus Does NOT Exist and Is NOT "Spread". The Red Cross Has Brought a Disease to 4 Specific Countries for 4 Specific Reasons and It Is Only Contracted By Those Who Receive Treatments and Injections From the Red Cross. That is Why Liberians and Nigerians Have Begun Kicking the Red Cross Out of Their Countries and Reporting In the News the Truth. Now Bear With Me:
REASONS:

Most People Jump to "Depopulation" Which is No Doubt Always on the Mind of the West When It Comes to Africa. But I Assure You Africa Can NEVER Be Depopulated By Killing 160 People a Day When Thousands are Born Per Day. So the real Reasons Are Much More Tangible.

Reason 1: This Vaccine Implemented Sickness Being "Called" Ebola Was Introduced Into West Africa for the End Goal of Getting Troops on the Ground In Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. If You Remember We Were Just Trying to Get Into Nigeria for "Boko Haram" #BULLSHIT But That Fell Apart When Nigerians Started Telling the Truth. There ARE NO GIRLS MISSING. Global Support Fell Through the Floor, and a New Reason Was Needed to Get Troops Into Nigeria and Steal the New Oil Reserves They Have Discovered.

Reason 2: Sierra Leone is the World's Largest Supplier of Diamonds. For the Past 4 Months They Have Been on Strike, Refusing to Provide Diamonds Due to Horrible Working Conditions and Slave Pay. The West Will Not Pay a Fair Wage for the Resources Because the Idea is to Keep These People Surviving on Rice Bags and Foreign AID So That They Remain a Source of Cheap Slave Labor Forever. A Reason Was Also Needed to Get Troops On the Ground In Sierra Leone to Force an End to the Diamond Miners Strikes. This is Not the First Time This Has Been Done. When Miners Refuse to Work Troops Are Sent In and Even If They Have to Kill and Replace Them All, the Only Desire is to Get Diamonds Back Flowing Out of the Country. Of Course to Launch Multiple Campaigns to Invade These Countries Separately Would Be WAY Too Fishy. But Something Like "Ebola" Allows Access to an Entire Area Simultaneously...

Reason 3: In Addition to Stealing Nigerian Oil, and Forcing Sierra Leone Back to Mining, Troops Have Also Been Sent In to FORCE Vaccinations (Deadly "Ebola" Poison) Onto Those Africans Who Are Not Foolish Enough to Take The Willingly. 3000 Troops Are Being Sent In to Make Sure That This "Poison" Continues to Spread, Because Again It Is Only Spread Through Vaccination. As More and More News Articles Are Released Like the One Above From Liberia, Informing the Populous of the US Lies and Manipulation, More and More Africans Are Refusing to Visit the Red Cross. Troops Will Force These Vaccinations Upon the People to Ensure the Visible Appearance of an Ebola Pandemic. In Addition to This They Will Protect the Red Cross From the Liberians and Nigerians Who Have Been Rightfully Ejecting Them From Their Countries.

Reason 4: 3000 Troops..... Is Ebola Susceptible to Bullets?? Ridiculous. Last But Not Least the APPEARANCE of This Ebola "Pandemic" (Should Americans Not Catch On) Will Be Used to Scare Countless Millions Into Taking the "Ebola Vaccine" Which in Reality IS THE PANDEMIC. Already They Have Started With Stories of How It Has Been Brought Back to the US and Has Appeared in Dallas, How White Doctors Were Cured But Black Infected Are Not Being Allowed to Be Treated Etc.

ALL That Will Do Is Make Blacks STRIVE to Get the Vaccine, Because It Appears That the "Cure" is Being Held Back From Blacks. They Will Run Out In Droves to Get It and Then There Will Be Serious Problems. With All We Have Seen Revealed About Vaccines This Year You Would Think We Learned Our Lesson. All I Can Do Is Hope So, Because They Depend Highly On Our Ignorance to Complete Their Agendas. Ask Yourself If Ebola Was Really Spread From Person to Person, Instead of Controlled Spread Through Vaccination - Then WHY Would the CDC and the US Government Continue to Allow Flights In and Out of These Countries With Absolutely No Regulation, Or At All? We Have Got to Start Thinking and Sharing Information Globally Because They Do Not Give the True Perspective of the People Who Live Here in West Africa. They Are Lying for Their Own Benefit and There Aren't Enough Voices Out There With a Platform to Help Share Our Reality. Hundreds of Thousands Have Been Killed, Paralyzed and Disabled By These and Other "New" Vaccines All Over the World and We Are Finally Becoming Aware of It. Now What Will We DO With All This Information?" Other Helpful Links:http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/09/liberias-largest-newspaper-accu…

Nurse Hickox BUSTED!

THANKS TO THE DAILY CALLER for revealing this important info.!
This is the same CDC job Verstraeten had in his 1999 investigation of the Thimerosal/ vaccine/ autism/ speech delay, etc. link. He gave his revealing report at the infamous secret CDC Simpsonwood meeting in 2000. The Thimerosal/autism link was covered up. This group is a biowarfare unit. The plot thickens. Doctors Without Borders is a known “cover”. Looks like some “vaccines” are being tested……

http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/27/released-ebola-nurse-kaci-hickox-work…

"Here’s an overlooked factor that could have contributed to her White House-backed release: Hickox is an official CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer who performed work for the CDC in recent months.

Hickox was a Class of 2012 member of CDC’s two-year EIS officer training program, according to the official program for CDC’s 2014 EIS Conference (p. 98), which was held from April 28 to May 1, 2014. Hickox was featured in a photograph in the program.

Hickox was listed as an “EIS officer” for the CDC in program materials for a CDC course she taught in July 2014. She was specifically listed as an active “EIS officer” as recently as July 18, 2014, according to CDC documents.

Hickox was a presenter at the CDC conference this spring, according to the program’s list of presenters (p. 103).

Hickox taught an April 29 session called “Contact Investigation of Health Care Personnel Exposed to Maternal and Neonatal Tuberculosis—Clark County, Nevada, 2013″ at the conference (p. 3).

“During the 2-year training program, EIS officers are employees of the CDC and receive a salary and benefits. Salaries range from $65,000 to 90,000 per year, based on qualifications and experience,” according to CDC’s website."

The NWO folks behind the scene, as usual……VACCINES = POPULATION CONTROL

"Contributions of Alexander D. Langmuir to the Epidemiologic Study of Population Change and Family Planning”

"We in public health assume responsibility for the problems we create. And by preventing babies from dying, we have created the population explosion" (1, p. 159).

Alexander D. Langmuir, M.D., M.P.H.

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/144/Supplement_8/S51.full.pdf

@Toto,

What a load. Did the Red Queen charge you with writing all that up and reading it to all the number cards?

More seriously, if you want to communicate rather than just give yourself a pat on the back, remember the acronym K.I.S.S.

In all that pile of irrelevant whatever, is there even one complete syllogism that concludes anything?

By squirrelelite (not verified) on 07 Nov 2014 #permalink

So, Toto/Totoo, that's, what, monthly hospitalizations?

What a weird gishgalloping mixture of legitimate reports of Ebola vaccine development and idiotic frothing-at-the-mouth paranoid conspiracy theories. Even "shrill, roaringly raving loon" Len Horowitz makes an appearance. People like Horowitz might be amusing if they didn't pose a very real threat to public health - Horowitz was among those who persuaded Nation of Islam to call for a boycott of U.S.-sponsored vaccination programs. I didn't think my opinion of Toto could sink any lower, but now it has.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

Looks like somebody got their Internet Privileges restored at the asylum......so, the conspiracy theory people are pissed that there "isn't" a readily available Ebola Vaccine, then they are pissed that companies, that have put a decade or more in preliminary research - all publicly available information, btw, are rushing to get potential vaccines into clinical trials in the field?

Basically, it comes down to the fact that these nutters believe in all of the tilfoil hat conspiracies and will try to link any and all public health initiatives to them - right?

OK, I'm confused. Is Ebola a hoax to create a demand for an Ebola vaccine, or is it a disease caused by the Ebola vaccine which hasn't been released yet?

It has been well documented that boko haram has kidnapped a substantial number of young women. This has been verified by independent reporters talking to the parents of said young women. According to the purported leader of boko haram, these girls have been "married off" to his "soldiers". A claim that this never happened is not merely misinformed, but can be presumed to be malicious.

By Mephistopheles… (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

Now I know Toto is an escapee from an asylum.

@Toto,

A child in Africa died of malaria while your were typing that screed. Another one is dying while I type a short response.

Since I grew up learning about my aunt who worked as a nurse helping to bring modern medical care to many of those children and training many of the native girls to be nurses and continue providing that benefit to their country, I think learning more about the malaria parasite and finding a better treatment for the disease or a way to vaccinate against the parasite or otherwise prevent it would be an excellent thing.

So, thanks for the link to the work of the Sanger group.

The development of new drugs and vaccines against malaria poses one of the major challenges to current medical research. It must be grounded in the thorough understanding of the parasite's biology, including its interactions with the host, and the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit it. P. berghei provides a highly tractable model to study the fundamental cell biology of malaria parasites and many aspects of their interactions with host and vector.

We are particularly interested to learn how the cellular processes involved in sexual development and mosquito transmission are regulated through signal transduction pathways that control stage conversion, gene transcription and protein translation. We discovered that parasite development in the mosquito is triggered by xanthurenic acid (Billker et al., 1998), a tryptophan metabolite, which in insects is present at high concentrations. It regulates parasite development through a plant like protein kinase, which we identified by experimentally disrupting the parasite gene encoding it (Billker et al., 2004). Working with our collaborators we recently demonstrated that a drug-like chemical inhibitor of the kinase can block malaria transmission to mosquitoes when administered to a mouse (Ojo et al., 2012).

The targeted modification of the genome is far more difficult in malaria parasites than in model organisms, such as yeast. To increase the rate at which discoveries can be made in P. berghei, we have developed protocols to produce more efficient genetic modification vectors and other molecular tools that allow researchers to rapidly switch parasite genes on and off. We now operate a production pipeline to produce gene knock out and tagging vectors for every gene in the P. berghei genome. These are freely available to all researchers and can be viewed through the PlasmoGEMdatabase. Our vision is that over the coming years, protocols will be developed to use PlasmoGEM vectors in genetic screens that query the functions of hundreds or thousands of parasite genes at the same time. PlasmoGEM is a joint project with the Rayner group. It relies heavily on the reference genomes produced by Matt Berriman's Parasite Genomics team.

Any disease which infects 200 million people every year and kills over 600,000 of them is definitely worth a major effort on research.

By squirrelelite (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Toto

I recommend you get your keyboard checked fixed. The caps lock appears to be getting stuck and awful lot. Oh, and make sure your 13-year-old kid doesn't have access. They seem to be copying and pasting a bunch of silly stuff to make you look like a blithering idiot.

Wellcome eugenics!
NO ONE IS SAFE.......

http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTX047611.html
"Research: 1000 Genomes Project
23/01/08. By the Wellcome Trust

Any two humans are more than 99 per cent the same at the genetic level: the small fraction of genetic material that varies among people can help to explain individual differences in susceptibility to disease, response to drugs or reaction to environmental factors.

The 1000 Genomes Project therefore aims to produce an extremely detailed catalogue of human DNA variation that can be used in future studies of people with particular diseases.

Across most of the human genome, the researchers will be looking for variations that are present at a frequency of 1 per cent or more in the population; in genes, however, the goal is to find variations that are present in 0.5 per cent or less of the population. Producing a map at this resolution, which is unmatched by current resources, is likely to require sequencing of genomes of at least 1000 people.

Using recently developed catalogues of human genetic variation, such as the HapMap and Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, researchers already have discovered more than 100 regions of the genome that contain genetic variants associated with susceptibility to common human diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, prostate and breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and age-related macular degeneration.

However, researchers often must follow those studies with costly and time-consuming DNA sequencing to help pinpoint the precise genetic variants that are associated with a disease. The new map will enable researchers to zero in quickly on such variants, speeding efforts to use genetic information to develop new strategies for diagnosing, treating and preventing common diseases.

Several different types of genetic variation will be mapped in the project: single-letter differences in DNA (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs), and structural variants such as rearrangements, deletions or duplications of segments of the human genome. The importance of these latter variants has become increasingly clear in the past 18 months from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's Copy Number Variation Project and similar research, which show that structural variants MAY play a role in susceptibility to certain conditions, such as mental retardation and AUTISM.
(My note: Great cover for vaccine damage!)

The sequencing work will be carried out at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the Beijing Genomics Institute in China, and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Large-Scale Sequencing Network, which includes the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; and the Human Genome Sequencing Center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Among the populations whose DNA will be sequenced in the 1000 Genomes Project are: Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria; Japanese in Tokyo; Han Chinese in Beijing; Utah residents with ancestry from northern and western Europe; Luhya in Webuye, Kenya; Maasai in Kinyawa, Kenya; Toscani in Italy; Gujarati Indians in Houston; Chinese in metropolitan Denver; people of Mexican ancestry in Los Angeles; and people of African ancestry in the south-western United States.

These people will be anonymous and will not have any medical information collected on them."

The AUTISM GENERATION kids got this DTP vaccine- 1986-1999.
DTP INSERT:
"A committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has concluded that evidence is consistent with a CAUSAL relationship between whole-cell pertussis DTP vaccine and ACUTE NEUROLOGIC illness, and under special circumstances, between whole-cell pertussis DTP vaccine and CHRONIC NEUROLOGIC disease in the context of the National Childhood Encephalopathy Study (NCES) report.24,25"
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedPr…

The origins of Ebola Zaire.....

ISOLATIONANDPARTIALCHARACTERISATION OF
A NEW VIRUS CAUSING ACUTE HÆMORRHAGIC FEVER IN ZAIRE
K. M. JOHNSON P. A. WEBB J. V. LANGE F. A. MURPHY
VirologyDivision, CenterforDisease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, U.S.A.

"In all details, these particles were indis- tinguishable from Marburg virus particles studied in 1967 (iso-
lates from Germany) and 1975 (isolate from South Africa).5-’ Two characteristics were more prominent in the 1976 Zaire isolate: there was more branching of the filamentous particles (fig. 1); and more evidence of envelope continuation beyond the ends of the more rigidinternal structure (fig. 1, arrow)."

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0140673677920001/1-s2.0-S0140673677920001-main.p…

WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER BE?

"The head of the United Nations mission Anthony Banbury said personnel from the UN Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) were already working alongside the US military in Liberia and British troops in Sierra Leone.”

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_10_13/Putin-vows-to-help-World-He…
"Meanwhile Russia's Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova says the country is planning to send a new experimental vaccine against Ebola to Africa. “Today we are discussing that we will have enough of Triazoverin vaccine in two months so that we can send them to our personnel in Guinea”
http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_10_13/Putin-vows-to-help-World-He…

Dumb thread-derailing troll seems to think that the "Vaccine Insert" is a publication from the FDA, not the drug manufacturer.

I have the last (2005) 13 page drug manufacturer's "Vaccine Insert" and there is a mention of autism being reported by parents after administration of the vaccine. Reminds me of the Adverse Reaction reports of deaths from gunshot wounds to the head, motor vehicle accidents, drownings and street drug overdoses purportedly associated with the administration of Gardasil vaccine that are on the VAERS database.

@squirrel
"Since I grew up learning about my aunt who worked as a nurse helping to bring modern medical care to many of those children and training many of the native girls to be nurses and continue providing that benefit to their country, I think learning more about the malaria parasite and finding a better treatment for the disease or a way to vaccinate against the parasite or otherwise prevent it would be an excellent thing."

According to this 1976 WHO document, Zaire was injecting chloroquine to treat malaria patients. In this incident, however, THINGS WENT VERY WRONG!

"The index case in this outbreak had onset of symptoms on 1 September 1976, five days after receiving an INJECTION of chloroquine for presumptive malaria at the outpatient clinic at Yambuku Mission Hospital (YMH). He had a clinical remission of his malaria symptoms. Within one week several other persons who had received injections at YMH also suffered from EBOLA HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER, and almost all subsequent cases had either received injections at the hospital or had had close contact with another case. Most of these occurred during the first four weeks of the epidemic, after which time the hospital was closed, 11 of the 17 staff members having died of the disease. ....women 15-29 years of age had the highest incidence of disease, ...strongly related to attendance at prenatal and outpatient clinics at the hospital where they received INJECTIONS."
"THE DISEASE WAS HITHERTO UNKNOWN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE AFFECTED REGIONS"
"This syndrome was caused by a virus morphologically similar to MARBURG virus, but immunologically distinct. It was named EBOLA virus."

P. 280
"Most of the cases related to injection occurred during the first 4 weeks of the epidemic....it seems likely that the closure of Yambuku Missionary Hospital was the SINGLE event of greatest importance in the eventual termination of the outbreak."

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/1978/Vol56-No2/bulletin_1978_56(2)_27…

@ Chris
Now that they have "covered their trail", those damaged by it just don't matter?
I thought all vaccines were SAFE AND EFFECTIVE. Why the change?

Wellcome eugenics!
NO ONE IS SAFE…

Dr Bronner wants his soap packaging back.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

My favorite detail was how the conspiracy picked Reston Ebola for its alleged high lethality. With incompetence like that, we're safe for sure!

By justthestats (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

I'm still trying to figure out how Toto got from Oz to Wonderland.

By Mephistopheles… (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

Was Toto the one who said that black men were all sexually mutilated by the government? Or was that someone else? Now MSF is a cover operation for secret viral warfare on black people. Seems like those guys never catch as break.

By NumberWang (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

Toto seems like an appropriate nym considering the stream of dog vomit we are being subjected to.

Ok, I’m confused. Is Ebola a hoax to create a demand for an Ebola vaccine, or is it a disease caused by the Ebola vaccine which hasn’t been released yet?

Well, the plan was that there would be an Ebola outbreak hoax and then everyone would get the disease from the vaccine. But the elite are upset because there was a real outbreak before the vaccine was ready, and that is resulting in some survivers getting NATURAL IMMUNITY(sm) who weren't supposed to.

