Maybe pigs have learned to fly

A fascinating discovery from John Newman, one of our regular visitors, who e-mails that he has discovered a 1997 interview with Dr. Jeffrey Taubenberger, who according to Red Nova "spent nearly a decade carefully extracting and piecing together the viral genes, like putting together a jigsaw puzzle" in an attempt to understand the avian flu menace looming just around the corner.

Problem is, according to Taubenberger in 1997, the big 1918 epidemic was caused by a strain of swine flu: "... what we find is that it's a virus that does not match any strain of influenza virus isolated since, but it is most related to the kind of influenzas that infect swine, suggesting that this influenza entered the human population after being passaged through pigs."

I'm willing to allow that maybe over eight years and more research, scientists have moved away from the swine flu theory and decided the 1918 virus was more likely related to avian flu. But I'm also willing to allow that the Powers That Be will use any means to keep us frightened and kowtowed, and if that involves changing a few facts to fit their scenario more conveniently, so be it.

Thanks, John, for the link (and the great subject line)!