INFECTIOUS DISEASES - Blackherbals.com

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 1, Issue 12 NEWSLETTER December 2006Study: 50 Million Peoplestruck by Animal DiseasesINFECTIOUS DISEASESNovember 9, 2006From: MathabaAnimals are increasing becoming the cause of manyhuman deaths; a new study shows an estimated 50 millionpeople worldwide contracted animal born diseasesbetween 2000 and 2005.(Xinhua) -- Could it be animals around the world arestarting to fight back? A new study shows an estimated 50million people worldwide contracted diseases -- and78,000 died -- from dogs, chickens, cattle and mosquitoesbetween 2000 and 2005.The finding reveals the global urgency for doctors to stayaware of zoonotic illnesses that are transmitted by nonhumananimals."This comes on the heels of other major zoonotic viralepidemics in the last decade," said virologist JonathanHeeney of the Biomedical Primate Research Center in TheNetherlands.Continued on page 2What is the African TraditionalHerbal Research Clinic?We can make you healthy and wiseNakato LewisBlackherbals at the Source of the Nile, UG Ltd.The African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic locatedin Bukoto, Uganda is a modern clinic facility created toestablish a model space whereby indigenous herbalpractitioners and healers can upgrade and update theirskills through training and certification and respond tocommon diseases using African healing methods andtraditions in a modern clinical environment.Traditional healers are the major health labor resourcein Africa as a whole. In Uganda, indigenous traditionalhealers are the only source of health services for themajority of the population. An estimated 80% of thepopulation receives its health education and health carefrom practitioners of traditional medicine. They areknowledgeable of the culture, the local languages andlocal traditions. Our purpose is to raise publicawareness and understanding on the value of Africantraditional herbal medicine and other healing practicesin today’s world.I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE1 Study: 50 Million People struck by Animal Diseases2 A Virulent Enemy – The American Plague3 African Spirituality – The Meaning of Peace in ATR II4 Feature – The Virus Cancer Program (1964-1980)6 Feature – Pfizer Faulted over Drug Trials in Nigeria8 Feature-Custom-Built Pathogens Raise Bioterror Fears15 Roche’s Tamiflu to Add Warning on Psychiatric Risks17 Feature – Hemp Seed: The Most NutritionallyComplete Food Source in the World21 Epidemic in Africa - Ebola Virus Kills Thousands ofGorillas22 Was the Spanish Flu Epidemic Man-Made?23 Uganda Tops Africa TB List24 Chik Virus has now spread to the US26 New Strain of Chik Virus is Definitely a Mutant27 US Government Admits Lyme Disease is a Bioweapon28 Malaria Fuels HIV Spread in Africa30 Herb of the Month – Foods with Vitamin CThe Clinic is open and operational. We believe inspirit, mind and body. Some of the services we offerare African herbal medicine, reflexology, acupressure,hot and cold hydrotherapy, body massage, herbaltonics, patient counseling, blood pressure checks, urinetesting (sugar), and nutritional profiles. Spiritualcounseling upon request.Visit us also at www.Blackherbals.comHours: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday10 am to 4:00 pm Saturday - Sundays – Closed-1- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

AFRIKAN SPIRITUALITYThe Meaning of Peace inAfrican Traditional Religionand Culture – Part IIGodfrey Igwebuike OnahPontifical Urban University, RomeThe traditional shrine as a symbol of our cultural historyThe Essential Features of AfricanTraditional ReligionI would like to group the essential features of ATR underthree headings, which may be regarded as the threeprincipal dimensions of religion: belief, worship andmorality.a) BeliefConsidering Africa as a whole, the main objects oftraditional religious belief are: God, the divinities, spiritsand the ancestors. Belief in God, conceived as one SupremePersonal Being seems to be shared by the majority ofAfrican cultures. Nevertheless, there are a few cultureswhere the situation is not very clear. Whereas inmonarchical cultures, like among the Yoruba of Nigeria,the Zulu of South Africa and the Ashanti of Ghana, Deity isclearly conceived as one and supreme, in some republicancultures, like among the Igbo of Nigeria and the San ofBotswana, language and practice have left some scholars indoubt about whether the people traditionally believe in oneSupreme Being, or whether there are several SupremeBeings one of which emerges as the primus inter pares. Ihasten to add, however, that in the case of the Igbo, only ahandful of scholars doubt the belief in God as one SupremeBeing in the traditional religion. The Supreme Being inATR is personal, not an impersonal absolute principle. Godhas a will, emotions and, of course intelligence. Among themajor divine attributes in ATR are omnipotence,omniscience, goodness and justice, although these attributesare not expressed in mere abstract concepts. Sometimes heis thought of in masculine terms and even as a Father, atother times she is conceived in feminine terms and as aMother. But in most cases African languages do not specifyand gender categories are totally absent.Each local community has its name for God, but the peoplebelieve that it is the one and same God who is givendifferent names and who is the ultimate source of all the the____________________Managing Editor: Nakato LewisPUBLISHER: KIWANUKA LEWISPublished monthly by BHSN for the African Traditional HerbalResearch Clinic-3- Traditional African Clinic December 2006universe and all that it contains. One can say that inATR God is the creator