By justthestats (not verified) on 08 Nov 2014 #permalink

INTERESTING E-HISTORY:

http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/1978/Vol56-No2/bulletin_1978_56(2)_27…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2395567/
http://www.itg.be/internet/ebola/ebola-62.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/treatment/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/symptoms/index.html
Transmission of Lassa virus to humans occurs most commonly through ingestion or inhalation. person-to-person transmission may occur after exposure to virus in the blood, tissue, secretions, or excretions of a Lassa virus-infected individual. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/transmission/index.html
http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/fulltext/2000/01070/effect_of_interf…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16267962
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/
Treatment with either lamivudine or ribavirin reduced the 5-HTT mRNA expression, protein level and 5-HT uptake in T-cell line. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16476009
"Subsequently a number of other cases were reported, almost all centered on the Yambuku mission hospital or having close contact with another case.[81]318 cases and 280 deaths (a 88% fatality rate) occurred in the DRC.” (Zaire)
http://epidemic.bio.ed.ac.uk/ebolavirus_fatality_rate
http://www.infoplease.com/cig/dangerous-diseases-epidemics/ebola-africa…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/04/ebola-zaire-peter-piot-out…
http://www.google.com/patents/US20120251502
Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctor tragically died yesterday from an Ebola infection.
http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/?p=69489
Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who was praised as a national hero for treating more than 100 patients with the disease, was confirmed dead by health ministry officials there. He had been hospitalised in quarantine.
Dr Khan, 39, died on Tuesday after being admitted last week into an anti-Ebola treatment facility run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders when he tested positive for the virus.
Head of Sierra Leone’s health services, Brima Kargbo, said Dr Khan had been in charge of the main Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, around 320 kilometres east of the capital Freetown.
Three nurses at the facility also died of the disease.
According to the ministry’s latest figures released on Tuesday, 489 cases of Ebola have been recorded in Sierra Leone and 159 people have died.
http://www.news.com.au/world/sierra-leones-top-ebola-doctor-sheik-umar-…
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/046259_ebola_outbreak_drug_treatments_monsan…

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/220046-cdc-airborne-ebola-possible…
Khan had worked for years helping people with another viral disease, called Lassa fever, which causes symptoms similar to Ebola.

When Ebola emerged in Sierra Leone this past March, Khan immediately turned his attention to the outbreak and started treating patients at a hospital in Kenema.

Several nurses at that hospital have also caught the virus. Three of them died last week.

http://wvpe.org/post/sierra-leone-doctor-who-led-fight-against-ebola-di…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYskFkqoyI

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=322983307878518&id=28…
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/what-are-us-biowar-researc…
The Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium was established in 2010 as a result of several multi-year grants and contracts awarded to Tulane University by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support Tulane’s ongoing efforts to treat and prevent Lassa fever. - See more at: http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

The Consortium is a collaboration between Tulane, Scripps Research Institute, Harvard University/Broad, University of Texas Medical Branch, Autoimmune Technologies LLC, Corgenix Medical Corporation, Kenema Government Hospital (Sierra Leone), the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (Nigeria) Université de Lausanne (Switzerland), Zalgen Labs, LLC, and various other partners in West Africa. More information is available at www.vhfc.org. - See more at: http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

@Toto (119)

Are you blaming the Ebola virus on doctors who treated an already sick patient with one of the standard drugs for malaria?

You need to move your cart back behind that horse of a different color.

And try to combine more than one or two sentences of your own together. Random quotes and internet links are just random. They don't make a coherent argument to persuade anyone.

By squirrelelite (not verified) on 09 Nov 2014 #permalink

Treatment with either lamivudine or ribavirin reduced the 5-HTT mRNA expression, protein level and 5-HT uptake in T-cell line.

I see that you still haven't figured out that your source (PMID 16476009) has exactly nothing to do with what you're babbling about.

By the way, you've had months to fix this up:

Sierra Leone’s top Ebola doctor tragically died yesterday from an Ebola infection.

@squirrel
Obviously you didn't bother to read the entire report. I merely gave out juicy tidbits to entice a naturally curious reader to dig further.

You would have read that the Yambuku clinic had an outpatient clinic that treated 6,000 to 12,000 persons monthly. Yet, astoundingly, "five syringes and needles were issued to the nursing staff each morning for use at the outpatient department, the prenatal clinic, and the impatient wards. these syringes and needles were APPARENTLY (my note: NOT PROVEN) sterilized between their use on different patients but rinsed in a pan of warm water...THE SURGICAL THEATER HAD ITS OWN AMPLE SUPPLY OF INSTRUMENTS, SYRINGES, AND NEEDLES, WHICH WERE KEPT SEPARATELY AND AUTOCLAVED AFTER USE." p. 273
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/1978/Vol56-No2/bulletin_1978_56(2)_27…

It is obvious to me that the author of the report was very suspicious of what was in the injections. He made it clear that Ebola was directly tied to the clinic and the injections. It did not make sense to "share needles".
By using the word "apparently", he lets the reader know that the "unclean needle" explanation was not a PROVEN FACT.
2+2=4. We already know that biowarfare weapons were being worked on at that time using the Marburg virus. It is clearly stated that Ebola is directly related to the MARBURG virus. 2+2=4.

Compare this 1976 account with my other posts regarding the Kenema Hospital Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Tulane was conducting "trials" there. The locals claimed that the hospital was the source of Ebola. THEY SHUT THE HOSPITAL DOWN. The Ebola cases dropped. 2+2=4.
http://wvpe.org/post/sierra-leone-doctor-who-led-fight-against-ebola-di…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYskFkqoyI
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=322983307878518&id=28…
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/what-are-us-biowar-researc…

By the way, did your dear aunt use UNSTERILIZED NEEDLES on her poor African patients?

It is obvious to me that the author of the report was very suspicious of what was in the injections.

Yes, this is a common trait among conspiracy cranks. Here:

"Dissemination of the agent into the villages of the region was principally through contaminated equipment used for parenteral injections."

Why am I not surprised that the troll's comments stayed up on Attkisson's blog...while comments made about the vaccines-autism link suddenly "disappeared"?

Heh. Pardon me if it's already been mentioned, but I just noticed that Wakefraud has given instructions (as well as an "explanation," viz., that this is really about somehow making CDC respond to his "complaint," even though that's the ORI's job) the idiotic paper intimidospam* signed by – although, as far as I can tell, not served by the Web site of – "Parents for Ethical Research."

Let's see:**
narad> traceroute parentsforethicalresearch.com
traceroute to parentsforethicalresearch.com (192.185.39.253), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
[...]
10 be-11317-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.84.229) 155.446 ms 55.166 ms 89.752 ms
11 be-20-pe01.houston.tx.ibone.comcast.net (68.86.85.130) 59.076 ms 145.474 ms 59.156 ms
12 as8075-1.2001sixthave.wa.ibone.comcast.net (75.149.230.54) 57.920 ms 137.888 ms 59.162 ms
13 216.117.50.134 (216.117.50.134) 151.454 ms 59.959 ms 57.462 ms
14 192.185.178.174 (192.185.178.174) 58.064 ms 192.185.178.166 (192.185.178.166) 60.834 ms 192.185.178.174 (192.185.178.174) 93.394 ms
15 192.185.39.253 (192.185.39.253) 58.106 ms 129.693 ms 59.302 ms

Hop 13 is CyrusOne, LLC, Carrollton, Texas. Hop 15 is CyrusOne's WebSiteWelcome, Houston.

* A lamely warmed-over approach, given that crazy antivax mommies tried the "reverse waiver" routine some time ago, with the usual consequences.
** Possible <pre> disaster coming.

^ "for the idiotic"

“Dissemination of the agent into the villages of the region was principally through contaminated equipment used for parenteral injections.”

Yes, contaminated with Ebola virus. Isn't Marburg in Germany? That's a long way from Zaire. LOL!

What is your explanation for "5 needles/day"?
Obviously, they had plenty and knew how to autoclave. Why did the writer immediately juxtapose these two conflicting facts? Were the Catholic nuns really that stupid? Who was in charge of the clinic?
THIS IS A SMOKING GUN!

Once again, did your dear aunt use unsterile needles on the poor Africans?

Marburg history

"Marburg hemorrhagic fever (Marburg HF) is a RARE but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both humans and non-human primates. Marburg HF is caused by Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (or, animal-borne) RNA virus of the FILOVIRUS family. The five species of EBOLA virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family.
Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred SIMULTANEOUSLY in LABORATORIES in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Thirty-one people became ill, INITIALLY LABORATORY WORKERS followed by several medical personnel and family members who had cared for them. Seven deaths were reported. The FIRST people infected had been exposed to IMPORTED AFRICAN GREEN MONKEYS or their TISSUES while conducting RESEARCH. One additional case was diagnosed retrospectively."
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/marburg/

LOOKS LIKE BIOWEAPONS RESEARCH TO ME. This coincided with the Viet Nam War. A tropical paradise where such a virus would flourish.....

THIS IS INTERESTING:
"Pathology of experimental Ebola virus infection in African green monkeys. Involvement of FIBROBLASTIC RETICULAR CELLS.

Davis KJ1, Anderson AO, Geisbert TW, Steele KE, Geisbert JB, Vogel P, Connolly BM, Huggins JW, Jahrling PB, Jaax NK.
Author information
Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Ebola virus has been responsible for explosive lethal outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in both humans and nonhuman primates. Previous studies showed a predilection of Ebola virus for cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system and endothelial cells.

OBJECTIVE:
To examine the distribution of lesions and Ebola virus antigen in the tissues of six adult male AFRICAN GREEN monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) that DIED 6 to 7 days after INTRAPERITONEAL INOCULATION of EBOLA Zaire (Mayinga) virus.

METHODS:
Tissues were examined histologically, immunohistochemically, and ultrastructurally.
RESULTS:
A major NOVEL finding of this study was that FIBROBLASTIC RETICULAR CELLS were immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally identified as TARGETS of EBOLA virus infection.

CONCLUSIONS:
The role of EBOLA virus-infected fibroblastic reticular cells in the pathogenesis of Ebola hemorrhagic fever warrants further investigation. This is especially important because of recent observations indicating that FIBROBLASTIC RETICULAR CELLS, along with the reticular fibers they produce, MAXIMIZE the efficiency of the IMMUNE RESPONSE."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9278608

More research on how to mess with the immune response. (In war and peace, it goes both ways.)

"FIBROBLASTIC RETICULAR CELLS (FRCs) are known to inhabit T cell-rich areas of lymphoid organs, where they function to facilitate interactions between T cells and dendritic cells. However, in vivo manipulation of FRCs has been limited by a dearth of genetic tools that target this lineage. Here, using a mouse model to CONDITIONALLY ABLATE FRCs, we demonstrated their INDISPENSABLE role in ANTIVIRAL T CELL responses. Unexpectedly, LOSS of FRCs also attenuated humoral IMMUNITY due to impaired B cell viability and follicular organization. Follicle- resident FRCs established a favorable niche for B lymphocytes via production of the cytokine BAFF. Thus, our study indicates that ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY REQUIRES AN INTACT FRC network and identifies a SUBSET of FRCs that control B cell homeostasis and follicle identity."

National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.
DOI: 10.3410/f.718541713.793500286
30 Sep 2014
http://f1000.com/prime/718541713

LOOKS LIKE FIBROBLAST RETICULAR CELLS ARE AN ENEMY OF EBOLA VIRUS. Can we fix it?

re: hop 10

comcast.net

eww. Are *they* still around?? Didn't they used to be 'Group W'? Your argument is invalidated.

Yes, contaminated with Ebola virus. Isn’t Marburg in Germany? That’s a long way from Zaire. LOL!

I appreciate your continuing – if superfluous – demonstrations that you an enthusiastic, voluntary, and irredeemable moron.

Now, let's return to your idiocy about lamivudine. Most everyone who has been paying attention know exactly how you managed to badly fυck up your attempt at an oblique citation.

Explain precisely what you imagine the utility of a reverse-transcriptase inhibitor to be here.

^ "you are an"

Time to kill -9 the memory-leaking browser again.

@Toto,

I have other things to do besides read through every link you decide to post on this blog, especially if you won't make any statements of your own about why you think they are significant or what conclusions you think we should derive from them.

But, I did read or skim the WHO report from 1978.

I noted that equipment supplies and sterilization procedures were substantially better in the surgical operating theater than in the outpatient ward where the nurses treating 200-400 patients daily did not properly sterilize needles between uses with disastrous consequences.

Unlike the Yambuku clinic, which was apparently closed shortly after this outbreak, the hospital my aunt worked had has remained open for over 60 years. Although it has 66% more in-patient beds than Yambuku, it treats about 160-180 outpatients per day. Since it has been a regional treatment center for STDs including HIV/AIDS and has a long history as one of, if not the top training facility for nurses in the country, I would be extremely surprised if their sterilization practices were as sloppy as Yambuku,

While perhaps understandable due to the remote location, limited supplies, and uncertain training standards for the native nurses, the lax sterilization practices used for outpatients were unacceptable even then.

I think Hanlon's razor,

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

certainly applies here.

If you wish to convince anyone of actual malice, and even more so if you are trying to prove an actual conspiracy, you will need to construct a much better syllogism.

And, since you didn't object, I take it you support research to find better ways to treat malaria.

Is there some reason you don't think we should do similar research on Lassa fever like Tulane has been doing?

By squirrelelite (not verified) on 09 Nov 2014 #permalink

HOT vaccines! HOT vaccines! One a million, two a billion, HOT vaccines!
HURRY! SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED! GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT!
Remember, just get your “dam*” vaccine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVqXW_yPJk

Looks like we have 90 eager experimental vaccine volunteers! AND THEY ALL ATTENDED THE WHO MONEY MEETING!
"More than 90 participants, including some of the world’s leading scientists, came, on short notice, from national and university research institutions, also in Africa, government health agencies, ministries of health and foreign affairs, national security councils, and several offices of Prime Ministers and Presidents. Also represented were national and regional drug regulatory authorities, the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) medical charity, funding agencies and foundations, the GAVI alliance for childhood immunization, and development banks, including the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the World Bank Group."

"Summary report of a WHO High-level meeting on ebola vaccines access and financing

Ebola situation assessment - 23 October 2014

Introduction

A high-level emergency meeting, convened by WHO at the request of several governments and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, was held on 23 October to look at the many complex policy issues that surround eventual access to experimental Ebola vaccines.

Ways to ensure the fair distribution and financing of these vaccines were discussed in an atmosphere characterized by a high sense of urgency. This sense of urgency was conveyed in many ways – from plans for the different phases of clinical trials to be performed concurrently rather than consecutively, to suggested partnerships for expediting clinical trials, to proposals for getting all development partners moving in tandem and at the same accelerated pace.

More than 90 participants, including some of the world’s leading scientists, came, on short notice, from national and university research institutions, also in Africa, government health agencies, ministries of health and foreign affairs, national security councils, and several offices of Prime Ministers and Presidents. Also represented were national and regional drug regulatory authorities, the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) medical charity, funding agencies and foundations, the GAVI alliance for childhood immunization, and development banks, including the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the World Bank Group.

Main conclusions reached

Impact of vaccines on further evolution of the epidemic
The meeting concluded that vaccines will have a significant impact on the further evolution of the epidemic in any scenario, from best-case to worst-case.

Financing of vaccine development, clinical trials, and vaccination campaigns
The meeting concluded that funding issues should not be allowed to dictate the vaccine agenda. The funds will be found.

Liability
The meeting concluded that neither affected countries nor industry should be left alone to bear the burden should lawsuits arise following possible adverse reactions to an Ebola vaccine. To respond to this potential problem, a proposal was made to establish a “club” of donors, in collaboration with the World Bank.

The timing and quantity of vaccine supplies
The meeting concluded that the timing and quantity of vaccine doses should not constrain the design of clinical trials. Industry confirmed that enough vaccine doses would be available.

GlaxoSmithKline’s monthly production capacity for purified bulk vaccine was expected to rise from the current figure of 24,000 doses to 230,000 by April 2015, if they can be filled for release. NewLink’s bulk vaccine manufacturing capacity for the Canadian vaccine was noted to vary, according to the dose selected, from 52,000 doses to 5.2 million doses anticipated for the first quarter of 2015.

Design of protocols for phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials
The meeting concluded that randomized controlled clinical trials were the gold standard in terms of yielding reliable scientific data for the analysis and interpretation of efficacy. A stepped-wedge design could also yield useful and meaningful data during the special circumstances of the current epidemic.

WHO/M. MissioneiroThe 1st batch of experimental vaccines, VSV-EBOV, arrived in October 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, and were stored at the Geneva University Hospital.
Priority uses of vaccine when supplies are limited
The meeting concluded that health care workers, including medical staff, laboratory staff, burial teams, and facility cleaners, should have first call on vaccine doses while supplies remain limited. Vaccination of health care workers in the three countries was judged feasible during the first quarter of 2015.

Regulatory requirements
The meeting concluded that the licensure and authorization requirements of regulatory authorities should be streamlined and harmonized, enabling the rapid introduction of vaccines for clinical trials and general distribution, yet with no compromise of scientific standards. In order to deliver the number of doses on the schedules proposed by the manufacturers, regulators must work closely with the manufacturers to find ways to overcome a number of regulatory hurdles.

Urgent measures to improve readiness for clinical trials and vaccines
The meeting concluded that two preparatory measures should be given the most urgent priority: community engagement and social mobilization to prepare populations to understand and accept clinical trials and vaccination campaigns, and the building of basic public health infrastructures, especially given the considerable logistical challenges facing health services in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Coordination and alignment among multiple partners
The meeting concluded that a mechanism or framework must be urgently established, relying on WHO’s convening and coordination powers, to get all partners working in tandem, according to a single agreed plan and aligned with industry’s “critical paths” analysis.

