WHO says swine flu has not mutated in the Ukraine: No killer virus

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 16:53 Wednesday, 18 November 2009 15:27

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WHO said today that the swine flu virus has not mutated to become more lethal.

WHO said an analysis of 34 samples of „novel pandemic virus samples“ from the Ukraine by WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance Network revealed no substantial changes in genetic sequencing.

The news that the mild swine flu virus has not mutated to become more virullent will fuel speculation that the many of the deaths reported recently in the Ukraine were due to pneumonic plague as stated by some doctors.

The origin of the outbreak of plague is not clear but WHO and other organisations were carrying out plague bioterrorism exercises in the Ukraine shortly before the outbreak was reported.

The Ukrainian government moved quickly to implement military style rule on the news of a plague "outbreak", suspending elections, closing borders and arresting "vaccination" opponents as the country readies for a mass swine flu vaccination campaign under WHO's direction.

This is the WHO press release:

17 November 2009 -- Preliminary tests reveal no significant changes in the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus based on investigations of samples taken from patients in Ukraine. Analyses are being performed by two WHO influenza collaborating centres as part of the global influenza surveillance network.

Preliminary genetic sequencing shows that the virus is similar to the virus used for production of the pandemic influenza vaccine, reconfirming the vaccine's efficacy at this time.

Additional questions about the pandemic virus circulating in Ukraine will be answered as more data is available.

WHO commends the government of Ukraine for its open sharing of samples to inform global monitoring of the virus for signs of change.

A total of 34 samples were analysed independently by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Mill Hill in London, UK, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_11_16/en/index.html