and sustainer of all that is,provided one allows that creation can have othermeanings in religion than the one that Scholastictheology has given to it. God is manifested in some wayin everything that exists and in every event in life.There is, however, no risk of pantheism since theSupreme Being is thought of and approached as aPerson. Most traditional Africans are so overwhelmedby the uniqueness, majesty and supremacy of God thatthey lack images for the Source-Being. Daily prayersare addressed to God in most parts of Africa and somepeoples (like the Wachaga, the Lugbara, the Gogo, theDinka) have direct cult of the Supreme Being. In ATRGod is at the same time transcendent and immanent, butdefinitely neither absent nor even too distant.Next to God are what one may call divinities, for lackof a better expression. These are spiritual beings, whoowe their origin to and are dependent on God. Some ofthem are personified attributes of the Supreme Being,like the thunder divinity, which usually representsGod’s wrath. Others are God’s manifestation in somenatural phenomena like the sun (regarded in manyAfrican cultures as the God’s son), and the earth (whichalso represents the maternal aspects of Deity),mountains, seas, and so on. Among the divinities onealso sometimes finds a few heroes and outstandingancestors. It would be improper to call the divinities“gods,” thus giving the false impression of polytheism.The divinities are messengers or ministers of God andsome of them may be very prominent in some localitiesbut totally unknown in others. While God, as we havealready mentioned, is believed to be known by all,albeit by different local names. The divinities, althoughusually dreaded for their uncompromising stance insome moral issues, are, nevertheless, in themselvesContinued on page 20This is part II of five part series.

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 1, Issue 12 NEWSLETTER December 2006FEATURED ARTICLESThe Virus Cancer Program 1964-1980The Birthplace of AIDS and the Kaposi’s Sarcoma EpidemicThe epidemic of HIV/AIDS and the epidemic of"gay cancer"Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is widely known as the "gaycancer" that often accompanied AIDS when the firstcases broke out in gay men in Manhattan in 1979. In1994 a new "human herpes-8" virus was discoveredthat is now widely accepted as the cause of all forms ofKS. However, it is extremely important to note that thenew KS herpes virus (KSHV) is separate and distinctfrom the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), thevirus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune DeficiencySyndrome).Therefore, it is now important to recognize that twonew viruses were "introduced" into gays that producednot only the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, but also the newepidemic of KS ("gay cancer").Two new viral epidemics erupting exclusively inhomosexuals is an unprecedented event in medicalscience. Such a bizarre and unlikely scenario stronglysuggests to me that that the two epidemics of HIV andKS are more likely to have occurred due to thedeliberate or accidental "introduction" of new virusesinto gay men"-and not from two viruses suddenlyappearing "out of Africa."The widely-held theory is that HIV originated inAfrican primates in the African bush. Somehow themonkey or chimpanzee virus "jumped species" intoblack Africans to initiate the epidemic which has nowkilled 20 million people and infected 40 million more.How this sexually-transmitted virus came from blackAfrica to initially infect only young white gay men inManhattan has never been explained satisfactorily.Furthermore, the epidemic in America erupted in thelate 1970s, at a time when AIDS in Africa wasunknown. The AIDS epidemic in Africa appeared inthe autumn of 1982, at the earliest.The man-made origin of HIV/AIDSThe man-made theory of AIDS is generally dismissedBy Alan Cantwell, MDSeptember 27, 2005as "conspiracy theory." Nevertheless, AIDSresearchers and writers like myself, Dr. Leonard GHorowitz, Dr. Robert Strecker, Professor Robert Lee,and others have proposed for two decades that HIVwas seeded into gay men when they volunteered forthe experimental hepatitis B vaccine experiment whichtook place in Manhattan, beginning in November1978. Additional similar hepatitis B experiments usinggay men as guinea pigs continued in other Americancities until 1981 -the year the AIDS epidemic becameofficial. Some of the cities included Los Angeles andSan Francisco which, along with New York City,became the three big epicenters of the epidemic.My two books on the man-made origin of this disease:AIDS and the Doctors of Death [1988], and QueerBlood: The Secret AIDS Genocide Plot [1993],provide documented evidence to support this theory. AGoogle internet search using the key words -man-madeorigin of AIDS-has 246,000 citations to variouswebsites that explore this issue in detail. Despite allthis, the man-made theory remains totally ignored bythe scientific establishment and the major media.The origin of the new Kaposi's Sarcoma virusLike HIV, the new KS herpes virus-8 discovered in1994 is considered to be yet another primate virus outof Africa with a suspected primate "viral ancestor"hiding in the African jungle. We are expected tobelieve that two primate viruses (a retrovirus and aherpes virus) jumped species in Africa at the sametime -and ended up exclusively in the blood of whitegay American men to produce a newimmunodeficiency disease in 1979, now called AIDS.This proposed scenario suggests to me that such anunlikely African event has the markings of a scientificfairy tale, and I remain stupefied that such nonsensecan pass for "science"in the twenty-first century.The