Determination to finish the job
The meeting concluded that all efforts to develop, test, and approve Ebola vaccines must be followed through to completion at the current accelerated pace, even if dramatic changes in the epidemic’s transmission dynamics meant that vaccines were no longer needed.

Read full meeting report: WHO high-level meeting on Ebola vaccines access and financing
pdf, 563 Kb
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/23-october-2014/en/

@ Narad
My strong hunch:
Lassa virus + Marburg virus = Uganda Ebola virus....the one that was patented. Kills fewer at once, more easily spread (semi-airborn like Lassa).
Isn't that what bioengineering is all about?
"The CDC’s patent on a strain of the Ebola virus, Ebola Bundibugyo (EboBun), was granted in 2010. The agency had applied for it a year earlier. The CDC’s genetic sequencing of the virus, which is found in Uganda, was performed in 2007, according to the patent application."
http://www.NewsmaxHealth.com/Headline/ebola-patent-US-government/2014/1…

Lassa has some "favorable" features (depending on your research goal). Especially the airborne one and lower death rate.
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/treatment/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/symptoms/index.html
Transmission of Lassa virus to humans occurs most commonly through ingestion or inhalation. person-to-person transmission may occur after exposure to virus in the blood, tissue, secretions, or excretions of a Lassa virus-infected individual. http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/lassa/transmission/index.html
http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/fulltext/2000/01070/effect_of_interf…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16267962
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/
Treatment with either lamivudine or ribavirin reduced the 5-HTT mRNA expression, protein level and 5-HT uptake in T-cell line. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16476009
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/
WHY DID AN HIV DRUG WORK ON EBOLA?
Also, Tulane spent a lot of time in West Africa studying LASSA FEVER:
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/what-are-us-biowar-researc…
"The Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium was established in 2010 as a result of several multi-year grants and contracts awarded to Tulane University by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to support Tulane’s ongoing efforts to treat and prevent Lassa fever." – See more at: http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

"The Consortium is a collaboration between Tulane, Scripps Research Institute, Harvard University/Broad, University of Texas Medical Branch, Autoimmune Technologies LLC, Corgenix Medical Corporation, Kenema Government Hospital (Sierra Leone), the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (Nigeria) Université de Lausanne (Switzerland), Zalgen Labs, LLC, and various other partners in West Africa." More information is available at http://www.vhfc.org. – See more at: http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

http://www.corgenix.com/news-releases/corgenix-provides-update-on-ebola…

#128

@squirrel
Your African prejudice is showing. The nurses were not "native". They were BELGIAN (white) Catholic nuns- shipped in. Sherlock would laugh in your face. That is where the EVIDENCE is staring.
If you don't have time to do proper research, then don't post. Believe me, no one would miss you.

"and uncertain training standards for the native nurses"

Toto spams the comment thread with irrelevant links.

Everyone yawns.

Dumb thread-derailing troll is still a dumb thread-derailing troll.

@ Narad
My strong hunch....

Treatment with either lamivudine or ribavirin reduced the 5-HTT mRNA expression, protein level and 5-HT uptake in T-cell line.

This is the same G-ddamned shіt that I just pointed out your failure to understand, dimwit.

@Narad
You pointed out nothing. You just curse the wind. The internet is the great equalizer. Scientists like to blather on about their schemes to each other. Now we can read them too. HaHa!

Everything I post makes perfect sense....BECAUSE THE "PROFESSIONALS" WROTE IT. I just put it in a logical sequence.

WATCH OUT GLAXO!
You've got COMPETITION!

"WHO also announced the French government is ready to begin in Guinea clinical trials of a JAPANESE-developed Ebola vaccine called Favipiravi. Known as T-705, it is marketed by Toyama Chemical under the trade name Avigan."
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/who-begins-testing-new-ebola-treatment/#B1zX…

MUSIC TO VACCINATE BY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2GCa-_nyU
(eat your heart out Piers!)

I appreciate your continuing – if superfluous – demonstrations that you an enthusiastic, voluntary, and irredeemable moron.

You know, I'd ask him if he strive really hard to be a moron or if it come naturally? :)

But that may be irrelevant to the issue at hand; mostly good for a good laugh...

Alain

Logan is brilliant. A true doctor. He cares about the people. The treatment worked for 15 out of 17. All who received the drug within the first 5 days of symptoms survived!
No wonder the vaxxers are trying to shut down this story!

"Logan said he got the idea to try lamivudine when he read in SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS that HIV and Ebola replicate inside the body in much the SAME WAY.
"Ebola is a brainchild of HIV," he said. "It's a destructive strain of HIV."
At first he tried a drug called acyclovir, which is often given to HIV patients to treat infections that occur with their weakened immune systems. But it didn't seem to be effective. Then he tried lamivudine on a health care worker who'd become ill, and within a day or two he showed signs of improvement and SURVIVED.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that THEORETICALLY, Lamivudine is a nucleocide analog, and other drugs in this class ARE BEING STUDIED TO TREAT EBOLA."
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/

Vaxxers, where is your proof? Is Jon correct? THIS IS QUITE DISTURBING, BUT FITS A THEORY THAT IT IS "engineered". If you can produce evidence of this virus in HUMANS, please do.

"Scientist finds no reliable evidence Ebola virus ever isolated from a human being"
by Jon Rappoport
November 3, 2014

Was the Ebola virus ever purified and isolated from a human?

Here is what Rasnick wrote, after his search of the published literature:

“I have examined in detail the literature on isolation and Ems [EM: electron microscope pictures] of both Ebola and Marburg viruses. I have not found any convincing evidence that Ebola virus (and for that matter Marburg) has been isolated from humans. There is certainly no confirmatory evidence of human isolation.

“I searched the CDC’s website and came up dry.

“The CDC claims 7728 Ebola virus cases have been ‘laboratory-confirmed’.

“I asked the CDC what constitutes isolation of Ebola virus from human specimens. I also asked for the protocol for isolating Ebola virus. [No reply from the CDC as of this date.]

“Virtually everything that is known and done with these viruses is in animals and cell culture.”

Rasnick continued:

“There is the possibility that Ebola and Marburg viruses represent laboratory artifacts. I’m inclined to think this is the case. What I mean is the viruses are real but may exist at very low levels in wild animals and even humans, well-below pathogenic [disease-causing] levels. These ‘passenger’ viruses may be activated and amplified in laboratory culturing conditions designed for that purpose in order to produce enough viral particles to be characterized."
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/bombshell-scientist-finds-…

LOOKS LIKE BIOWEAPONS RESEARCH TO ME.

And here we have the crux of things.

Everyone else looks at this and says "Wow, they were studying a disease made deadly by Mother Nature, and made some slip-up in their precautions, and thirty-one deaths resulted."

You look at this and say "Obviously, they were studying a disease WHICH INTENTIONAL RESEARCH had made deadly, and made some slip-up in their precautions, and thirty-one deaths resulted."

Can you explain to us why you think the second scenario is more plausible than the first?

By Antaeus Feldspar (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

“Ebola is a brainchild of HIV,” he said. “It’s a destructive strain of HIV.”

Ebola and HIV aren't even in the same group, much less Order, Family or Genus. That's like claiming that a dog is a type of squirrel (literally barking up the wrong squirrel in this case).

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

So, the AoA folks are now "up in arms" that Jerry Seinfeld has come out as suspecting he's "on the spectrum."

They claim that this "dilutes" the actual effects of autism - but then again, they cling to their "1 in 68" number, which includes a high percentage of "high functioning autistics and those with Aspergers as well?"

What would the numbers actually be, if we only looked at those that AoA qualify as "autistic?"

Ginger Taylor is literally frothing-at-the-mouth on AoA, joined by the usual suspects.

Eileen Simon weighs in about autism being "brain damage" (because she rejects the differences in autistic brain developments).

Dr. john D. Stone, who only now has seen Seinfeld perform, makes his diagnosis (with a "benign" explanation):

"A slightly more benign explanation is that the autism label is being used as fig leaf for advanced sociopathy. Sociopaths lack empathy. In my experience autistic people don't lack empathy, they are just bad at reading social cues. I was just watching Seinfeld - I'd never watched him before - and he has incedible antennae for milking an audience response. I was not overwhelmed by his charm, shall we say - it all seemed a little hard-bitten - but it was only a snippet.

Posted by: John Stone | November 10, 2014 at 07:32 AM"

Why hasn't Anne Dachel weighed in about "There are no autistic adults"?

They claim that this “dilutes” the actual effects of autism.

But wouldn't diluting the effects of autism only make those effects stronger?

Obviously, anyone who doesn't conform to the AoA "poop-smearing, violent & non-verbal" stereotype of autism, isn't actually autistic....is that what they are saying?

Again, what does that do to their "1 in 68" number? since we know that a much smaller percentage of autistics are actually on the very low end.......

I think when the AoA folks hear the phrase "hugh functioning autism" what they're seeing in their minds are people with Asperger's or PDD-NOS--i.e., people like Temple Grandin or John Elder Robinson.

The reality, however, is that High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Aspergers aren't the same thing. HFA isn't even a recognized DSM diagnosis but instead a descriptive label used to indicate people with autism that exhibit higher cognitive functioning (IQ's >70) than other autistics.

And in the same CDC study that reported the most recent '1 in 68' prevelance number that's got anti-vasers all up in arms 46% of the autistic children identified were found to have average or above average cognitive abilities (IQ's>85).

Reduce that threshold to from >85 to >70 and you'll have more than half of those '1 in 68' children qualifying as high functioning autists.

@Lawrence:

Obviously, anyone who doesn’t conform to the AoA “poop-smearing, violent & non-verbal” stereotype of autism, isn’t actually autistic….is that what they are saying?

You nailed it.

By Julian Frost (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

Vaxxers, where is your proof? Is Jon correct?

Like when he reported that Thompson had been removed from the CDC grounds by security?

THIS IS QUITE DISTURBING, BUT FITS A THEORY THAT IT IS “engineered”. If you can produce evidence of this virus in HUMANS, please do.

This is just more of his idiotic, Mullis-inspired PCR-is-a-sham routine.

These ‘passenger’ viruses may be activated and amplified in laboratory culturing conditions designed for that purpose in order to produce enough viral particles to be characterized.

See? HIV denialism all over again. You're a moron.

Logan is brilliant. A true doctor. He cares about the people. The treatment worked for 15 out of 17. All who received the drug within the first 5 days of symptoms survived!

Lamivudine is a reverse-transcriptase inhibitor, dumbass. EBOV doesn't use reverse transcriptase.

Everything I post makes perfect sense….BECAUSE THE “PROFESSIONALS” WROTE IT. I just put it in a logical sequence.

Yes, another self-opinion common to severe mental illness.

@Narad

What are you thinking? How dare you use facts and reality to rebut Toto's walls o' randomly capitalized text! The nerve!

LOL!
THE VAXXERS CAN SHOW NO PROOF OF ISOLATED HUMAN EBOLA!
Perhaps Jon is on to something. His Phd. authority was at least an HONEST soul and gave a truthful answer.
Here is what Rasnick wrote, after his search of the published literature:

“I have examined in detail the literature on isolation and Ems [EM: electron microscope pictures] of both Ebola and Marburg viruses. I have not found any convincing evidence that Ebola virus (and for that matter Marburg) has been isolated from humans. There is certainly no confirmatory evidence of human isolation."

I am giving you the chance to set the record straight...AND YOU CAN'T!

If Seinfeld had said, "I'm autistic and it was the vaccines that did it" he'd be a hero on AoA.

Is he actually autistic? I'd like to see a bit more evidence. But assume yes. Wouldn't he be a great person to help educate some autistics on how to cope?

By Matt Carey (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Narad
ARE YOU ADMITTING THAT MANY OF THE WEST AFRICA CASES ARE NOT EBOLA? Inflating the infection rate would benefit the Ebola vaccine pushers. AFRICANS DIE EVERY DAY. FEVER AND A STOMACH ACHE ARE COMMON TO OTHER DISEASE CONDITIONS (MALNUTRITION). An engineered virus comes from many groups......

"Ebola and HIV aren’t even in the same group, much less Order, Family or Genus.
Even better, EBOV doesn’t infect lymphocytes."

@Narad
ARE YOU SAYING THAT DR. FAUCI IS AN IDIOT?
He does not deny the plausibility of the treatment.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that THEORETICALLY, Lamivudine is a nucleocide analog, and other drugs in this class ARE BEING STUDIED TO TREAT EBOLA.”

What are you thinking? How dare you use facts and reality to rebut Toto’s walls o’ randomly capitalized text!

The great part is that, on the one hand, it thinks this is really brilliant:

"By using the word 'apparently', he [sic] lets the reader know that the 'unclean needle' explanation was not a PROVEN FACT."

On the other, some guy's completely undocumented say-so about curing EBOV with lamivudine is slam-dunk proof.

ARE YOU ADMITTING THAT MANY OF THE WEST AFRICA CASES ARE NOT EBOLA?

No, you can't read.

Mild Autism does not mean that I experience Autism mildly. Mild Autism means you experience my Autism mildly.”
- Tumblr user gingeraspie

Is that clear?

Perhaps Jon is on to something. His Phd. authority was at least an HONEST soul and gave a truthful answer.

Way to cement the HIV denialism angle:

"Participated as a member of The Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel of South Africa initiated by President Thabo Mbeki."

Amusingly, Rasnick's CV omits the normal section detailing his education.

here you go, toto: Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak"
(PMID:25214632)

"In its largest outbreak, Ebola virus disease is spreading through Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. We sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierra Leone to ~2000× coverage."

"Can you explain to us why you think the second scenario is more plausible than the first?"

YES:
“Regarding Ebola, as detailed in Emerging Viruses, the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Frankfort/Main, Germany, (named for the early pioneer of immunology, infectious disease transmission, and drug therapy) was among the first vaccine research and development facilities to received a shipment of contaminated monkeys associated with the first outbreak of the Marburg virus, the mother of Ebola, in 1967. As detailed in my letter to President Mbeki, Litton Bionetics’s history and affiliations to the Merck pharmaceutical company, and other US biological weapons contractors that worked for the CIA at that time, is highly unsettling, if not frankly incriminating.

Relatedly, Stanford University’s Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the author of The Population Bomb, is considered the grand patriarch of population control and a leading voice for depopulating areas of Africa, while another likely descendant of the immunology pioneer, Dr. S. Paul Ehrlich, Jr., became Surgeon General of the US in 1976,just prior to the first large Ebola outbreak in Zaire and the Sudan, when he was called upon to defend the US Army’s open air biological weapons tests on unwitting American civilians and military personnel.

Ebola, you may know, is recognized as among the most ideal biological warfare agents discussed by David Baltimore in Biological and Toxin Weapons Today (Oxford University Press, 1986). Baltimore, currently the President of the California Institute of Technology, is recognized as among the world’s leading experts in the field of molecular biology, recombinant virology, and biowarfare. Additional incriminating evidence linking Dr. Baltimore to a 1969 military requisition for AIDS and Ebola-like viruses is also provided in my book. (See pp. 508-509 and 421.)

The Ugandan shipment of contaminated monkeys that arrived in Europe’s top vaccine production labs was administered by Litton Bionetics, the Army’s sixth top biological weapons developer during the late 1960s.

According to two experts discussing the mysterious Marburg virus outbreak of 1967, Dr. Rudolph Siegert of the Hygiene Institute of the Philipps University in Marburg, and Dr. Seymour Kalter from the Southwest Foundation’s primate lab and the National Cancer Institute’s leading diagnostician of viruses that were believed to be “emerging” iatrogenically from labs, the Marburg virus was “man-made.”
http://www.lightstreamers.com/Horowitz/PressAIDS.html

AND
“West Africa: Progress Towards Ebola Vaccine Would Have Been Faster Had BIOTERRORISM RESEARCH Been Completed”
By Sam Jones and Sarah Boseley

“Global vaccine alliance chief Dr Seth Berkley says waning fear of BIOLOGICAL ATTACK slowed EBOLA work started a decade ago

Progress towards a potential Ebola vaccine would have been faster if the international community had followed through on work begun 10 years ago when western countries were worried about terrorists using EBOLA as a potential BIOLOGICAL WEAPON, according to the head of the global vaccine alliance.

The claim, from Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, came as the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said that a vaccine to fight the west African Ebola outbreak will come “too late for this epidemic” and may not be ready in sufficient quantities until 2016. On Thursday, Professor Peter Piot, one of the scientists who discovered the virus, warned the outbreak may not end until the world has a vaccine against the disease.

However, Berkley said that – had work that was BEGUN A DECADE AGO been seen through – it may well have laid the groundwork for a vaccine by now.

“We have had an effort to try to make a vaccine for Ebola going on now for about 10 years,” he said.

“The two [vaccine] candidates that people are talking about now started 10 years ago. But they weren’t started because of the problem in Africa, they were started because of a worry from wealthy countries about BIOTERRORISM: that’s where the money came from and that’s where it went … The west’s interest in and fear of BIOLOGICAL WARFARE has not sustained and has changed.”

AND:
FRAUD?
“Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) states “[i]n alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.” Fed .R. Civ. P. 9(b). The aim of this heightened pleading standard is “to place the defendants on notice of the precise misconduct with which they are charged, and to safeguard defendants against spurious charges of immoral and fraudulent behavior.” Seville Indus. Mach. Corp. v. Southmost Mach. Corp., 742 F.2d 786, 791 (3d Cir.1984). This standard “requires, at a minimum, that plaintiffs support their allegations of . . . fraud with all of the essential factual background . . . that is, the who, what, when, where and how of the events at issue.” United States of America ex rel. Ronald J. Streck v.
8
Allergan, Inc., 894 F. Supp.2d 584, 601 (E.D. Pa. 2012) (citing In re Rockefeller Ctr. Props., Inc. Sec. Litig., 311 F.3d 198, 217 (3d Cir. 2002)).2″
http://business.cch.com/ald/USMerck952014.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-AUGUST 27,2014

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM W. THOMPSON, Ph.D., REGARDING THE 2004 ARTICLE EXAMINING THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM

“My name is William Thompson. I am a Senior Scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, where I have worked since 1998.

