"Why a hoax?" You ask.

I will later get into the background on why this hoax started in the first place and why it is perpetuated, but for now I want to start with the scientific facts.

1 - There is absolutely no evidence that the current Avian Flu has any potential to turn into a Pandemic. The type of Influenza Virus that causes Avian Flu is native in wild fowl and it does not affect them negatively. Only when poultry comes in contact with wild fowl does the virus get transmitted and then becomes deadly. At that stage however, it is only transmissible from birds to humans. You literally have to sleep with an infected chicken to catch the virus.

2 - In North America, most if not all farmers have taken all the precautions to ensure their poultry does not interract with wild fowl. Of course nothing is foolproof but even then, in North America we don't usually sleep with our poultry so the risk of an Avian Influenza Pandemic here is almost nil.

3 - Never in history has there been a case of Avian Influenza turning into a strain transmissible from human to human. There have been three major Pandemics in the last century and some partial ones. The 1918 Spanish Flu, the 1957 Asian Flu, and the 1968 Hong Kong Flu all turned into full scale pandemics while the Swine Flu of 1976, the Russain Flu of 1977, and another version in 1947 were all much more contained. Most research suggest that the actual culprit for the origin of Influenza Pandemics is the swine. Certainly it was proven such in 1918 and in 1976, and generally recognised as the most probable source for all the others as well. The main reason for this is that when the pig is infected with Influenza, it's constitution is the most similar - at least at the microbiological level - to that of the human from among all the animals. This implies that an influenza virus is already transmissible from human to human once it spread from pigs to humans because of the similarities in constitution that enable a more rapid development.

4 - No research has ever been documented that would prove any theory of mutation of strains of Influenza in birds. Even in pigs there are a lot of theories about "mixing vessels" floating out there but no hard facts based on scientifally sound research. All the reports hold suppositions and assumptions based on other writings from previous unverified data. Every single person who reports on the probability of mutation of virus bases his or her data on someone else's and when you try to find the initial source, it is only based on possibilities that have never been verified. I have challenged others to prove me wrong on this and I am still waiting.

In future pages, I will provide you with the economic and political reasons behind the Avian Flu scare, as well as the benefits to the medical profession, but most of all the immense gains made by the pharmaceutical industry. I will tell you more on the fallacies related to vaccines and tamiflu (or other antivirals).

Now, I do want to clarify that I believe an Influenza Pandemic could occur. Certainly the fact that we have had three full-blown ones and three partial ones in one century tend to indicate that this is a recurring phenmomena. What I am saying is that the next Influenza Pandemic will have absolutely nothing to do with the current Avian Flu.

But even then, there are many things you should know about an Influenza Pandemic. I will share with you in future pages how the Influenza could really spread, how it would impact North America, what to expect from government, and what is the best way to protect yourself from the disease.

What I hope to do here is to give you a point of view based on three years of intensive research that will balance what you are being fed daily by the people who want you to believe that they have your best interest at heart.

I am not asking you to take what I say blindly. I encourage... no, I urge you to do your own research on this to see if what I am sharing here makes sense. I will try to give you places where you can find out more on the topics that I share.

More to come...

Alain Normand, BA, BSC, CAP, AdmA
Emergency Manager, Researcher, University Professor
Author of "The Return of the Spanish Lady: the 1918 Influenza Virus is Back"
http://ca.geocities.com/alainnormand@rogers.com