origin of Kaposi's SarcomaKS has a long history dating back to 1872 in Vienna,Continued on page 5-4- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 4 – The Virus Cancer ProgramAustria, when dermatologist Moriz Kaposi describedfive patients with red-purple skin tumors. Before theAIDS outbreak, KS was a very rare disease affectingmainly elderly Jewish and Italian men. It was neverconsidered a contagious or sexually-transmitteddisease.In the 1960s, it was discovered that KS was a commonskin cancer tumor in blacks in Central Africa, but thedisease was never associated with the severeimmunodeficiency characteristic of AIDS, nor wasthere any evidence that KS in Africa was sexuallytransmissible. KS was rarely, if ever, seen in African-Americans. As a dermatologist for over 30 years Inever saw a KS case in a female; and KS in young menof any race or sexual persuasion was as rare as hen'steeth before the "introduction" of HIV.KS is a medical enigma. How did a previously raredisease like KS in America become a transmissibledisease primarily affecting gay men? How did thisherpes KS virus escape detection during the first 15years of the AIDS epidemic? Why did the KS virus andHIV suddenly appear together in young gay men in1979?Further complicating this picture is the discovery ofsmall bacterial forms known as "mycoplasma", and theeven more recent discovery of extremely tiny virus-likeforms of bacteria called "nanobacteria", as well as mypublished reports of "cancer bacteria" as importantetiologic agents in AIDS and KS. (For details, Google:"alan cantwell" + cancer bacteria.) All these newerbacterial agents are generally ignored by AIDSresearchers, who focus exclusively on viruses.I believe some of the answers to questions surroundingthe origin of HIV/AIDS can be found in the annual"Progress Reports" reports of the Virus CancerProgram and the Program's relationship to animalcancer research, genetic engineering of viruses, cancervaccine research, and to covert biological warfareresearch. These hard-to-find annual Reports werepublished by the National Institutes of Health, PublicHealth Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education,and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland.The Virus Cancer Program (1968-1980)The Virus Cancer Program had it roots in 1964 whenCongress provided funds to the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) for intensive research into the possiblerole of viruses in leukemia. In 1968 the Program, thentitled the Special Virus-Cancer Program, was enlargedto encompass all types of cancer. On July 1, 1973 theSpecial Virus Cancer Program was renamed The Virus-Cancer Program (VCP) "to integrate the Program'sresearch activities into the framework of the newNational Cancer Plan."The Program combined the talents of many of thenation's finest virologists, biochemists, immunologists,molecular biologists, epidemiologists, and physicians,in an attempt to uncover the viral cause of cancer. Twoclasses of cancer-causing viruses were studiedextensively: the RNA-type tumor "retroviruses" (likeHIV) and the DNA herpes-type viruses (like the KSvirus).The main goals were to collect various forms of cancertissue and test them in animals; to identify animal andhuman cancer-causing viruses; to grow large amountsof "candidate human viruses" for testing purposes; andto develop vaccines against these cancer viruses. Inessence, the scientists wanted to learn how to useviruses to make cancer - and to force "normal" cells tobecome cancerous by subjecting to viruses.I have studied the annual Virus Cancer Reports (VCP)covering the years 1971-1974 and 1976-1978. Eachreport is 300-400 pages, and the cumulative volumesrefer to thousands of animal cancer virus and geneticengineering experiments.Biological warfare research, monkey research, andthe VCPThe annual VCP Reports must be studied with anawareness that the Program became wedded to secretmilitary biological warfare research in the early 1970s.On October 18, 1971, as part of Richard Nixon's Waron Cancer, the army's biowarfare research laboratoryat Fort Detrick, Maryland, was permanently joinedwith the National Cancer Institute; and was re-titled .the Frederick Cancer Research Center. LittonBionetics was named as the military's primecontractor.The primary task of the new Center was "the largescale production of oncogenic (cancer-causing) virusesand suspected oncogenic viruses to meet researchneeds on a continuing basis." Special attention wasgiven to primate viruses (the alleged African source ofHIV and the new KS virus)- and to the successfulpropagation of significant amounts of "humancandidate viruses." Candidate viruses were defined asanimal or human viruses that might cause humancancers. Later, the objective was to determine if suchviruses could induce (either alone or with other cocarcinogens)human cancers (1977;58). Biowarfarescientists also had a keen interest in the role of humanand non-human primate viruses as "helper viruses" inthe production of cancer (1978;54).Continued on page 11-5- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 1, Issue 12 NEWSLETTER December 2006FEATURED ARTICLESPfizer Faulted over Drug Trials in NigeriaReport cites use of unproven drug on African children in mid ’90sBy Joe Stephens, The Washington PostMay 7, 2006A panel of Nigerian medical experts has concluded thatPfizer Inc. violated international law during a 1996epidemic by testing an unapproved drug on children withbrain infections at a field hospital.That finding is detailed in a lengthy Nigerian governmentreport that has remained unreleased for five years, despiteinquiries from the children's attorneys and from themedia. The Washington Post recently