I regret that my coauthors and I omitted statistically significant information in our 2004 article published in the journal Pediatrics. The omitted data suggested that African American males who received the MMR vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism. Decisions were made regarding which findings to report after the data were collected, and I believe that the final study protocol was not followed…..
My concern has been the decision to omit relevant findings in a particular study for a particular sub group for a particular vaccine. There have always been recognized risks for vaccination and I believe it is the responsibility of the CDC to properly convey the risks associated with receipt of those vaccines…..”
http://www.morganverkamp.com/august-27-2014-press-release-statement-of-…
http://skeptico.blogs.com/Simpsonwood_Transcript.pdf

Let's just hammer this one some more:

His Phd. authority was at least an HONEST soul

Rasnick honest? Pull the other one.

"Rasnick is a dishonest person who has put the lives of poor and vulnerable people at risk with deadly consequences. His dishonesty extends to claiming credit for the invention of protease inhibitors. David Rasnick is identified on the denialist Alive and Well website’s advisory board list to be the 'Creator of Protease Inhibitors.' Similar claims are repeated on other denialist websites and in denialist literature. To have created protease inhibitors would be something to boast about: they have saved the lives of millions of people with HIV, and their invention was a breakthrough in HIV treatment. But Rasnick shouldn’t get the credit. It is true that Rasnick worked in a laboratory where some protease inhibitors were developed; it is not true that Rasnick himself invented that class of drugs. He is not listed on any patents that have been granted in respect of the use of these drugs, something that would be true of an 'inventor.' Furthermore, the chemicals Rasnick helped to develop are not used for the treatment of HIV infection — though it would be ironic if they were. Rasnick has also misrepresented his affiliation, calling himself a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Rasnick is and was no such thing. Dr. Peter Duesberg, who is a faculty member at Berkeley and a close friend of Rasnick, allowed Rasnick to use his laboratory. The University has debunked this false claim."

Rasdick rebuts this with a photo of a UCB ID card, which utterly fails to document the "visiting professor" part.

@JGC
"We sequenced 99 Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierra Leone to ~2000× coverage.”

Where is a link to DIRECT evidence? At death, tissues are supposedly FULLl of the virus (that's why they die). WHERE ARE THE MICRO PHOTOS? One or two parts of virus cells from a person does not prove that it has caused the symptoms. A photo with human tissue full of the virus would.

here you go, toto: Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak

I can do you one more. (This also goes to Parker's robotic assertions that it's mutating its way to ever decreasing virulence, which is only going to fly in VP35, GP, VP30, or VP24, and – I'd venture – very likely the GP/sGP balance.)

@Narad
AIDSTRUTH.org is your authority? Looks like they tried to "Andy Wakefield" him. HE MUST BE TELLING THE TRUTH. Also, I have high regards for Georgia Tech, his alma mater.
Anyway, your blather quote is irrelevant. Rasnick made a statement about no DIRECT evidence of Ebola virus isolated from humans.
YOU HAVE YET TO PROVE HIM WRONG!
HA HA!

However, Berkley said that – had work that was BEGUN A DECADE AGO been seen through – it may well have laid the groundwork for a vaccine by now.

"Groundwork"? Had Canada not licensed the VSV-vectored vaccine to NewLink, it would have been done already.

AND:
FRAUD?
“Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) states...."

What the motherfυcking hell do you "think" Krahling & Wlochowski have to with Thompson? Why are you trying to change the fυcking subject from your EBOV babbling?

I've often said that the sooner the human race is wiped out by a flesh eating radioactive virus the better. I'm glad to see the incontrovertible proof that, at last, someone is working on one. Well, I say incontrovertible...... some people looked at some stuff and had an opinion. That's almost the same.

He (?) also seems surprised that the CDC don't send out instructions on how to isolate the virus to any T, D and H that asks for them. The nerve...

By NumberWang (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

@ Brian

"Well, except for the stuff like this:"

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0140673677920001/1-s2.0-S0140673677920001-main.p…

That was what I posted. YOU MUST BE DESPERATE.
NOTE: The Brits sent that CDC a BLOOD SAMPLE from ONE Ebola patient.
THEY DID NOT MICROPHOTOGRAPH THE VIRUS DIRECTLY IN THE BLOOD. Why not? Instead, THEY INJECTED IT INTO A GREEN MONKEY AND THEN USED THE MICROSCOPE. Jon and Ransack are CORRECT!

" While these specimens were being studied, Mr E. T. W. Bowen (Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton Down) sent an aliquot of an acute blood specimen from a patient in Zaire (no. 718, patient M.E.) to the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, for additional study.
This specimen, and ALL SUBSEQUENT ACUTE SPECIMENS, were inoculated into Vero (African GREEN MONKEY) cells. Three days later a distinct cytopathic change (focal roundingandrefractility)was evident,and an aliquotof supernatant fluid was removed for negative contrast ELECTRON MICROSCOPY.

He (?) also seems surprised that the CDC don’t send out instructions on how to isolate the virus to any T, D and H that asks for them.

No, Rasdick is simply trying to pass off a trivial falsehood:

"I asked the CDC what constitutes isolation of Ebola virus from human specimens. I also asked for the protocol for isolating Ebola virus. [No reply from the CDC as of this date.]"

^ Yah, I realized a split-second after pressing "submit" that I had failed to close the <a>.

@Toto:

My strong hunch:
Lassa virus + Marburg virus = Uganda Ebola virus

The homology studies show that your hunch is strongly wrong.

By justthestats (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

Krahling & Wlochowski give us a nice LEGAL definition of FRAUD.....without the meter running. LOL!

Thompson's written admission FOLLOWS THEIR LEGAL DEFINITION TO A "T'.
THEREFORE, ONE CAN LOGICALLY CONCLUDE THOMPSON ADMITS TO FRAUD.

The vaccine industry will not police itself. They cannot be trusted. Thompson's 2004 paper has not been retracted. Thompson still has his job. He has received no consequences for his admitted actions. Congressman Posey still refuses to release the estimated 100,000 pages of CDC documents sent to him by Dr. Thompson WHILE UNDER WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTION! There has been no call by the House Space, Science, Etc. Committee for an investigation of the CDC regarding this matter.
So, citizens should just finance the preplanned EBOLA EXPERIMENTAL VACCINES and allow them to inject that SHI*T into their body, NO QUESTIONS ASKED?

Theoretically speaking, how would you suggest to someone you know only through the Internet that they should be checked out for bipolar disorder in a way that they might actually follow through with it?

By justthestats (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

Lassa virus + Marburg virus = Uganda Ebola virus….the one that was patented.

It's as though you're under the impression that all this shіt hasn't been hashed out already. BDBV isn't EBOV. Patents on products of nature are null and void (PDF).

@justthestats
"The homology studies show that your hunch is strongly wrong.'
PLEASE BACK UP YOUR ASSERTION WITH EVIDENCE. Give us some links.
I'm all eyes!

SPEAKING OF FRAUD, what is the latest on Merck's court case?

"The controversies will find Merck defending itself and its vaccine in at least two federal court cases after a U.S. District judge earlier this month threw out Merck's attempts at dismissal. Merck now faces federal charges of fraud from the whistleblowers, a vaccine competitor and doctors in New Jersey and New York. Merck could also need to defend itself in Congress: The staff of representative Bill Posey (R-Fla) -- a longstanding critic of the CDC interested in an alleged link between vaccines and autism -- is now reviewing some 1,000 documents that the CDC whistleblower turned over to them."
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lawrence-solomon/merck-whistleblowers_b_58…

BATS AND EBOLA? No DIRECT proof. MARBURG VIRUS? Yes.
Remember, Zaire = DRC

"DESPITE the finding of Ebola virus nucleic acid, antigen or antibodies in bats, EBOV HAS NEVER BEEN ISOLATED FROM THEM OR ANY PUTATIVE ANIMAL RESERVOIR so far. However, the ISOLATION OF REPLICATIVE MARBURG VIRUS, another member of the filovirus family, from wild FRUIT BATS (Towner et al. 2009), reinforces the ASSUMPTION that bats are strong EBOV reservoir candidates. Based on this hypothesis, a MODEL of virus dissemination has been proposed: bats can transmit the virus either directly to humans and NHPs or through an unknown vector as illustrated in Figure 4."

COMMENT: EBOV hasn't even been isolated in fruit bats, yet they repeatedly claim they are the "probable" source of Ebola. Interestingly, they HAVE isolated the MARBURG VIRUS from them. Hmmm. This supports my "bioengineering" theory.

Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present
"In this context, an Ebola ecology expedition was organised in May 2011 (Figures 1 and Figure 2) to undertake a preliminary study in Luebo, DRC where recent outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever occurred, and where cases of the disease were linked to catching BATS for human consumption (Leroy et al. 2009). The expedition aimed at testing the techniques and materials to be used during a LARGER INTERNATIONAL expedition planned to take place early the following year. Forty-four specimens of different bat species were sampled, including those which are strongly implicated as potential reservoirs of filoviruses (e.g. H. monstrosus). BLOOD AND TISSUES from various ORGANS were collected and brought to the NICD or NHLS for laboratory testing in the RECENTLY COMMISSIONED MAXIMUM SECURITY LABORATORY (BSL-4), which had undergone extensive and protracted upgrading and refurbishment. This maximum security laboratory constitutes a strategically important research resource for preparedness TRAINING and response to outbreaks of dangerous PATHOGENS, but will also greatly support efforts by African scientists to unravel the elusive nature of filovirus transmission cycles (Figure 3). EXPERIMENTAL INOCULATION STUDIES have recently been conducted at this facility with FILOVIRUSES and Egyptian FRUIT BATS.
DESPITE the finding of Ebola virus nucleic acid, antigen or antibodies in bats, EBOV HAS NEVER BEEN ISOLATED FROM THEM OR ANY PUTATIVE ANIMAL RESERVOIR so far. However, the ISOLATION OF REPLICATIVE MARBURG VIRUS, another member of the filovirus family, from wild FRUIT BATS (Towner et al. 2009), reinforces the ASSUMPTION that bats are strong EBOV reservoir candidates. Based on this hypothesis, a MODEL of virus dissemination has been proposed: bats can transmit the virus either directly to humans and NHPs or through an unknown vector as illustrated in Figure 4." Page 5

"From this observation, it is possible that EHF infections are not as rare as generally thought. Isolated cases may frequently happen in the community without being reported. In support of this HYPOTHESIS, several EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SERO-SURVEYS reported HIGH prevalence of EBOLA ANTIBODIES in communities in the ABSENCE of reports of Ebola outbreaks (Becquart et al. 2010; Busico et al. 1999; Gonzalez et al. 2000). Because IgG antibodies are known to cross-react amongst Ebola species (MacNeil, Reed & Rollin 2011), this high seroprevalence may be the outcome of EXPOSURE TO YET UNKNOWN, less pathogenic or non-pathogenic VARIANTS of EBOLA virus. Page 4
COMMENT: Could this be the result of undisclosed vaccine trials? A "2 for 1"

Muyembe-Tamfum, J.J., Mulangu, S., Masumu, J., Kayembe, J.M., Kemp, A. & Paweska, J.T., 2012, ‘Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa: Past and present’, Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 79(2), Art. #451,
8 pages. http://dx.doi. org/10.4102/ojvr.v79i2.451
Note:
Proceedings of the Conference of the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance ‘One Health’ held at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, July 2011.

@Orac
Narad seems to be telling you to shut me down. I expose too much TRUTH. I've got a real juicy piece that absolutely confirms what I have been saying. Too bad I'll have to post it on more open-minded websites. Quite frankly, to your credit, I have been quite surprised at all you have posted. Thanks!

And PLEASE, just take your dam*n Ebola vaccine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVqXW_yPJk
Be careful......

“Can you explain to us why you think the second scenario is more plausible than the first?”

YES:
multiple paragraphs from Len Horowitz snipped

By Antaeus Feldspar (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

Let's try that again.

“Can you explain to us why you think the second scenario is more plausible than the first?”

YES:
(lengthy passages from Len Horowitz snipped)

Do you also believe Len Horowitz when he claims that the tuning of middle C is the result of a conspiracy and has a function in mind control?

By Antaeus Feldspar (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

“Can you explain to us why you think the second scenario is more plausible than the first?”

One might recall #94 in this context.

YES:
“Regarding Ebola, as detailed in Emerging Viruses ... was among the first vaccine research and development facilities to received [sic] a shipment of contaminated monkeys associated with the first outbreak of the Marburg virus, the mother of Ebola, in 1967. As detailed in my letter to President Mbeki...."

Did you fail to grasp #176, Tutu?

Also:

the first outbreak of the Marburg virus, the mother of Ebola

Even W—dia can tell you that this is imbecilic. You want more, Taters?

I don't think Toto really comes here for the hunting.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 10 Nov 2014 #permalink

Toto, #93:

Relatedly, Stanford University’s Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the author of The Population Bomb, is considered the grand patriarch of population control....

Toto, #178:

Relatedly, Stanford University’s Dr. Paul Ehrlich, the author of The Population Bomb, is considered the grand patriarch of population control....

One might reasonably arrive at the conclusion that Toto is actually a Masonic Jesuit Temporal Coadjuster disinfo agent shilling for The Man of Sin in Rome and Operation Mockingbird.

Ginger Taylor is literally frothing-at-the-mouth on AoA, joined by the usual suspects.

I find it darling that AoA has no problem approving comments from Mary W. "Prosecution for Treason: Epidemics, Weather War, Mind Control, and the Surrender of Sovereignty" Maxwell.

Please do excuse me if this is well known, as the hilarity is new to me. "Dr." Maxwell (Ph.D. unspecified, but it seems to predate her going to law school), reports as follows on Gallop v. Rumsfeld (a "very strong lawsuit"):

If a case gets dismissed, a plaintiff can appeal to the Circuit Court, and that is likely to be his/her last chance. Should the appeals court agree with the district judge’s decision, in federal suits, that is almost always the last stop. Although a citizen has the right to ask for Supreme Court review, the Supreme Court usually declines the request. A case such as this one, which claims that Cheney arranged the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, is virtually guaranteed to die on the vine.

As it happens, it didn't exactly "die on the vine," with the Second Circuit impressively being provoked into sanctioning, in separate proceedings, both attorneys Cunningham and Veale. Frivolous appeals of frivolous lawsuits are not your friends in federal court.

She is most recently raving about, yes, "transhumanism" and "e-bola 2.0," well after everyone had covered the latter.

Grease EBOBUN is the word...

<blockquote.Where is a link to DIRECT evidence?

That would be the link I provided you, in the post you're responding to..

WHERE ARE THE MICRO PHOTOS?

I'm sorry, but I can't quite understand what you're looking for by asking this question--surely you're arguing that electronic microscopy is better able to detect the presence of or distinguish between different viral strains thanis DNA amplifaction and sequencing?

One or two parts of virus cells from a person does not prove that it has caused the symptoms.

Uh...timothy? Do you even realize that there's no such thing as a virus cell?

THEY DID NOT MICROPHOTOGRAPH THE VIRUS DIRECTLY IN THE BLOOD. Why not?

The same reason the didn't remove the virus surgically and grow it in a flower pot: because that isn't a manner by which viral infections can be reliably detected and their identity, DNA sequence, etc. be confirmed.

Thompson’s 2004 paper has not been retracted.

Do you mean DeStefano's 2004 paper. PMID:14761240? DeStefano is, after all, its first author.

If you do, by what rational argument should it be retracted?

Thompson still has his job.

Why do you believe he should have lost his job?

He has received no consequences for his admitted actions.

What actions do you belevie he's admitted to, and why do you beleive there should be consequences for those actions?

"Virus cells" comment should have been directed at toto, not timothy

The Brits sent that CDC a BLOOD SAMPLE from ONE Ebola patient.
THEY DID NOT MICROPHOTOGRAPH THE VIRUS DIRECTLY IN THE BLOOD. Why not? Instead, THEY INJECTED IT INTO A GREEN MONKEY AND THEN USED THE MICROSCOPE.

The amount of misunderstanding and wishful thinking is so high, this person should be curving the universe around itself.
And the worse part, it's quoting its source right next to its twisted opinion and still managed to get about everything wrong.

"This specimen, and ALL SUBSEQUENT ACUTE SPECIMENS," - all subsequent? I thought it was only one sample.

"were inoculated into Vero (African GREEN MONKEY) cells".
Cells. Not the full monkey, but cells cultivated in a Petri dish in a lab.

Standard procedure to isolate and identify a pathogen. We do it for all types of germs, not just Ebola.
Put the initial sample on something the germs will like : most bacteria and fungi will be happy with some sugars and a bit of beef broth, but viruses, being parasites, need live cells. Flu viruses like chicken cells (hence, let's use eggs), other viruses prefer something closer to human cells. Let them multiply, and then you have a big lump of germs to run tests on.

So why electron microscopy instead of "blood microphotography"?
For the same reason we are using a big telescope to look a distant stars, rather than a mundane pair of binoculars. The things we want to look at are very small (or very far away, for stars), so we need specialized instrumentation to get pretty pictures with a satisfying number of details.

By Helianthus (not verified) on 11 Nov 2014 #permalink

@JGC
You are grasping at straws! LOL!

HERE'S HOW EBOV WORKS:
"After GP1,2-mediated binding to the host cell surface, EBOV is internalized into endosomes primarily through macropinocytosis (20). The particles then traffic to late endosomal compartments where low pH–dependent cellular proteases, cathepsins B and L, prime GP1,2 for subsequent fusion by generating an 18- to 19-kD form of GP1 (21–23). Next, an additional factor (or factors) triggers GP1,2 to mediate fusion with the endosomal membrane in a process that requires low pH (23–25). Host factors involved in the architecture and trafficking of endosomal/lysosomal compartments such as the subunits of the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex and, in particular, Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1), a membrane protein involved in cholesterol egress, have emerged as EBOV entry factors (26). Studies have shown that the processed GP1 specifically interacts with NPC1 protein, and expression of NPC1 is required for productive infection (26–28). Moreover, expression of NPC1 confers susceptibility to filovirus infection when it is expressed in nonpermissive reptilian cells (28). The GP1/NPC1 interaction appears to be a key step in the entry process, but additional events may also be required to generate a fusion-ready form of the glycoprotein. Once a fusion-ready form of the glycoprotein has been generated, the GP2 subunit mediates viral/cellular membrane fusion, and the EBOV nucleocapsids are released into the cell cytoplasm where synthesis of new viral components ensues." Page 5
Published in final edited form as:
Sci Transl Med. 2013 June 19; 5(190): 190ra79. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005471.
Johansen et al

WOW! GLOW-IN-THE-DARK EBOV!

"The genus Ebolavirus includes five species of Ebola virus with case fatality rates up to 90%, whereas the single Marburg virus has different isolates with differing mortality rates (20 to 90%)."

"A high-throughput assay for Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) has been developed using the recombinant EBOV ENGINEERED to express the enhanced GREEN FLUORESCENT protein (eGFP) established by Towner et al. (4). The INSERTION of the eGFP gene into the EBOV genome allows for the detection of infected cells by flow cytometry, fluorimetry, fluorescence microscopy, and high-content imaging. The eGFP-expressing EBOV RETAINS the INFECTION and REPLICATION characteristics of the parent virus in vitro (4). The eGFP-EBOV offers great utility for SCREENING because this virus targets the complete virus life cycle and offers a higher throughput of drug screening than traditional plaque assays and yield reduction assays. Such a CELL-BASED ASSAY can be used to identify INHIBITORS that target both viral and host pathways relevant to VIRAL REPLICATION, and the activity of “hit” compounds can be confirmed using native isotypes. The identification of active compounds from this type of screen also may be helpful in identifying the critical pathways or targets that are essential for viral replication." Page 2

"Experiments using live filoviruses were performed in biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facilities at USAMRIID. Personnel wear positive-pressure protective suits (ILC Dover) fitted with HEPA filters and umbilical-fed air. USAMRIID is registered with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Select Agent Program for the possession and use of biological select agents and toxins and has implemented a biological surety program in accordance with U.S. Army regulation AR 50-1 “Biological Surety.” Page 9

Published in final edited form as:
Sci Transl Med. 2013 June 19; 5(190): 190ra79. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005471.
Johansen et al

@Helianthus
"an acute blood specimen"
This should have been loaded with Ebola virus (from a HUMAN).
BLOOD CAN BE PREPARED FOR VIEW UNDER AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE. Why go through green monkeys?
You are correct that they sent later samples, yet they were ALL exposed to green monkey cells before observation.
It was not clear if they were "inoculated" into living monkey cells (in vivo) or those in a petri dish. Other accounts from the 1976 outbreak mention inoculation "in vivo".

SPEAKING OF FRAUD, what is the latest on Merck’s court case?

Ooh, an article from Lawrence Solomon in the PuffHo!
I'm appropriately impressed.

COMMENT: EBOV hasn’t even been isolated in fruit bats, yet they repeatedly claim they are the “probable” source of Ebola.

And where, pray tell, do you think the antibodies are coming from? What do you think these are doing there?

SPEAKING OF FRAUD, what is the latest on Merck’s court case?

I could tell you, but I think you've earned the right to try (and fail) to figure it out yourself.

"And where, pray tell, do you think the antibodies are coming from? What do you think these are doing there?"

EXPERIMENTAL VACCINES?
I've documented that they shoot up bats and monkeys. They have been testing EXPERIMENTAL Ebola vaccines in animals for the last 10 years.
OF COURSE, THERE IS ALWAYS LYING OR PUTTING IN A "FIX":

Iowa State researcher indicted for faking “promising” AIDS vaccine studies

"Years ago, Dr. Michael Cho and Dr. Dong-Pyou were working on HIV research at Case Western Reserve University. The two began a collaboration that lasted for about a dozen years.

One of the projects they worked on was trying to develop an anti-HIV vaccine. They started receiving grants for this research. Over the course of time, the grants totaled nearly $20 million. One reason for the steady stream of grant funding was that their research showed that the vaccine they were working on was causing rabbits to form antibodies against HIV. The implication was that, if rabbits could build an immune response to the vaccine, the same might happen in humans. This might finally be an anti-HIV vaccine that worked.

Iowa State University recruited Dr. Cho to move himself and his research there. Cho did and invited Dr. Han, whose research formed the cornerstone of this vaccine work, along. Han accepted. They moved themselves and their research to ISU. Research continued there on the vaccine and other projects.

At about this time, other researchers, not affiliated with Cho’s group, tried to reproduce the results that Cho had announced. They immunized rabbits with Cho’s vaccine. But the rabbits didn’t develop much in the way of an antibody response. Certainly not the “exciting results” that the original researchers claimed. The researchers reported their conflict ion results to ISU. ISU launched an investigation. The positive antibody results had all come from the work that Dr. Han had done.

Investigators took the rabbit blood samples, that Han claimed contained high levels of antibody and sent them off for testing to another laboratory. This reference laboratory did find high levels of antibody in the samples. But the antibody wasn’t made by rabbits, it was antibody made in humans. Humans who had never been injected with the vaccine. It had been added to the rabbit blood so that the research would show positive and promising results.

HIV virus attacking cell. 3D render, via Shutterstock.
HIV virus attacking cell. 3D render, via Shutterstock.
ISU confronted Dr. Han and he admitted that he had “spiked” the rabbit blood samples. That is, he added the desired antibody to the rabbits’ blood to make the data look much better. With promising results like this, he was hoping to continue to get more grant money and further advance his career. He apologized for his deception. ISU allowed him to resign and the papers published that used Han’s faked data were retracted.

Often that’s where the stories about research fraud end. The researcher resigns. But in some cases, those who provided the funding get involved and actually prosecute the researcher. This doesn’t happen often. Only a few times in the US that I’m aware of. And once or twice in Europe.

In this case, much of the money came from grants provided through the federal government. They are now investigating the matter. About $4 million dollars in grant money has been disbursed to Cho and others, but hasn’t been spent. They are deciding whether to let ISU and or Cho (the researcher who did not fake the data) use it, or take it back and give it to other researchers. The government is also considering if it can require ISU to pay back any funds already spent on the spurious research.

Dr. Dong-Pyou Dr. Han apologized for his misconduct after he resigned from ISU. The government, however, wanted more. Last week, Han was indicted on four counts of fraud. Right now he is free on bail. He can face up to five years in jail for each count of fraud, and may be required to pay back part of the research funds. ISU has already repaid about $500,000.

Dr. Cho and the other research team members have been exonerated from any wrongdoing in the research.

In a related story, Dr. Alfredo Fusco is being investigated in Italy for scientific fraud. He is accused of falsifying some of his data on cancer research.

I’d written before about the problem of fraudulent research. In my opinion, not enough has been done to address it. And until it is, we will continue to be plagued by the Dr. Dong-Pyous of the world."
http://americablog.com/2014/07/iowa-state-researcher-indited-faking-pro…

"Ooh, an article from Lawrence Solomon in the PuffHo!
I’m appropriately impressed."

@TBruce
Please cite any inaccuracies in the article. I read the original affidavit- even posted it here- and what Solomon wrote was accurate. I also personally contacted Congressman Posey's office. Huff-Po's reference to the CDC documents was accurate as well. Quite frankly, I was SHOCKED that Huff-Po published such a truthful article about the pro-vaxxers. The truth is, this article was LATE to the game. The TRUE alternative media had covered this MUCH earlier.

sent to him by Dr. Thompson WHILE UNDER WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTION!

More fail. There is no such thing.

Krahling & Wlochowski give us a nice LEGAL definition of FRAUD…..without the meter running. LOL!

The plaintiffs in a civil action get to make up legal definitions? IANAL but I don't think that's how it works.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 11 Nov 2014 #permalink

Narad seems to be telling you to shut me down.

Your delusional thinking is again noted.

I expose too much TRUTH. I’ve got a real juicy piece that absolutely confirms what I have been saying. Too bad I’ll have to post it on more open-minded websites.

Promises, promises.

“The homology studies show that your hunch is strongly wrong.’
PLEASE BACK UP YOUR ASSERTION WITH EVIDENCE. Give us some links.
I’m all eyes!

Why, certainly! Here is a comparison of the gene sequences of Ebola and Lassa. Note that they are clustered by similarity with other organisms. If there is Lassa RNA in Ebola you should see a cluster that has Ebola and Lassa in it but not Marburg. You can also download the raw data there and run it through the homology program of your choice.

When you're done with that, check out what other researchers have written about Ebola homology.

By justthestats (not verified) on 11 Nov 2014 #permalink

I expose too much TRUTH. I’ve got a real juicy piece that absolutely confirms what I have been saying. Too bad I’ll have to post it on more open-minded websites.

If only there were some way for Toto to site up a blog of his or her own rather than rely upon the charity of strangers!

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 11 Nov 2014 #permalink

@JGC
"Thompson’s 2004 paper has not been retracted.

Do you mean DeStefano’s 2004 paper. PMID:14761240? DeStefano is, after all, its first author.

If you do, by what rational argument should it be retracted?"

Cheryl Attkison's interview with DeStephano after Thompson's publicly released admission to fraud regarding the 2004 study (it is irrelevant that DeSteph.'s name is first. The final protocol could not have not been changed without his knowledge and approval) nicely answers your question:

DeStefano: "...We’re, you know, autism, as you probably are aware, is a CONDITION that REALLY PROBABLY has its start while the child is still in the womb. And, you now, it doesn’t, some of the behaviors and such don’t come apparent, become apparent until maybe the child is one, two, three years old." (COMMENT: An UNSCIENTIFIC STATEMENT. He gives no evidence of SCIENTIFIC PROOF!)

"....But, so that’s at 36 months. And at 36 months, an exposure around that time period is just not biologically plausible to have a uh, uh, a causal association with autism. I mean autism would’ve already started by then. [I me?] I reiterate it probably starts in the womb, but even if you’re saying, you wanna call it starting by the time some behavioral features become apparent, it had started before 36 months. And then, you know, we, from, so I think from a biological argument, it’s implausible this was a causal association. And then I think we have, uh–pretty convince–

Attkisson: Let me just, let me just interrupt what, before I lose that thought. So you already made up your mind regardless of what the stats show that if it, certain things show that it didn’t make sense, you wouldn’t, you would try to find out a way to…

DeStefano: No, that’s not we said, I’m just saying, you know, you INTERPRETt, you INTERPRET FINDINGS, also, you know, there’s the STATISTICS, then you have to also INTERPRET, bring in things like biological PLAUSIBILITY, how do you INTERPRET these RESULTS? (COMMENT: THIS IS NOT THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS. They got rid of the ACTUAL results and then produced a FRAUDULENT REPORT. He admits that the ACTUAL DATA didn't fit with his UNPROVEN pre-conceived idea of what the results should be!) So I THINK we had pretty STRONG EVIDENCE (COMMENT: This is his OPINION. He gives NO EVIDENCE!) that these results at 36 months were primarily a reflection of requirements to attend early intervention special education programs for the for the children with autism. And why do we say that? We say that because the effect was almost all seen in children 3-5 years of age and those were the ones that early education programs and 98%, you know, 98% of that of that age group was in special education programs for which vaccination was of a requirement.

Attkisson: Is there any possibility that it is biologically plausible and you just haven’t, you know, that that’s, the consensus is that it’s not, among you guys, but that it is and you’re overlooking that?

DeStefano: I’m, I'M NOT AWARE of any data would, that would s–, you know, that would say that, uh, you would have, um, onset of autism AFTER 36 months."
http://sharylattkisson.com/audio-cdc-addresses-allegations-on-vaccine-a…
(COMMENT: DeStephano admits the study data showed "these results AT 36 months" THIS LAST STATEMENT BY DeSTEPHANO is MEANINGLESS. It is TOTALLY CONTRIVED TO DECEIVE. HE SHOULD BE FIRED AND THROWN IN JAIL.

Krahling & Wlochowski give us a nice LEGAL definition of FRAUD…..without the meter running. LOL!

Thompson’s written admission FOLLOWS THEIR LEGAL DEFINITION TO A “T’.
THEREFORE, ONE CAN LOGICALLY CONCLUDE THOMPSON ADMITS TO FRAUD.

No, but one can immediately conclude that you have no familiarity with what you're yammering about. There is no resemblance whatever between Thompson and Krahling & Wlochowski. Explain the difference between the FCA and the FTCA for me.

"rather than rely upon the charity of strangers!"

It's the LEAST the vaccine companies can do for me.

"There is no resemblance whatever between Thompson and Krahling & Wlochowski."

Back up your ASSERTION.

@justthestats
YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW Jack.
Specific citations please.

Also, if Ebola Zaire has not been isolated in humans, and HAS NOT BEEN ISOLATED IN WILD ANIMALS, where are they getting it from? So far, IT IS ONLY FOUND IN LABS!

Thompson still has his job.

@JGC
"Why do you believe he should have lost his job?

He has received no consequences for his admitted actions.

What actions do you belevie he’s admitted to, and why do you beleive there should be consequences for those actions?"

Well, here's what happened to AIDS vaccine FRAUDSTER Dr. Han:

"Dr. Dong Pyou Han lLEFT HIS JOB as an assistant professor and a laboratory manager at the university last year after admitting that he SPIKED rabbit blood with human ANTIBODIES that made it appear the animals' immune systems were reacting to an AIDS vaccine being tested. In reality, the vaccine was having little effect, according to Han's indictment."
"The INDICTMENT came after calls from at least one professor and ethics expert for Han to be prosecuted. The case prompted Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to question whether the government would ever be able to recoup any of the grant money awarded as a result of Han's FRAUD."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/19/fake-aids-research…

ALL AUTHORS OF THE DESTEPHANO 2004 MMR vaccine/ Autism report SHOULD BE TREATED IN KIND.

@SADMAR

"Huge chunks of the letter are a narrative supposedly related by William Thompson, yet Thompson himself does not confirm any of it, nor do his previous public statements. Throughout this narrative are select fragmented quotes allegedly from Hooker’s recorded conversations with Thompson. The quotes are so sparse, we can guess Thompson actually uttered those words, but we have only Hooker and Wakefield’s word that they are representing the context properly."

Thompson has a lawyer.
He still works for the people he squealed on.
It would be to everyone's benefit to SUE HOOKER AND WAKEFIELD FOR FRAUD AND SLANDER, or at least for making an illegal recording.
After all, that's how the White house shut up Linda Tripp......
He hasn't. Must be the real deal.
DUH.

"Dr. Han apologized for his misconduct after he resigned from ISU. The government, however, wanted more. Last week, Han was indicted on four counts of fraud. Right now he is free on bail. He can face up to five years in jail for each count of fraud, and may be required to pay back part of the research funds. ISU has already repaid about $500,000."

Well, at least Dr. Thompson has apologized and admitted to fraudulent misconduct. That's a start.
$1million x 1 out of 48 boys x 10 years.....Hmmmmm.

@Annie

"October 23, 2014
At least there are some anti-vaccine advocates who concede this whole thing has pretty much been an epic failure for the anti-vaccine crowd.

“The whistleblower issue has been poorly handled from start to finish. I don’t think it will ever be taken seriously. Unfortunately as soon as Wakefield’s name was attached to it, it was probably doomed to failure.

The illegally used recordings by doctor Hooker, the information being dealt out piece-meal in a sensationalist manner rather than just delivering all the obtained information up front….. This has done nothing but give scientists/society at large the “proof” they’ve been looking for that vax skeptics will not let something like the truth or ethics stop their agenda. Puts them on the same level as the CDC as far as I’m concerned.”
PLEASE DOCUMENT THIS QUOTE. OTHERWISE, I ASSUME YOU MADE IT UP.

"illegally used recordings"
THIS IS FALSE. IT WAS LEGAL IN GEORGIA, WHERE THOMPSON LIVES AND MADE THE CALLS TO HOOKER.
If it was illegal, Thompson would have SUED Hooker and Wakefield by now.

WHERE'S THE EBOLA VIRUS HUMAN ISOLATE?
This research is ridiculous!

The VP35 and VP40 proteins of filoviruses. Homology between Marburg and Ebola viruses.
Bukreyev AA1, Volchkov VE, Blinov VM, Netesov SV.

Abstract
The FRAGMENTS of genomic RNA sequences of Marburg (MBG) and Ebola (EBO) viruses are reported. These FRAGMENTS were found to encode the VP35 and VP40 PROTEINS. The canonic sequences were revealed before and after each open reading frame. It is suggested that these sequences are mRNA extremities and at the same time the regulatory elements for mRNA transcription. Homology between the MBG and EBO PROTEINS was discovered.

COMMENT: If all they have is a FRAGMENT, how do they know it's Ebola?
If they only have "homologous" proteins, isn't that the same as saying they're BOTH Marburg? LOL! Jon was correct!

I can only think that thisToto lives in a version of Oz that Baum never wrote about. Because the original Toto, when he spoke (as he did in later books), said thinks succinctly and intelligently.

I just realized this thread's open for another 45 days or so of Toto's verbal diarreha...

Oh, joy.

By Scottynuke (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Scottynuke: agreed. At least the now-banned Greg forced us to come up with thoughtful answers to the arguments he raised. Toto is incoherent and comes across as mentally ill.

By Julian Frost (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

I think mentally ill might just be an understatement in this case.

I'm feeling much the same as I did with Thingy: uncomfortable about mocking the afflicted.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

Cheryl Attkison’s interview with DeStephano after Thompson’s publicly released admission to fraud regarding the 2004 study (it is irrelevant that DeSteph.’s name is first.

I haven't seen Thompson admit fraud, publically or privately. Where do beleive this admission was made?