obtained a copy ofthe confidential report, which is attracting congressionalinterest. It was provided by a source who asked to remainanonymous because of personal safety concerns.The report concludes that Pfizer never obtainedauthorization from the Nigerian government to give theunproven drug to nearly 100 children and infants. Pfizerselected the patients at a field hospital in the city of Kano,where the children had been taken to be treated for anoften deadly strain of meningitis. At the time, DoctorsWithout Borders was dispensing approved antibiotics atthe hospital.Accused of ‘exploitating the ignorant’Pfizer's experiment was "an illegal trial of an unregistereddrug," the Nigerian panel concluded, and a "clear case ofexploitation of the ignorant."The test came to public attention in December 2000,when The Post published the results of a year-longinvestigation into overseas pharmaceutical testing. Thenews was met in Nigeria with street demonstrations,lawsuits and demands for reform.Pfizer contended that its researchers traveled to Kanowith a purely philanthropic motive, to help fight theepidemic, which ultimately killed more than 15,000Africans. The committee rejected that explanation,pointing out that Pfizer physicians completed their trialand left while "the epidemic was still raging."The panel said an oral form of Trovan, the Pfizer drugused in the test, had apparently never been given tochildren with meningitis. There are no records indicatingthat Pfizer told the children or their parents that they werepart of an experiment. An approval letter from a Nigerianethics committee, which Pfizer used to justify its actions,actually was a falsified document that had beenconcocted and backdated by the company's leadresearcher in Kano, the report said.The panel concluded that the experiment violatedNigerian law, the international Declaration of Helsinkithat governs ethical medical research and the U.N.Convention on the Rights of the Child.Five children died after being treated with theexperimental antibiotic and others contracted arthritis,although there is no evidence the drug played a part. Sixchildren died while taking a comparison drug.Demand for sanctionsThe panel recommended that Pfizer be "sanctionedappropriately" and directed to issue "an unreservedapology to the government and people of Nigeria." Thecompany should also pay an unspecified amount ofrestitution, the report said. The panel recommended thatNigeria enact reforms to prevent a recurrence.Aspects of the affair remain mysterious, such as why thereport remains confidential. The head of the investigativepanel, Abdulsalami Nasidi, said in a brief telephoneconversation from Nigeria, "I don't really know myself"why the report was never released. an official who died."I did my job as a civil servant," said Nasidi, who isquoted in the report as saying he has been the target ofunspecified death threats.A New York City attorney for the families of thechildren, Elaine Kusel of Milberg Weiss Bershad&Schulman, said her firm had spent years looking for theContinued on page 8-6- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 7 – Pfizer Faulted over Drug Trials inNigeriareport, of which they believed there were only threecopies. They tracked one to a Nigerian government safe,but it was reported stolen, she said. Another copy wasreported to have been held by an official who died."It sounds like a mystery novel here, like John le Carré,"Kusel said.The current Nigerian health minister, Eyitayo Lambo, didnot respond to calls and e-mail messages from a reporter.Dora Akunyili, director of the Nigerian drug controlagency, said she did not know why the report remainedconfidential but added that her agency had independentlyconcluded that "these people did not have authority toconduct the trial."Pfizer responds to chargesExecutives at Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company,said they had not seen the report. After reviewing a copy,they responded in a two-page statement:"The Nigerian government has neither contacted Pfizerabout any of the committee's findings nor are we awarethat the committee has approved a final report. Thereforeit would be inappropriate for the company to respond tospecific points in the document."However, as we have stated repeatedly over the pastseveral years, Pfizer conducted this trial with the fullknowledge of the Nigerian government and in aresponsible way consistent with Nigerian law and Pfizer'sabiding commitment to patient safety."Pfizer said it had previously tested the drug in thousandsof patients and found it effective. Local nurses explainedthe experiment to Nigerian parents, it added, and obtainedtheir "verbal" consent. The company said that Trovandemonstrated the highest survival rate of any treatment atthe hospital."Trovan unquestionably saved lives, and Pfizer stronglydisagrees with any suggestion that the companyconducted its study in an unethical manner," thestatement said.At the time of the Nigerian experiment, Pfizer wasdeveloping Trovan for release in the United States, whereit was expected to gross up to $1 billion a year.The FDA never approved Trovan for use in treatingAmerican children. After being cleared for adult use in1997, the drug quickly became one of the most prescribedantibiotics in the United States. But Trovan was laterassociated with reports of liver damage and deaths,leading the FDA to severely restrict its use in 1999.European regulators banned the drug.Oversight of trial questionedAfter The Post published its report, Nigeria's healthminister at the time, Tim Menakaya, appointed a blueribbonpanel of medical experts to look into Pfizer'sactions, saying, "Let me assure you that my ministry willtake all