Cheryl Attkison’s interview with DeStephano after Thompson’s publicly released admission to fraud regarding the 2004 study (it is irrelevant that DeSteph.’s name is first. The final protocol could not have not been changed without his knowledge and approval) nicely answers your question:

I'm unaware that the protocol was changed in any way, toto. What makes you believe it was?

Toto: He has received no consequences for his admitted actions.
JGC: What actions do you belevie he’s admitted to, and why do you beleive there should be consequences for those actions?
Toto:Well, here’s what happened to AIDS vaccine FRAUDSTER Dr. Han:

Why are you talking about "what happened to Dr. Han" due to his conduct while studying an AIDS vaccines when the question you've been asked to answer is what you believe Dr. Thompson may have done while studying MMR vaccines which would reuqire his dismissal?

You do realize they're two different people, don't you?

Specific citations please.

Toto, please look again at that first link. I linked to the actual, complete sequencing of every gene from several strains of Ebola and Lassa, organized into 35 clusters, with every sequenence in that huge database that matches by a very generous definition of "match" listed for each cluster. It's not actually possible to be more specific than that -- you're literally one click away from being able to see each gene at he amino acid level and you can eyeball them yourself. There are no significant overlaps between the sequences from the two viruses. If there were, they would show up on that link.

The Google link, while not specific, shows that a whole lot of homology work has been done on Ebola, and no one has mentioned anything about Lassa on the first page. Such a philology-defying similarity would be front-page news if it existed. But instead you only see similarities with other filoviruses, because that's all that there are, as you could see with my first link.

Also, if Ebola Zaire has not been isolated in humans, and HAS NOT BEEN ISOLATED IN WILD ANIMALS, where are they getting it from? So far, IT IS ONLY FOUND IN LABS!

Perhaps you missed the links in this thread that talk about the isolation of Ebola. The fact that they do the isolation work in labs instead of, say, on the bus, is not really surprising.

WHERE’S THE EBOLA VIRUS HUMAN ISOLATE?

In level four containment, where it belongs. Do you think they'd mail it out to random commenters on Internet blogs?

If all they have is a FRAGMENT, how do they know it’s Ebola?

They're comparing certain fragments, or in other words, interesting sections of the RNA. They have the whole sequencing, and know that the fragments that they are studying are open-frame in both genomes.

But even if they only had fragments, they could distinguish whether it was Ebola or not by searching that website I linked to for the exact sequence they found, since all seven genes on Ebola show significant differences from every other kind of virus.

If they only have “homologous” proteins, isn’t that the same as saying they’re BOTH Marburg?

All genetically normal humans have only homologous proteins. Does that mean we're genetically identical? And we are much more homologous with each other than Ebola and Marburg.

By justthestats (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

@JGC
Please post the LEGAL definition of scientific fraud.
THEN SHUT UP.

I fear you're wasting your time, justhestats. Clearly it isn't enough to simply explain things to toto: to make any real progress we''ll somehow have to understand them for him as well.

PLEASE DOCUMENT THIS QUOTE. OTHERWISE, I ASSUME YOU MADE IT UP.

How lazy are you?

THIS IS FALSE. IT WAS LEGAL IN GEORGIA, WHERE THOMPSON LIVES AND MADE THE CALLS TO HOOKER.

This would be fascinating if, you know, Thompson had made the recordings.

If it was illegal, Thompson would have SUED Hooker and Wakefield by now.

I see that the difference between criminal and civil law is yet another thing you don't understand.

Please post the LEGAL definition of scientific fraud.

There isn't one. Oh, wait, do you mean the definition of research misconduct used by ORI? The Wakefraud letter is almost as comically stupid as you are. CDC has already commented. The work went through internal review before it was published. You know what ORI does (other than tossing it outright, which is what's going to happen)? They direct complaints to the original agency.

THEN SHUT UP.

Poor baby. Perhaps you should have stuck to your previous plan to bugger off to "more open-minded websites."

ALL AUTHORS OF THE DESTEPHANO 2004 MMR vaccine/ Autism report SHOULD BE TREATED IN KIND.

Could you learn to freaking spell DeStefano?

“There is no resemblance whatever between Thompson and Krahling & Wlochowski.”

Back up your ASSERTION.

I already told you to figure out the difference between the FCA and the FTCA. That's more than enough to provide the answer. If you're too lazy to do this, I'd rather just watch you make an ass out of yourself.

Cheryl Attkison’s interview with DeStephano
Three names, and not one of them spelled correctly. I am impressed.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

@MI Dawn, Scottynuke, Julian Frost, Lawrence, Krebiozen,JGC, and justthestats

I "REALLY PROBABLY" believe you are all frothy plume-plucked boar-pigs! Here is my humble advice to improve your unfortunate lot:
JUST TAKE YOUR DAM* EBOLA VACCINES!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVqXW_yPJk

YOUR FACES ARE BEGINNING TO HAVE A NICE WARM GREEN GLOW!
“A high-throughput assay for Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) has been developed using the recombinant EBOV ENGINEERED to express the enhanced GREEN FLUORESCENT protein (eGFP) established by Towner et al. (4). The INSERTION of the eGFP gene into the EBOV genome allows for the detection of infected cells by flow cytometry, fluorimetry, fluorescence microscopy, and high-content imaging. The eGFP-expressing EBOV RETAINS the INFECTION and REPLICATION characteristics of the parent virus in vitro (4). "
Sci Transl Med. 2013 June 19; 5(190): 190ra79. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005471.
Johansen et al

I think mentally ill might just be an understatement in this case.
I’m feeling much the same as I did with Thingy: uncomfortable about mocking the afflicted.

Tot is enjoying it, so you might as well too. "LOL" is a very serious, thoughtful, argument that has never been made in such detail or with such care

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

"I already told you to figure out the difference between the FCA and the FTCA. That’s more than enough to provide the answer. If you’re too lazy to do this, I’d rather just watch you make an ass out of yourself."

The FCA and FTCA? What irrelevant nonsense!
Surely you could do better than that.
You're just mad that I use BIG PHARMA lawyers FOR FREE!
HA HA HA!

"There isn’t one"
HA! HA! HA!

"Congress, siding with the critics, enacted the Health Research Extension Act of 1985. The Act required federally supported research institutions to develop internal procedures for handling allegations of scientific fraud, and also mandated the establishment of a new government agency to receive and respond to such allegations. That agency, the Office of Scientific Integrity, was established in 1989, and was renamed the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) in 1992. In 1993, the ORI became part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In 1999, the ORI ceased conducting its own fact-finding operations, instead ceding that role to the inspector general of HHS. ORI continues, however, to oversee all scientific fraud investigations. From 1994 to 2000, ORI processed 1,205 allegations of scientific misconduct, and sustained findings of scientific misconduct and/or took administrative action in ninety-five cases.

Fabrication of Data or Physical Evidence
There are several varieties of scientific fraud. Perhaps the most egregious incidents involve "fabrication" or "forgery," for example, situations in which researchers deliberately invent or falsify data, or report results of experiments that were never conducted."
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401803766.html

"Cheryl Attkison’s interview with DeStephano
Three names, and not one of them spelled correctly. I am impressed."

Sharyl should have picked a stage name, and quite frankly, I enjoy mispelling DeStephano's name because it bugs you.
LOL!

Toto, I'm at a complete loss--what point were you trying to make by noting the development of that high throughput flourescent assay?

@JGC
"Toto, I’m at a complete loss"

I am glad you have admitted the cold hard truth. I was trying to be polite and not mention it........

The FCA and FTCA? What irrelevant nonsense!
Surely you could do better than that.
You’re just mad that I use BIG PHARMA lawyers FOR FREE!
HA HA HA!

Yah. Let me remind you that you couldn't even identify the relators and still haven't figured out how to answer your original question:

SPEAKING OF FRAUD, what is the latest on Merck’s court case?

It takes a special kind of stupid to assert that the FCA is "irrelevant" to Krahling & Wlochowski. You do recall your original imbecility, right?

Krahling & Wlochowski give us a nice LEGAL definition of FRAUD…..without the meter running. LOL!

Thompson’s written admission FOLLOWS THEIR LEGAL DEFINITION

TO A “T’.
THEREFORE, ONE CAN LOGICALLY CONCLUDE THOMPSON ADMITS TO FRAUD.

You can't even find the damn case. You don't understand that there is no civil recourse against individual government employees acting within the scope of their duties, all because you're phenomenally stupid.

Given the desperately shrieking tone of this entry, though, I suspect you're figuring this out.

“There isn’t one”
HA! HA! HA!

[copy and paste from... encyclopedia.com]

Let's again return to your original tantrum:

Please post the LEGAL definition of scientific fraud.
THEN SHUT UP.

I hate to break this to you, but encyclopedia.com isn't a legal reference. So howsabout you get your little ass in gear and start searching the C.F.R.? Given the part that you selectively failed to quote from #246, I take it you reject that, so you are on your fυcking own here, Chuckles.

@Narad
Now you've gone and exposed yourself, "Annie".
Ha! Ha! Ha!

I am glad you have admitted the cold hard truth. I was trying to be polite and not mention it……..

There's no need to be bashful when everyone else is already well aware that whatever "thought process" led you to disgorge that one is going to be even more hilariously idiotic when expressed in your own words.

Dr. Orenstein!
Please give Annie/Narad his EBO vax NOW!
He's losing control.

quite frankly, I enjoy mispelling DeStephano’s name because it bugs you.
LOL!

Given that you apparently hadn't even heard of DeStefano until this was pointed out to you (#209), a more parsimonious explanation is that you've never even read it.

@Narad
Here is the appropriate law from the HIGHEST COURT:

13 Thou shalt not kill.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus 20

Given that you apparently hadn’t even heard of DeStefano
Toto knew the name back in October 4 in a previous thread, but memory is hard

Speaking of that thread:
Perhaps there are two Totos, There was the Very Serious one earlier in the thread, demanding JUSTICE for the perpetrators of the vaccine injuries inflicted on his kids (because genetic conditions are a form of inferiority that only happen to other people); and then there’s the more recent one running up and down the thread in his underpants, leaving flaming bags of dog poop on doorsteps and giggling LOL a lot.

Or else he’s just another troll.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

Whoops, last two paragraphs should be blockquoted.
Quintilius Varus Scienceblogs, give me back my blockquotes!

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN VAXXINE WORLD:

"Viruses 2014, 6(9), 3663-3682; doi:10.3390/v6093663
Letter
Filovirus RefSeq Entries: Evaluation and Selection of Filovirus Type Variants, Type Sequences, and Names
Jens H. Kuhn 1,#,¶,‡,*, Kristian G. Andersen 2, Yīmíng Bào 3,^,‡, Sina Bavari 4, Stephan Becker 5, Richard S. Bennett 6, Nicholas H. Bergman 6, Olga Blinkova 3,‡, Steven Bradfute 7, J. Rodney Brister 3,^,‡, Alexander Bukreyev 8,#, Kartik Chandran 9,#, Alexander A. Chepurnov 10, Robert A. Davey 11, Ralf G. Dietzgen 12,¶, Norman A. Doggett 13, Olga Dolnik 5,#, John M. Dye 4,#, Sven Enterlein 14, Paul W. Fenimore 13, Pierre Formenty 15, Alexander N. Freiberg 8, Robert F. Garry 17, Nicole L. Garza 4, Stephen K. Gire 2, Jean-Paul Gonzalez 16, Anthony Griffiths 11, Christian T. Happi 18, Lisa E. Hensley 1, Andrew S. Herbert 4, Michael C. Hevey 6, Thomas Hoenen 19, Anna N. Honko 1, Georgy M. Ignatyev 20, Peter B. Jahrling 1, Joshua C. Johnson 1, Karl M. Johnson 21, Jason Kindrachuk 1, Hans-Dieter Klenk 5, Gary Kobinger 22, Tadeusz J. Kochel 6, Matthew G. Lackemeyer 1, Daniel F. Lackner 6, Eric M. Leroy 23,#, Mark S. Lever 24, Elke Mühlberger 25,#, Sergey V. Netesov 26,#, Gene G. Olinger 1, Sunday A. Omilabu 27, Gustavo Palacios 4, Rekha G. Panchal 4, Daniel J. Park 28, Jean L. Patterson 11,#, Janusz T. Paweska 29,#, Clarence J. Peters 8, James Pettitt 1, Louise Pitt 4, Sheli R. Radoshitzky 4, Elena I. Ryabchikova 30, Erica Ollmann Saphire 31,#, Pardis C. Sabeti 2, Rachel Sealfon 32, Aleksandr M. Shestopalov 26, Sophie J. Smither 24,#, Nancy J. Sullivan 33, Robert Swanepoel 34, Ayato Takada 35,#, Jonathan S. Towner 36,#, Guido van der Groen 37, Viktor E. Volchkov 38,#, Valentina A. Volchkova 38, Victoria Wahl-Jensen 6, Travis K. Warren 4,#, Kelly L. Warfield 39, Manfred Weidmann 40 and Stuart T. Nichol 36,*
1 Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; E-Mails: kuhnjens@mail.nih.gov (J.H.K.); lisa.hensley@nih.gov (L.E.H.); anna.honko@nih.gov (A.N.H.); jahrlingp@niaid.nih.gov (P.B.J.); joshua.johnson@nih.gov (J.C.J.); kindrachuk.kenneth@nih.gov (J.K.); matthew.lackemeyer@nih.gov (M.G.L.); gene.olinger@nih.gov (G.G.O.); james.pettitt@nih.gov (J.P.)
2 FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; E-Mails: kandersen@oeb.harvard.edu (K.G.A.); sgire@oeb.harvard.edu (S.K.G.); pardis@broadinstitute.org (P.C.S.)
3 Information Engineering Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA; E-Mails: bao@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Y.B.); olga.blinkova@nih.gov (O.B.); jamesbr@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (J.R.B.);
4 United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; E-Mails: sina.bavari.civ@mail.mil (S.B.); john.m.dye1.civ@mail.mil (J.M.D.); Nicole.l.lackemeyer.ctr@mail.mil (N.L.G.); anderw.s.herbert.ctr@mail.mil (A.S.H.); gustavo.f.palacios.ctr@us.army.mil (G.P.); rekha.g.panchal.civ@mail.mil (R.G.P.); louise.pitt@us.army.mil (L.P.); sheli.r.radoshitzky.ctr@mail.mil (S.R.R.); travis.k.warren.ctr@mail.mil (T.K.W.)
5 Institut für Virologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany; E-Mails: becker@staff.uni-marburg.de (S.B.); Dolnik@staff.uni-marburg.de (O.D.); klenk@mailer.uni-marburg.de (H.-D.K.)
6 National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA; E-Mails: richard.bennett@nbacc.dhs.gov (R.S.B.); nicholas.bergman@nbacc.dhs.gov (N.H.B.); michael.hevey@nbacc.dhs.gov (M.C.H.); tadeusz.kochel@nbacc.dhs.gov (T.J.K.); daniel.lackner@nbacc.dhs.gov (D.F.L.); victoria.jensen@nbacc.dhs.gov (V.W-J.)
7 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; E-Mails: steven_bradfute@yahoo.com (S.B.)
8 Department of Pathology and Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA; E-Mails: alexander.bukreyev@utmb.edu (A.B.); anfreibe@utmb.edu (A.N.F.); cjpeters@UTMB.EDU (C.J.P.);
9 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA; E-Mail: kartik.chandran@einstein.yu.edu
10 Institute of Clinical Immunology, Russian Academy of Science, Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, 630091; E-Mail: alexa.che.purnov@gmail.com
11 Department of Virology and Immunology, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78227, USA; E-Mails: rdavey@txbiomed.org (R.A.D.); agriffiths@txbiomed.org (A.G.); jpatters@txbiomed.org (J.L.P.)
12 Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; E-Mails: r.dietzgen@uq.edu.au (R.G.D.)
13 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA; E-Mails: doggett@lanl.gov (N.A.D.); paulf@lanl.gov (P.W.F.)
14 Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA; E-Mails: sven.enterlein@gmail.com (S.E.)
15 World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; E-Mail: formentyp@who.int
16 Metabiota, Inc., San Francisco, CA 94104, USA; E-Mail: jpgonzalez@metabiota.com
17 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA; E-Mail: rfgarry@tulane.edu
18 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, and African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Redeemer’s University, Lagos-Ibadan, Ogun State, Nigeria; E-Mail: chappi@hsph.harvard.edu
19 Laboratory for Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840 USA; E-Mail: thomas.hoenen@nih.gov
20 Federal State Unitary Company “Microgen Scientific Industrial Company for Immunobiological Medicines”, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, 115088; E-Mails: g.m.ignatyev@microgen.ru
21 Portland, OR 97222, USA; E-Mail: microcaddis@gmail.com
22 Special Pathogens Program, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 3R2, Canada; E-Mails: gary.kobinger@phac-aspc.gc.ca
23 Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, B. P. 769, Franceville, Gabon; E-Mails: eric.leroy@ird.fr
24 Biomedical Sciences Department, Dstl, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JQ, UK; E-Mails: mslever@mail.dstl.gov.uk (M.S.L.); SJSMITHER@mail.dstl.gov.uk (S.J.S.)
25 Department of Microbiology and National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA; E-Mails: muehlber@bu.edu (E.M.);
26 Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Region, Russia, 630090; E-Mails: nauka@nsu.ru (S.V.N.); shestopalov2@mail.ru (A.M.S.)
27 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Private Mail Bag 12003, Lagos, Nigeria; E-Mail: omilabusa@yahoo.com
28 The Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; dpark@broadinstitute.org (D.J.P.)
29 Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service, Sandringham-Johannesburg 2192, Gauteng, South Africa; E-Mails: januszp@nicd.ac.za
30 Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Region, Russia, 630090; E-Mail: lenryab@yandex.com
31 Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; E-Mail: erica@scripps.edu
32 Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; E-Mail: sealfon@gmail.com
33 Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; E-Mails: njsull@mail.nih.gov
34 Zoonoses Research Unit, University of Pretoria, Private bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa; E-Mail: bobswanepoel@gmail.com
35 Division of Global Epidemiology, Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan; E-Mail: atakada@czc.hokudai.ac.jp
36 Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; E-Mail: jit8@cdc.gov
37 Prins Leopold Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; E-Mail: gvdgroen@scarlet.be
38 Laboratory of Molecular basis of viral pathogenicity, CIRI, Inserm U1111, Université de Lyon, UCB-Lyon-1, Ecole-Normale-Supérieure de Lyon, 69365 Lyon cedex 07, France; E-Mails: viktor.volchkov@inserm.fr (V.E.V.); valentina.volchkova@inserm.fr (V.A.V.)
39 Unither Virology, LLC, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA; kellylynwarfield@gmail.com
40 Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling FK9 4LA, UK; E-Mails: m.w.weidmann@stir.ac.uk
# Members of the 2012–2014 International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Filoviridae Study Group.
^ Members of the ICTV Data Subcommittee.
¶ National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Viral RefSeq Genomes Advisors for members of the order Mononegavirales.
‡ Members of the NCBI Genome Annotation Virus Working Group.
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mails: kuhnjens@mail.nih.gov (J.H.K.); stn1@cdc.gov (S.T.N.); Tel.: +1-301-631-7245 (J.H.K.); Tel.: +1-404-639-1122 (S.T.N.) Fax: +1-301-631-7389 (J.H.K.); Fax: +1-404-718-2136 (S.T.N.).
Received: 17 September 2014 / Accepted: 23 September 2014 / Published: 26 September 2014
Abstract: Sequence determination of complete or coding-complete genomes of viruses is becoming common practice for supporting the work of epidemiologists, ecologists, virologists, and taxonomists. Sequencing duration and costs are rapidly decreasing, sequencing hardware is under modification for use by non-experts, and software is constantly being improved to simplify sequence data management and analysis. Thus, analysis of virus disease outbreaks on the molecular level is now feasible, including characterization of the evolution of individual virus populations in single patients over time. The increasing accumulation of sequencing data creates a management problem for the curators of commonly used sequence databases and an entry retrieval problem for end users. Therefore, utilizing the data to their fullest potential will require setting nomenclature and annotation standards for virus isolates and associated genomic sequences. The National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI’s) RefSeq is a non-redundant, curated database for reference (or type) nucleotide sequence records that supplies source data to numerous other databases. Building on recently proposed templates for filovirus variant naming [ ()////-], we report consensus decisions from a majority of past and currently active filovirus experts on the eight filovirus type variants and isolates to be represented in RefSeq, their final designations, and their associated sequences.
Keywords: Bundibugyo virus; cDNA clone; cuevavirus; Ebola; Ebola virus; ebolavirus; filovirid; Filoviridae; filovirus; genome annotation; ICTV; International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses; Lloviu virus; Marburg virus; marburgvirus; mononegavirad; Mononegavirales; mononegavirus; Ravn virus; RefSeq; Reston virus; reverse genetics; Sudan virus; Taï Forest virus; virus classification; virus isolate; virus nomenclature; virus strain; virus taxonomy; virus variant"
Open Access
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/6/9/3663/htm

THE CITIZENS OF VAXXINE LAND
How to properly address them:

"The “gold standard” filovirus type RefSeq entry should be selected on the basis of experimental importance and accessibility and represent a repository of functional information about a particular filovirus. It is of crucial importance that any functional annotation of a RefSeq entry (e.g., functions of particular genome parts or of genome-encoded proteins), is linked to the actual sequence associated with these experiments. The RefSeq entry should contain the most characterized virus/variant/isolate/sequence, independent of whether this virus, variant, or isolate was the first one discovered or the most widely used experimentally. Importantly, decisions on RefSeq entries do not entail a mandate that future experiments should necessarily be performed with the viruses associated with these entries. However, direct comparisons with RefSeq-associated viruses are highly recommended to further increase the detail associated with the RefSeq entries. These entries should be updated, and, if necessary, corrected on a continuous basis by a filovirus RefSeq subcommittee comprised of filovirus experts, whose composition is currently under consideration.
The authors of this article confirmed or replaced the current taxonomic type virus variants and isolates and the current filovirus RefSeq entries based on the availability of scientific information characterizing a particular virus. If scientific information is scarce for all members belonging to an entire taxon, other criteria such as availability, passaging history, or medical importance were used in decision making. Decisions were reached by consensus or simple majority voting, with the understanding that all authors will apply the final decisions reached by the entire group and enforce them in their functions as authors, peer-reviewers, and/or editors.

3.1. Cuevavirus RefSeq Entries
Only one cuevavirus, Lloviu virus (LLOV), has been described [18]. At the time of writing, LLOV had not been isolated in culture, and the sequence diversity of LLOV had only been defined in a single study using deep sequencing techniques on samples from deceased Schreibers’s long-fingered bats (Miniopterus schreibersii) [18]. Only one additional study has been published on this virus, characterizing molecular-biological characteristics of the LLOV glycoprotein [20]. The coding-complete genome of one LLOV has been determined (Genbank #JF828358), which therefore automatically became the current RefSeq sequence (#NC_016144) (see [21] for sequencing nomenclature used in this article). In the absence of additional deposited LLOV sequences and characterization data, this RefSeq entry should therefore be upheld but be considered temporary until a complete genome, including all non-coding sequences, is determined.
In line with filovirus strain/variant/isolate definitions outlined previously [19], we propose the variant designation “Asturias” (after the Principality of Asturias in Spain, where Cueva del Lloviu is located in which LLOV was discovered [18]) and the “isolate” name “Bat86” (instead of “MS-Liver-86/2003”) for this virus:
Full name: Lloviu virus M.schreibersii-wt/ESP/2003/Asturias-Bat86
Shortened name: LLOV/M.sch/ESP/03/Ast-Bat86
Abbreviated name: LLOV/Ast-Bat86
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_016144 the definition line “Lloviu virus, complete genome” was changed to “Lloviu cuevavirus isolate Lloviu virus M.schreibersii-wt/ESP/2003/Asturias-Bat86, [coding-]complete genome.” The RefSeq field was cleared; and the RefSeq field was filled with “Lloviu virus M.schreibersii-wt/ESP/2003/Asturias-Bat86.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #JF828358. [Note here and below that the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) standard currently does not offer options other than “complete” or “partial,” and, in particular, does not provide a possibility for the designation “coding-complete.” Also note here and below that neither RefSeq nor GenBank currently can handle italics or extended Latin characters, which is why the species names are not italicized in the entry’s definition line and fields and why letters with diacritics revert to their basic Latin letter counterpart].

3.2. Ebolavirus RefSeq Entries
The genus Ebolavirus includes five species, each of which is represented by one virus.

3.2.1. Bundibugyo Virus
Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) is the second least characterized ebolavirus. Although at least eight isolates of this virus are available [17,22], all experiments reported to date have been performed with one particular isolate, “811250” (often wrongly referred to as “200706291”). The complete sequence of this isolate is the one found in the current RefSeq entry (NC_014373). This isolate, obtained after two passages of clinical material in Vero E6 cells, came from a male patient who died in 2007 in Uganda [17]. We propose the variant designation “Butalya” (after Butalya Parish, Kikyo Subcounty in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district where BDBV was discovered) and the isolate name “811250” for this virus:
Full name: Bundibugyo virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2007/Butalya-811250
Shortened name: BDBV/H.sap/UGA/07/But-811250
Abbreviated name: BDBV/But-811250
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_014373, the definition line “Bundibugyo ebolavirus, complete genome” was changed to “Bundibugyo ebolavirus isolate Bundibugyo virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2007/Butalya-811250, complete genome.” The RefSeq field was filled with “Bundibugyo virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2007/Butalya-811250.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #FJ217161.

3.2.2. Ebola Virus
Ebola virus (EBOV) is the most thoroughly characterized ebolavirus. Dozens of EBOV isolates are available, but the vast majority of published experiments have been performed with isolates “Mayinga” and “Kikwit” (reviewed in [23]). The “Mayinga” isolate, the first EBOV isolate obtained in 1976, has been used extensively for molecular-biological characterizations. The “Kikwit” variant, obtained during an Ebola virus disease outbreak in 1995, has been used almost exclusively for pathogenesis studies in nonhuman primates in the US (the “Mayinga” isolate is used almost everywhere else) [23]. All available EBOV cDNA clone systems are based on the “Mayinga” isolate (see [24]). The only available mouse- and guinea pig-adapted EBOV strains are derived from the “Mayinga” isolate (see [25]), and all available EBOV protein crystal structures are derived from the “Mayinga” isolate [26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34]. The “Mayinga” isolate was therefore chosen as the prototype EBOV for RefSeq (#NC_002549), which lists a complete genome obtained after 3–4 passages in Vero E6 cells. We uphold this decision and propose the variant designation “Yambuku” (after the village in which EBOV first emerged [35,36]) and retain the isolate designation “Mayinga” (the last name of a nurse who succumbed to infection [36]) for this virus:
Full name: Ebola virus H.sapiens-tc/COD/1976/Yambuku-Mayinga
Shortened name: EBOV/H.sap/COD/76/Yam-May
Abbreviated name: EBOV/Yam-May
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_002549 the definition line “Zaire ebolavirus, complete genome” was changed to “Zaire ebolavirus isolate Ebola virus H.sapiens-tc/COD/1976/Yambuku-Mayinga, complete genome.” The RefSeq <strain” field was cleared; the RefSeq field was filled with “Ebola virus H.sapiens-tc/COD/1976/Yambuku-Mayinga;” and the field was corrected to “Zaire ebolavirus.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #AF086833.

3.2.3. Reston Virus
Reston virus (RESTV) has caused multiple epizootics among captive macaques (1989-1990, 1992, 1996) and domestic pigs in 2008 (reviewed in [37]). At least 10 isolates were obtained during all these outbreaks, and eight complete or coding-complete genomic sequences have been deposited. However, the vast majority of RESTV experiments, in particular those regarding molecular characterization, have been performed with “Pennsylvania” (reviewed in [23]). “Pennsylvania” is the only RESTV variant for which there is a reverse genetics system [38]. In addition, “Pennsylvania” sequences served as the basis for the available RESTV protein crystal structures [39,40,41,42,43]. “Pennsylvania” (NC_004161) was chosen for the current RESTV RefSeq entry, which we propose to maintain. We propose the variant designation “Philippines89” (a reference to the time and place from which this virus was exported to the US in 1989) and the isolate name “Pennsylvania” for this virus:
Full name: Reston virus M.fascicularis-tc/USA/1989/Philippines89-Pennsylvania
Shortened name: RESTV/M.fas/USA/89/Phi89-Pen
Abbreviated name: RESTV/Phi89-Pen
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_004161, the definition line “Reston ebolavirus, complete genome” was changed to “Reston ebolavirus isolate Reston virus M.fascicularis-tc/USA/1989/Philippines89-Pennsylvania, complete genome.” The RefSeq field was cleared; and the RefSeq field was filled with “Reston virus M.fascicularis-tc/USA/1989/Philippines89-Pennsylvania”. The same changes should be applied to GenBank #AF522874.

3.2.4. Sudan Virus
Sudan virus (SUDV) is the second-best characterized ebolavirus. Approximately 15 SUDV isolates have been described, but very few experiments have been performed with any of these isolates. Early experiments focused on isolate “Boneface” (often misspelled “Boniface”). Recently variant “Gulu” isolate “808892” has become a more popular choice, and data from experiments with this virus continue to accumulate (reviewed in [23]). Crystal structures for GP1,2 were determined for both viruses [33,42,44,45]. However, the passaging history of the “Boneface” isolate has not been thoroughly documented and includes passaging in guinea pigs and culturing in various cell types. The “Gulu-808892” isolate, on the other hand, is completely sequenced and is the current virus of choice for nonhuman primate experiments in the US. While the “Boneface” isolate was chosen by the 2010-2011 ICTV Filoviridae Study Group as the type SUDV [12], “Gulu-808892” isolate was chosen as the prototype SUDV for RefSeq (#NC_006432). We propose to support the RefSeq decision and to change the SUDV type virus variant to “Gulu.” As several “Gulu” isolates are available, we propose the variant designation “Gulu” for the virus variant that caused the disease outbreak that started in Gulu District, Uganda, in 2000, and the isolate designation “808892” for the RefSeq entry of this particular virus. (“808892” was obtained after three Vero E6 cell passages of clinical material coming from an infected male who died):
Full name: Sudan virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2000/Gulu-808892
Shortened name: SUDV/H.sap/UGA/00/Gul-808892
Abbreviated name: SUDV/Gul-808892
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_006432, the definition line “Sudan ebolavirus, complete genome” was changed to “Sudan ebolavirus isolate Sudan virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2000/Gulu-808892, complete genome.” The RefSeq field was cleared; and the RefSeq field was filled with “Sudan virus H.sapiens-tc/UGA/2000/Gulu-808892.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #AY729654.

3.2.5. Taï Forest Virus
Taï Forest virus (TAFV) is the least characterized ebolavirus. Only one isolate (“807212” = “CI”) was obtained from a female survivor [46] after seven passages in Vero E6 cells, and the coding-complete genome of this isolate is the only genomic TAFV sequence available [17]. Therefore, this sequence automatically became the current RefSeq sequence (#NC_014372). In the absence of additional deposited TAFV sequences and characterization data, this RefSeq entry should therefore be upheld but be considered temporary.
We propose the variant designation “Pauléoula” (after the village of Pauléoula, Guiglo Department in Moyen-Cavally Region, Côte d’Ivoire, where TAFV was first found [46]) and the isolate name “CI” (for “Côte d’Ivoire”) for this virus:
Full name: Taï Forest virus H.sapiens-tc/CIV/1994/Pauléoula-CI
Shortened name: TAFV/H.sap/CIV/94/Pau-CI
Abbreviated name: TAFV/Pau-CI
Accordingly, in RefSeq # NC_014372, the definition line “Tai Forest ebolavirus, complete genome” was changed to “Taï Forest ebolavirus isolate Taï Forest virus H.sapiens-tc/CIV/1994/Pauléoula-CI, [coding-]complete genome,” and the RefSeq field was filled with “Taï Forest virus H.sapiens-tc/CIV/1994/Pauléoula-CI.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #FJ217162.

3.3. Marburgvirus RefSeq Entries
The genus Marburgvirus includes a single species, which is represented by two divergent viruses.
3.3.1. Marburg Virus
Marburg virus (MARV) is the most thoroughly characterized marburgvirus. Some 70 MARV isolates are available, but the majority of published experiments have been performed with isolate “Musoke” (reviewed in [23]). However, experiments not characterizing MARV but rather the disease it causes are increasingly performed with an “Angola” isolate in the US and continue to be performed with “Popp” or “Voege” isolates in Russia. The only available MARV cDNA clone systems are based on the “Musoke” isolate (see [24]) and on a nonhuman (bat) isolate [47]. The “Musoke” isolate has therefore been chosen as the prototype MARV for RefSeq (#NC_001608). We uphold this decision and propose the variant designation “Mt. Elgon” (after Mount Elgon, Kenya, where this variant is thought to have originated [48]) and the isolate designation “Musoke” (after a Nairobi doctor who got infected [49]) with this virus):
Full name: Marburg virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1980/Mt. Elgon-Musoke
Shortened name: MARV/Hsap/KEN/80/MtE-Mus
Abbreviated name: MARV/MtE-Mus
Accordingly, in RefSeq #NC_001608, the definition line “Marburg marburgvirus, complete genome” was changed to “Marburg marburgvirus isolate Marburg virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1980/Mt. Elgon-Musoke, complete genome.” The RefSeq <strain” field was cleared, and the RefSeq field was filled with “Marburg virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1980/Mt. Elgon-Musoke.” The same changes should be applied to GenBank #DQ217792.

3.3.2. Ravn Virus
Ravn virus (RAVV) is a largely uncharacterized marburgvirus that belongs to the same species as MARV. At least three human (“Ravn” = “810040,” “09DCR,” ”02Uga”) and four Egyptian rousette isolates (“44Bat,” “188Bat,” “982Bat,” “1304 Bat”) have been obtained. Virtually all RAVV characterization experiments have been performed with “Ravn” = “810040,” which was obtained after at least two passages in SW-13 cells and four passages in Vero E6 cells. Since RAVV is a phylogenetically distinct marburgvirus, we created a RefSeq entry for the “Ravn” isolate, for which we propose the variant designation “Kitum Cave” (after Kenya’s Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon where RAVV first emerged) and the isolate designation “810040”:
Full name: Ravn virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1987/Kitum Cave-810040
Shortened name: RAVV/H.sap/KEN/87/KiC-810040
Abbreviated name: RAVV/KiC-810040
Accordingly, the RefSeq entry was created with the definition line “Marburg marburgvirus isolate Ravn virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1987/Kitum Cave-810040, [coding-]complete genome.” The RefSeq field contains “Ravn virus H.sapiens-tc/KEN/1987/Kitum Cave-810040.” The deposited sequence (NC_024781) is identical with GenBank #DQ447649, which should be updated accordingly."

Viruses 2014, 6(9), 3663-3682; doi:10.3390/v6093663
Filovirus RefSeq Entries: Evaluation and Selection of Filovirus Type Variants, Type Sequences, and Names
Open Access
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/6/9/3663/htm

Toto knew the name back in October 4 in a previous thread, but memory is hard

Perhaps I tuned out from the emendation to what is otherwise a cut and paste.

THIS IS AN INTERESTING TITLE......Does GSK know about this?
The U.S. House of Representatives does.

"Published in final edited form as:
Sci Transl Med. 2013 June 19; 5(190): 190ra79. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005471.

FDA-Approved Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators Inhibit Ebola Virus Infection"

TOTO IN WONDERLAND
(apologies to Lewis)

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Toto remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said Narat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Toto.
"You must be," said Narat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”

@Narad
Now you’ve gone and exposed yourself, “Annie”.
Ha! Ha! Ha!

More catastrophic fail, Tutu.

Maybe you should switch to "hee hee hee."