necessary steps to obtain details of this incidentand make them known to the general public." Thecommittee collected hundreds of documents andinterviewed at least 26 people.Pfizer had told authorities that a local Nigerian doctordirected the experiment. The committee, however, foundthat researchers from Pfizer's U.S. office controlled thetrial, and the inexperienced Kano doctor, Abdulhamid IsaDutse, was the principal investigator "only by name."Publications listed Dutse as the lead author of articles onTrovan, but the committee found that depiction "did notsufficiently reflect his role." Dutse indicated he was keptin the dark about the experiment's results and said he didnot see at least one publication until the committeeshowed it to him."He was shocked that Pfizer could publish such datawithout showing him [the data] or intimating him withdetails," the report said, concluding that Dutse was "naiveand exploited."The report quoted Dutse as saying that Pfizer's motivewas far from philanthropic."I have trusted people and am disappointed," Dutse toldthe committee. "I regret this whole exercise, I wonderwhy on Earth I did this."Back-dated letter of approvalDutse admitted that he created a letter after theexperiment purporting to show that the test had beenapproved in advance by a Nigerian hospital's ethicscommittee. He then backdated the letter to March 28,1996 -- a week before Pfizer's experiment began.Pfizer used the letter as a key justification for the trial indiscussions with reporters and submitted it to the FDA.U.S. regulations require the sponsors of foreign medicalresearch seeking FDA approval to show that the testshave been reviewed in advance by an ethics committee.The Post previously reported that the hospital had noethics committee in March 1996 and that the letterheadstationery used was not created until months after theexperiment's conclusion.In a statement last week, Pfizer said that after that articleappeared, the company investigated and found that theletter was "incorrect."Continued on page 10-7- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 1, Issue 12 NEWSLETTER December 2006FEATURED ARTICLESCustom-Built Pathogens Raise Bioterror FearsSTONY BROOK, N.Y.Eckard Wimmer knows of a shortcut terrorists couldsomeday use to get their hands on the lethal virusesthat cause Ebola and smallpox. He knows itexceptionally well, because he discovered it himself.In 2002, the German-born molecular geneticiststartled the scientific world by creating the first live,fully artificial virus in the lab. It was a variation ofthe bug that causes polio, yet different from any virusknown to nature. And Wimmer built it from scratch.The virus was made wholly from nonliving parts,using equipment and chemicals on hand in Wimmer'ssmall laboratory at the State University of New Yorkhere on Long Island. The most crucial part, thegenetic code, was picked up for free on the Internet.Hundreds of tiny bits of viral DNA were purchasedonline, with final assembly in the lab.Wimmer intended to sound a warning, to show thatscience had crossed a threshold into an era in whichgenetically altered and made-from-scratch germweapons were feasible. But in the four years since,other scientists have made advances faster thanWimmer imagined possible. Government officials,and scientists such as Wimmer, are only beginning tograsp the implications."The future," he said, "has already come."Five years ago, deadly anthrax attacks forcedAmericans to confront the suddenly real prospect ofbioterrorism. Since then the Bush administration haspoured billions of dollars into building a defensivewall of drugs, vaccines and special sensors that candetect dangerous pathogens. But already, technologyis hurtling past it. While government scientists presstheir search for new drugs for old foes such as classicanthrax, a revolution in biology has ushered in an ageof engineered microbes and novel ways to makethem.By Joby WarrickWashington PostJuly 31, 2006The new technology opens the door to new tools fordefeating disease and saving lives. But today, in hundredsof labs worldwide, it is also possible to transformcommon intestinal microbes into killers. Or to makedeadly strains even more lethal. Or to resurrect bygonekillers, such the 1918 influenza. Or to manipulate aperson's hormones by switching genes on or off. Or tocraft cheap, efficient delivery systems that can infectlarge numbers of people."The biological weapons threat is multiplying and will doso regardless of the countermeasures we try to take," saidSteven M. Block, a Stanford University biophysicist andformer president of the Biophysical Society. "You can'tstop it, any more than you can stop the progress ofmankind. You just have to hope that your collectivebrainpower can muster more resources than youradversaries'."The Bush administration has acknowledged the evolvingthreat, and last year it appointed a panel of scientists tobegin a years-long study of the problem. It also isbuilding a large and controversial lab in Frederick, wherenew bioterrorism threats can be studied and tested. Butoverall, specific responses have been few and slow.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasdeclined so far to police the booming gene-synthesisindustry, which churns out made-to-order DNA to sell toscientists. Oversight of controversial experiments remainsvoluntary and sporadic in many universities and privatelabs in the United States, and occurs even more rarelyoverseas.Bioterrorism experts say traditional biodefenseapproaches, such as stockpiling antibiotics or locking upwell-known strains such as the smallpox virus, remainimportant. But they are not enough."There's a name for fixed defenses that can easily beoutflanked: They are called Maginot lines," said RogerBrent, a California molecular biologist and former bio--8- Traditional African Clinic December 2006Continued on page 9