He’s losing control.
Don't you have kids to look after, Toto? Or are they as fictitious as the rest of your shtick?

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 12 Nov 2014 #permalink

THIS IS AN INTERESTING TITLE……Does GSK know about this?
The U.S. House of Representatives does.

If you were even trying, you'd have realized that your Rasnick routine nullifies Johansen et al.

toto@255, now that you've gotten the snark out of the way willat least try to explain what point you were trying to make by noting the development of that high trhoughput assay?

I mean, you did have one--right?

And with regard to that all-caps "HIGHEST COURT" premise @261, you're speaking as if the Book of Exodus were known to possess some inherent legal authority.

Whatever for?

@herr doktor bimler

Are you Yiddish?
"the rest of your shtick?"

Dear Mad Hatters in Wonderland,

I'm having a WONDERFUL time here. It seems it is always Christmas! I guess you wouldn't know about that.
Here's a video of me and some new friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1LUXQWzCno

Sincerely,
Toto

Are you Yiddish?

It's impressive that you can even manage to comically fυck up a three-word sentence in two separate ways.

I've been wondering how much goading is required before Toto comes out with holocaust denial as well as all the other denialist manifestations of crank magnetism.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 14 Nov 2014 #permalink

@herr doktor bimler
The French speak French.
The English speak English.
The Yiddish speak Yiddish.
"Shtick" is derived from the Yiddish word shtik (שטיק), meaning "piece" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtick
DUH.

"holocaust denial"
I am so glad you mentioned that.

"The great famine of 1932-33 (Ukraine) has always been recognized as one of the darkest periods in Soviet History. According to the irrefutable evidence that is now available, more than 6 million people died as a result of it.....It was a direct result of the new system....termed the "military and feudal exploitation" of the peasantry. Famine was a tragic illustration of the formidable social regression that accompanied the assault on the countryside through forced collectivization at the end of the 1920's." Page 159

"Unlike the famines of 1921-22, which the Soviet authorities acknowledged and even sought to redress with help from the international community, the famine of 1932-33 was always DENIED by the regime." Page 159

"...the truth about the great famine, long known only through small-circulation pamphlets published by Ukranian emigre organizations, was not widely comprehended until the latter half of the 1980's, following the publication of a series of works by Western historians and by a number of researchers in the former Soviet Union." Page 160

An entire chapter is devoted to this horror, Ch. 8 "The great Famine", in THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Book by Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Jean-Louis Panné, Stéphane Courtois, and Nicolas Werth. London, England, 1999.

Remember Orac,
My online followers get to see your blog editing technique.
They will notice the post topics you censor.
Ho! Ho! Ho!

@JGC

"November 12, 2014
Toto, I’m at a complete loss–what point were you trying to make by noting the development of that high throughput fluorescent (GREEN) assay?"

I'm afraid your answer is staring you in the face. It is obvious that someone has taken Jenny McCarthy up on her advice to GREEN THE VACCINE!.

Dear Mad Hatters,

Just so we Winter Wonderlanders don't have to worry about getting sick, we have had a brave experimental vaxxine volunteer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrggPzmb1c

Unfortunately, his skin color is now a bit green and he had a personality change. Well, nothing a little TWEAKING can't fix!
HO! HO! HO!

TOTO

"Shtick" is basic American English at this point; it's been adopted, a stage past "it's Yiddish but all New Yorkers know it, no matter their religion or ethnicity." I knew someone whose heard-in-the-wild example of New York usage was at a deli, the counterman calling her order back as "Mira! Bagel con schmear!" followed after a couple of minutes with "Mira, schmuck! Bagel con schmear!" (Sí, soy de Nueva York.)

Greetings Hatters!

With cold and flew season coming on in Winter Wonderland, I thought I would give you an experimental vaxxer's update. The tweak met with SUCCESS! Our recent volunteer has had NO SKIN COLOR CHANGE! His personality HAS NOT CHANGED. And, he sings songs about my FAVORITE topic!
We couldn't have hoped for a better outcome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaxoaKwx8tU

Here's a healthy holiday reminder for YOU!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVqXW_yPJk

Toto

@ Vicki

"a stage past “it’s Yiddish but all New Yorkers know it, no matter their religion or ethnicity.” I knew someone whose heard-in-the-wild example of New York usage was at a deli, the counterman calling her order back as “Mira! Bagel con schmear!” followed after a couple of minutes with “Mira, schmuck! Bagel con schmear!” (Sí, soy de Nueva York.)"

Out of all those words, which are considered Yiddish?

@Narad-Vicki-herr doktor bimler

It's obvious the answer is not "no."
HO! HO! HO!

OPRESSIVE DICTATORSHIP IN MAD HATTER WONDERLAND!
Demand the release of these suppressed posts!

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

@herr doktor bimler
The French speak French.
The English speak English.
The Yiddish speak Yiddish.
“Shtick” is derived from the Yiddish word shtik (שטיק), meaning “piece” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtick
DUH.

Toto

November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

“holocaust denial”
I am so glad you mentioned that.

“The great famine of 1932-33 (Ukraine) has always been recognized as one of the darkest periods in Soviet History. According to the irrefutable evidence that is now available, more than 6 million people died as a result of it…..It was a direct result of the new system….termed the “military and feudal exploitation” of the peasantry. Famine was a tragic illustration of the formidable social regression that accompanied the assault on the countryside through forced collectivization at the end of the 1920’s.” Page 159

“Unlike the famines of 1921-22, which the Soviet authorities acknowledged and even sought to redress with help from the international community, the famine of 1932-33 was always DENIED by the regime.” Page 159

“…the truth about the great famine, long known only through small-circulation pamphlets published by Ukranian emigre organizations, was not widely comprehended until the latter half of the 1980’s, following the publication of a series of works by Western historians and by a number of researchers in the former Soviet Union.” Page 160

An entire chapter is devoted to this horror, Ch. 8 “The great Famine”, in THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Book by Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Jean-Louis Panné, Stéphane Courtois, and Nicolas Werth. London, England, 1999.

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Remember Orac,
My online followers get to see your blog editing technique.
They will notice the post topics you censor.
Ho! Ho! Ho!

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

@JGC

“November 12, 2014
Toto, I’m at a complete loss–what point were you trying to make by noting the development of that high throughput fluorescent (GREEN) assay?”

I’m afraid your answer is staring you in the face. It is obvious that someone has taken Jenny McCarthy up on her advice to GREEN THE VACCINE!.

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Dear Mad Hatters,

Just so we Winter Wonderlanders don’t have to worry about getting sick, we have had a brave experimental vaxxine volunteer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrggPzmb1c

Unfortunately, his skin color is now a bit green and he had a personality change. Well, nothing a little TWEAKING can’t fix!
HO! HO! HO!

TOTO

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Greetings Hatters!

With cold and flew season coming on in Winter Wonderland, I thought I would give you an experimental vaxxer’s update. The tweak met with SUCCESS! Our recent volunteer has had NO SKIN COLOR CHANGE! His personality HAS NOT CHANGED. And, he sings songs about my FAVORITE topic!
We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaxoaKwx8tU

Here’s a healthy holiday reminder for YOU!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGVqXW_yPJk

Toto

Toto

November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

@ Vicki

“a stage past “it’s Yiddish but all New Yorkers know it, no matter their religion or ethnicity.” I knew someone whose heard-in-the-wild example of New York usage was at a deli, the counterman calling her order back as “Mira! Bagel con schmear!” followed after a couple of minutes with “Mira, schmuck! Bagel con schmear!” (Sí, soy de Nueva York.)”

Out of all those words, which are considered Yiddish?

Toto

Winter Wonderland
November 14, 2014
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

@Narad-Vicki-herr doktor bimler

It’s obvious the answer is not “no.”
HO! HO! HO!

FREE THE SPEECH!

No comment

Winter Wonderland
November 15, 2014

Dear Hatters,

As you know, I leave no stone unturned, no curtain closed to bring you the most reliable vax fax. In order to keep Winter Wonderland safe and healthy, we have had many brave, selfless volunteers take the experimental vaxxines. After some tweaking, it seems the super smart guys in white have got the magic formula. Using the "gold standard" of a double blind placebo, we have SCIENTIFICALLY PLAUSABLE results!

Here are our volunteers BEFORE the jab:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHCqwlFSHw

Here are our volunteers AFTER the jab:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WKhPKL0Tx8

THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED!
Wish you were here!
Toto

Yawn.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Krebiohazard

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."
Lighten up! Have some fun!

Sincerely,
Toto

@Krebiozen: I'm yawning too...when I'm not scrolling down past the screeds. Wish blocking worked again...I hate reading boring stuff.

In other news....the Sunday "journalist" at AoA, tells a tale of woe describing how her local library's shelves do not have the latest books written by her colleagues and the children's section has multiple great books about going to the doctor for check-ups and for vaccines.

@lilady - most libraries don't stock "self-published" works or those by two-bit publishing houses....

Toto, what did milliners ever do to you to make you hate them so much?

By Julian Frost (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

'hatters"? As in *Mad Hatters*? Sorry, that's the Mercury Militia not us.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

MI Dawn,

Wish blocking worked again…I hate reading boring stuff.

Narad's adapted Greasemonkey script, ScienceBlogs Killer, works perfectly on Firefox. I just disengage occasionally to see if I'm missing anything of interest, though to date I never have.

By Krebiozen (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

Krebiozen, the problem with that is that you rely on those who don't use filters to wade through the filterable in order to find the hidden nuggets of awesome, like the alleged conspiracy that wants to infect us all with Reston ebolavirus because it's the most lethal.

I imagine it would go something like this:
Supervillain: ...and if you don't meet my demands immediately, I'll fire my superweapon and infect the world with ebolavirus.

World's leaders: (gasp)

Supervillain: and more just any member of that genus: Reston ebolavirus! (Dramatic music)

World's leaders: (uncontrollable laughter)

Supervillain: What? Why are you laughing?

Supervillain's science advisor: um no one who has ever been infected with Reston ebolavirus has ever shown any symptoms...

By justthestats (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

It's kind of like the opposite of relying on herd immunity.

By justthestats (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

@ Hatters

"Yawn." "Krebiozen: I’m yawning too" "Yawn"

These symptoms really have me worried about you. Unfortunately, not all vaxxines get tweaked properly. Did you get your dam* swine flew jab? If so, it could be NARCOLEPSY!
There is help. Sweden is offering apologies. Contact them ASAP!
http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/sweden-admits-the-swine-flu-vaccine-ca…

Sincerely concerned,
Toto

Let's return briefly to lamivudine:

One such product, the antiretroviral lamivudine, has been used in some of the affected countries stemming from a belief that it might have therapeutic effects in patients with EVD. However, data presented to the STAC-EE demonstrated that lamivudine has no antiviral activity against EVD and should therefore not be administered for the treatment of Ebola.

The French speak French.
The English speak English.
The Yiddish speak Yiddish.

One extra word, one further error. Sweet.

Who speaks Pidgin?

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

Who speaks Pidgin?

No, no, no, who is Pidgin?

Sorry Narad I hope I don't ruin your funsies.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

Sorry Narad I hope I don’t ruin your funsies.

Not at all; the two options that had occurred to me in idle moments were Pig Latin and Malkinese, the latter I think being so obscure that not even G—le has heard of my "Teach Yourself" volume. Perhaps I have the spelling wrong, as it's still packed.

There's always Esperanto.

[Couturat] 'did not like Esperanto, which was the general favorite, but preferred Ido. I learned from him that Esperantists (so at least he assured me) were wicked beyond all previous depths of human depravity, but I never examined his evidence. He said that Esperanto had the advantage of allowing the word Esperantist for which Ido provided no analogue, "But yes!" I said, "there is the word Idiot" '

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 16 Nov 2014 #permalink

Eric Hamp once told a great story in class about being approached long ago on a train platform by some guy jabbering in Esperanto. The Esperantist had chosen precisely the wrong person to try to play who-speaks-more-languages with.

@herr doktor bimler
Marbe dvorim, marbe shtus—vos vintsiker m’ret, gezinter iz.

Sincerely,
Toto

Big Pharma's motto:

A khaleryeh ahf dir!
A shverer beitel macht a leicht gemit.

"Not at all; the two options that had occurred to me in idle moments were Pig Latin"

A chazer bleibt a chazer.
Sincerely,
Toto

Hi lilady, they sure are whiners over there.

we, the fearless founders of The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, found out too late that most bookstores don't stock self-published books, and most libraries won't order books that haven't at least been reviewed in Library Journal or other serious review venues. Sigh.

So we bit the bullet, donated copies to some key libraries (public libraries and academic libraries), and sent review copies to a selection of opinion leaders.

@ Science Mom
"No, no, no, who is Pidgin?
Sorry Narad I hope I don’t ruin your funsies."

A meiseh moyd hot faynt dem shpigl.

Your friend,
Toto

@Narad

"Let’s return briefly to lamivudine:

One such product, the antiretroviral lamivudine, has been used in some of the affected countries stemming from a belief that it might have therapeutic effects in patients with EVD. However, data presented to the STAC-EE demonstrated that lamivudine has no antiviral activity against EVD and should therefore not be administered for the treatment of Ebola."

A ligner hert zikh zeineh ligen azoi lang ein biz er glaibt zikh alain.

Herr Toto

@justthestats

"I imagine it would go something like this:
Supervillain: …and if you don’t meet my demands immediately, I’ll fire my superweapon and infect the world with ebolavirus.

World’s leaders: (gasp)

Supervillain: and more just any member of that genus: Reston ebolavirus! (Dramatic music)

World’s leaders: (uncontrollable laughter)

Supervillain: What? Why are you laughing?

Supervillain’s science advisor: um no one who has ever been infected with Reston ebolavirus has ever shown any symptoms…"

A halber emes iz a gantser ligen.

@Nolady

Der mentsh lernt fri redn un shpet shvaygn.
A shveigendiker nar iz a halber khokhem.

Herr Toto

Greetings Hatters,

Az men hot nit tsu entfern, muz men farshveign.

Herr Toto

I think I shall take this sage advice:
Oif a nar tor men nit faribel hoben.
Oif a nar iz kain kasheh nit tsu fregen un kain pshat nit tsu zogen.

Herr Toto

I think we should all go back to French as the common language.

@ justthestats:

It seems that I can wade through any nonsense unscathed so I do.
-btw- nice work you-know-where.

@ Shay:
Well, the common language is after all, semi-French.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 17 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Denice Walter

"Y la lengua es un fuego, un mundo de maldad."

Yours truly,
Toto

@Denice Walter
I kind of like wading through alternate reality in small doses.

Thanks, btw. I think my work somewhere else is having an effect, although it remains to be seen what that effect means.

@Toto
Ich kann Googleübersetzen zuverwenden.

By justthestats (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

Troll:

Geh kaken oifen yam!

lilady

I'm afraid that's already included in its lone source of knowledge of the Yiddish race, lilady.

Narad, Yiddish is a race? I must have missed the memo.

Yiddish is a race? I must have missed the memo.
I took a Sanskrit course back at university but sadly this did not make me a Sanskrit.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 18 Nov 2014 #permalink

You're only a Sanskrit if Sanskrit was your primary language growing up.

By justthestats (not verified) on 20 Nov 2014 #permalink

@herr doktor bumbler

BOBBEMYSEH!

By Herr Toto (not verified) on 20 Nov 2014 #permalink

@justthestats

"You’re only a Sanskrit if Sanskrit was your primary language growing up."
Didn't you say Pig-Latin was your first language?

I understand that the public schools have great ESL programs if you need help. English can be a confusing language to learn. It is really a mash-up of many languages (conquerors).

Your friend,
Toto

By Herr Toto (not verified) on 20 Nov 2014 #permalink

Too Much Truth: Is This incident, however, THINGS WENT Very WRONG! Is where is a lab rat! Lassa Virus from the truth is irrelevant that EBOLA is staring: your GUT!

Jon Rappoport LOL!

The guys doing the data backhaul at the Service Center were greatly amused at this entry, in which Tootoo opines that SSPE sounds "eerily like AUTISM."

It has close competition from this one, in which Tootoo brilliantly reveals that she has "paper files of the originally exposed programming code."

It's sad when someone has such a need for attention that she becomes self-parody.

By Mephistopheles… (not verified) on 20 Nov 2014 #permalink

@Mephy
"No, my Lord, I find it there, as always, thoroughly revolting. I pity men in all their misery and actually hate to plague the wretches."

Well, at least you are more considerate than Big Pharma.
Keep up the good work!

Toto

I understand that the public schools have great ESL programs if you need help. English can be a confusing language to learn.

After receiving Injections from the English speak Yiddish. Ho!

The Service Center reports that they have a status update in moderation, but my understanding is that they need to be careful about how the Markov chains are warmed up after the long hibernation.

Remember Orac,
My online followers get to see your blog editing technique.

This; a nice ELECTRON MICROSCOPE. God. Please give us a personality change? Attenborough at All of Isolated in Humans, and on this incident (however, I would be able to dig further). A Real story!

Totobot is coming along rather nicely.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 21 Nov 2014 #permalink

Is it sad that the totobot makes a hell of a lot more sense than the actual troll?

The Operations Center reports that while the Bot communications are now at full bandwidth, they've not been able to establish a link to RI.

Naturally, they're hoping that this reactivation will have some chance at conducting actual science. Only time will tell whether Toto is merely at apogee or whether it is no longer gravitationally bound.

I am the probable source of your face. Everything I Have ever Change! HA!

Ooyay otkay eemay. Eyeway amway away Igpay Atinlay.

By justthestats (not verified) on 22 Nov 2014 #permalink

Nice boat ride on the implication is coming: always lying or those in LABS! Information Is False. Amazing timing.

Bye to INFORMED Hitler All posts! My bioengineering is your blog.

Nice boat ride on the implication is coming: always lying or those in LABS! Information Is False. Amazing timing.

Bye to INFORMED Hitler All posts! My bioengineering is your blog. Sherlock would be read then. LOL!