Continued from page 8 – Custom-Built Pathogensbiodefense adviser to the Defense Department,referring to the elaborate but short-sighted network ofborder fortifications built by France after World War Ito prevent future invasions by Germany."By themselves," Brent said, "stockpiled defensesagainst specific threats will be no more effective to thedefense of the United States than the Maginot line wasto the defense of France in 1940."How to Make a VirusWimmer's artificial virus looks and behaves like itsnatural cousin -- but with a far reduced ability to maimor kill -- and could be used to make a safer poliovaccine. But it was Wimmer's techniques, not his aims,that sparked controversy when news of hisachievement hit the scientific journals.As the creator of the world's first "de novo" virus -- ahuman virus, at that -- Wimmer came under attackfrom other scientists who said his experiment was adangerous stunt. He was accused of giving ideas toterrorists, or, even worse, of inviting a backlash thatcould result in new laws restricting scientific freedom.Wimmer counters that he didn't invent the technologythat made his experiment possible. He only drewattention to it."To most scientists and lay people, the reality thatviruses could be synthesized was surprising, if notshocking," he said. "We consider it imperative toinform society of this new reality, which bears farreachingconsequences."One of the world's foremost experts on poliovirus,Wimmer has made de novo poliovirus six times sincehis groundbreaking experiment four years ago. Eachtime, the work is a little easier and faster.New techniques developed by other scientists allowthe creation of synthetic viruses in mere days, notweeks or months. Hardware unveiled last year by aHarvard genetics professor can churn out syntheticgenes by the thousands, for a few pennies each.But Wimmer continues to use methods available toany modestly funded university biology lab. Hereckons that tens of thousands of scientists worldwidealready are capable of doing what he does."Our paper was the starting point of the revolution,"Wimmer said. "But eventually the process will becomeso automated even technicians can do it."Wimmer's method starts with the virus's geneticblueprint, a code of instructions 7,441 characters long.Obtaining it is the easiest part: The entire code forpoliovirus, and those for scores of other pathogens, isavailable for free on the Internet.Armed with a printout of the code, Wimmer places anorder with a U.S. company that manufactures custommadesnippets of DNA, called oglionucleotides. TheDNA fragments arrive by mail in hundreds of tiny vials,enough to cover a lab table in one of Wimmer's threesmall research suites.Using a kind of chemical epoxy, the scientist and hiscrew of graduate assistants begin the tedious task offusing small snippets of DNA into larger fragments. Thenthey splice together the larger strands until the entiresequence is complete.The final step is almost magical. The finished but lifelessDNA, placed in a broth of organic "juice" from mushedupcells, begins making proteins. Spontaneously, itassembles the trappings of a working virus around itself.While simple on paper, it is not a feat for amateurs,Wimmer said. There are additional steps to makingeffective bioweapons besides acquiring microbes. Likemany scientists and a sizable number of biodefenseexperts, Wimmer believes traditional terrorist groupssuch as al-Qaeda will stick with easier methods, at leastfor now.Yet al-Qaeda is known to have sought bioweapons andhas recruited experts, including microbiologists. And forany skilled microbiologist trained in modern techniques,Wimmer acknowledged, synthetic viruses are well withinreach and getting easier."This," he said, "is a wake-up call."From Parlor Trick to Bio-BricksThe global biotech revolution underway is more thanmere genetic engineering. It is genetic engineering onhyperdrive. New scientific disciplines such as syntheticbiology, practiced not only in the United States but alsoin new white-coat enclaves in China and Cuba, seek notto tweak biological systems but to reinvent them.-9- Traditional African Clinic December 2006The holy grail of synthetic biologists is the reduction ofall life processes into building blocks -- interchangeablebio-bricks that can be reassembled into new forms. Thetechnology envisions new species of microbes built fromthe bottom up: "living machines from off-the-shelfchemicals" to suit the needs of science, said JonathanTucker, a bioweapons expert with the Washington-basedCenter for Non-Proliferation Studies."It is possible to engineer living organisms the waypeople now engineer electronic circuits," Tucker said. Inthe future, he said, these microbes could produce cheapdrugs, detect toxic chemicals, break down pollutants,repair defective genes, destroy cancer cells and generateContinued on page 10

Continued from page 7 – Pfizer Faults over Drug Trial inNigeria"Obviously this should not have occurred and thecompany very much regrets that it did," the statementsaid. "It is important to point out, though, that Pfizerthought proper procedure had been followed at the timeof the clinical study."Trial called ‘an act of deception’The former director of Nigeria's version of the FDA saidthe agency had been unaware of the experiment. He toldthe panel that he "viewed the conduct of the trial byPfizer as an act of deception and misuse of privilege."The report said the treatment of two children during theexperiment represented unspecified "serious deviations"from the trial's protocol and concluded that thosedeviations compromised their care. One was a 10-yearoldgirl identified only as Patient No. 0069, who wasgiven the experimental antibiotic for three days as hercondition deteriorated. She died without receiving anyother antibiotic.Last week, Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the seniorDemocrat on the International Relations Committee,described the report's findings as "absolutely appalling"and called on Pfizer to open its records. "I think it borderson the criminal that the large pharmaceutical companies,both here and in Europe, are using these poor, illiterateand uninformed people as guinea pigs," Lantos said.Lantos said he expected to introduce a bill requiring U.S.researchers to give regulators details of tests they plan indeveloping countries. "It's the only ethical thing to do,"Lantos said. The bill is similar to one his committeeapproved in 2001 that did not make it out of the House."There should be a lot of bipartisan support for it. Thisoutrages people."The report's findings also breathe new life into a lawsuitagainst Pfizer, according to Kusel, who represents 30Nigerian families. "It's great news, I'm very excited," shesaid when told of the committee's conclusions.The families sued Pfizer in federal court in New York in2001, alleging that the company had exposed the childrento "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."A U.S. judge dismissed the suit last summer, saying U.S.courts lacked jurisdiction. Kusel is appealing."A report like this does not get suppressed withoutsomeone high up being involved," she said.© 2006 The Washington Post Company☻☻☻☻☻☻Continued from page 9 – Custom-Built Pathogenshydrogen for fuel.In less than five years, synthetic biology has gone from akind of scientific parlor trick, useful for such things ascreating glow-in-the-dark fish, to a cutting-edgebioscience with enormous commercial potential, saidEileen Choffnes, an expert on microbial threats with theNational Academies' Institute of Medicine. "Now thetechnology can be even done at the lab bench in highschool," she said.Along with synthetic biologists, a separate but equallyardent group is pursuing DNA shuffling, a kind ofdirected evolution that imbues microbes with new traits.Another faction seeks novel ways to deliver chemicalsand medicines, using ultra-fine aerosols that penetratedeeply into the lungs or new forms of microencapsulatedpackaging that control how drugs are released in thebody.Still another group is discovering ways to manipulate theessential biological circuitry of humans, using chemicalsor engineered microbes to shut down defective genes orregulate the production of hormones controlling suchfunctions as metabolism and mood.Some analysts have compared the flowering ofbiotechnology to the start of the nuclear age in the pastcentury, but there are important differences. This time,the United States holds no monopoly over the emergingscience, as it did in the early years of nuclear power.Racing to exploit each new discovery are dozens ofcountries, many of them in the developing world. There'sno binding treaty or international watchdog to safeguardagainst abuse. And the secrets of biology are available onthe Internet for free, said Robert L. Erwin at a recentWashington symposium pondering the new technology.He is a geneticist and founder of the California biotechfirm Large Scale Biology Corp."It's too cheap, it's too fast, there are too many peoplewho know too much," Erwin said, "and it's too late tostop it."A Darker SideIn May, when 300 synthetic biologists gathered inCalifornia for the second national conference in thehistory of their new field, they found protesters waiting."Scientists creating new life forms cannot be allowed toact as judge and jury," Sue Mayer, a veterinary cellbiologist and director of GeneWatch UK, said in astatement signed by 38 organizations.Activists are not the only ones concerned about wherenew technology could lead. Numerous studies by-10- Traditional African Clinic December 2006Continued on page 16

Continued from page 5 – Virus Cancer ProgramA steady supply of research animals (monkeys,chimpanzees, mice, cats, etc.) was necessary; andmultiple breeding colonies were established for the VCP.For example, a total of 2,274 primates from Africa andAsia were shipped to Litton for military use in 1971.Forcing cancer viruses into primates and otheranimalsTo induce primates and other research animals to acquirecancer, their immune system was deliberately suppressedby drugs, radiation, or cancer-causing chemicals orsubstances. The thymus gland and/or the spleen wereremoved, and cancer tissue and cancer viruses wereinjected into newborn animals or into the womb ofpregnant animals. Some animals were deliberatelyinfected with malaria to keep them chronically sick andimmunodepressed.The U.S. is the world's leading consumer of primates, and55,000 are used yearly in medical research. Primates(especially newborn and baby chimpanzees) are the mostfavored lab animals because they are most similarbiochemically and immunologically to human beings.Humans share 98.4% of their DNA with chimpanzees.Chimps were extensively used by the VCP because therewould be no official testing of cancer viruses on humans.Robert Gallo, the discoverer of HIV in 1984, was aproject officer of a primate study contracted by LittonBionetics that pumped cancerous human tissue, as well asa variety of primate and other viruses, into newbornmacaques (a small species of monkey used as an animalmodel for human cancer).The actual number and identity of all the primate virusescreated and adapted to human tissue during the 14 yearsof the SVCP is not known. In addition, some primateswere released back into the wild carrying lab viruses withthem. This fact is always ignored by molecular biologistssearching for "viral ancestors" in the African bush.By the early 1970s, experimenters had transferred cancercausingviruses into several species of monkeys.Herpesvirus saimiri, a monkey virus discovered in 1967in the squirrel monkey, has a close genetic relationship tothe new KS herpes virus. H. saimiri virus is harmless inthe squirrel monkey, but when the virus was forced in thelab to "jump species" into different animal species, suchas the owl monkey, marmosets and rabbits, it producescancer in the form of fatal malignant lymphoma.By 1971 Dharam V Ablashi of the NCI succeeded intransferring H. saimiri, into various cell lines of humanorigin. (1971;35). Cancer-causing cat and hamster viruseswere also engineered into macaques and other monkeyspecies.By the early 1970s, it was recognized that forms of humanleukemia and lymphoma were associated with herpes-typeviruses. Herpes saimiri, a DNA-type virus, became theexperimental model for the study of human leukemia andlymphoma. "Thus far, the only DNA viruses associatedwith natural cancer of animals and man are herpes viruses"(1973;15).By 1971 Dharam V Ablashi of the NCI succeeded intransferring H. saimiri, into various cell lines of humanorigin. (1971;35). Cancer-causing cat and hamster viruseswere also engineered into macaques and other monkeyspecies.By the early 1970s, it was recognized that forms of humanleukemia and lymphoma were associated with herpes-typeviruses. Herpes saimiri, a DNA-type virus, became theexperimental model for the study of human leukemia andlymphoma. "Thus far, the only DNA viruses associatedwith natural cancer of animals and man are herpes viruses"(1973;15).Luis Melendez of Harvard studied additional primateherpes viruses (H. ateles, H. aotus, and H. saguinus) anddetermined their ability to induce cancer (1973;247).Attempts were made "to find a suitable method for thelarge-scale production of high-titer Herpesvirus saimiri"(1973;264). Researchers knew: "The clinical andimmunological picture of human lymphoma and leukemiais closely approximated by the malignant disease induced insusceptible non-human primates by H. saimiri." (1973;265).By 1976 it was also learned that H.saimiri could spread by"contact transmission" between squirrel and owl monkeysin the laboratory.A monkey virus injected into humans via poliovaccines in the 1950sThere are inherent dangers in vaccine production. Manyvaccines are made on living cells; and accidentalcontamination with bacteria, mycoplasma, viruses, andnewly-recognized "nanobacteria" are constant problemsduring the manufacturing process. Laboratory additives(such as fetal bovine [cow] serum) may also be a source ofcontamination. Half the flu vaccine supply for 2004 had tobe destroyed due to contamination with disease-causingbacteria.Some researchers believe that injecting living and killedviruses into the body can result in these viruses combiningwith other viruses normally present in the body, resulting inthe formation of new viral disease-causing "recombinants."The dangers of vaccines are downplayed to assure thepublic that vaccines are safe.The possibility that cancer-causing primate viruses couldhave been "introduced" into gays, via the experimentalContinued on page 12-11- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 11 – The Virus Cancer Programas paranoid fantasy. In this regard, we are told that HIVis the first primate virus to "jump species" to producean epidemic in millions of humans. But, in truth, theAIDS epidemic is the second instance in which amonkey virus has been transferred to humans.A cancer-causing monkey virus called "simian virus40" (SV40) jumped species a half century ago whenvirus-contaminated polio vaccines were injected intomillions of people, including half the U.S. populationof that era. (For details, see: www.sv40cancer.com)Government health officials insist there is no proof thatSV40 causes human cancer. However, independentresearch over the past decade indicates SV40 is clearlyassociated with rapidly-fatal cancers of the lung(mesothelioma), bone marrow cancer (multiplemyeloma), brain tumors in children, and other forms ofcancer.A Washington Times report (September 21, 2003)states, "Some of the polio vaccine given to millions ofAmerican children from 1962 until 2000 could havebeen contaminated with a monkey virus that shows upin some cancers, according to documents and testimonyto be delivered to a House committee Wednesday." TheSV40 story is detailed in the recently published, TheVirus and the Vaccine: The True Story of a Cancer-Causing Monkey Virus, Contaminated Polio Vaccine,and the Millions of Americans Exposed.The VCP and links to bio-warfare and secret humanexperimentationEvery annual report of the VCP makes clear that humanexperimentation with these newly created andgenetically-engineered viruses would not beundertaken. However, the 1972 Report (p 262) alsostates: "Since man will not be used as an experimentalrecipient, it is necessary to gain proof of oncogenicityby other means."It is well-known in science that medical doctors willnot totally accept laboratory findings in animals asabsolute proof. An experimental finding in animalsmust also be proven in humans. It cannot be assumedthat covert human testing of suspected cancer-causingviruses did not take place in the thousands ofexperiments conducted under the auspices of the VCP,particularly with its strong ties to covert biowarfareresearch. The U.S. military has a long history of secrethuman experimentation. For proof, Google: secrethuman medical experimentation.Merck and Co, Inc. made most of the experimentalhepatitis B vaccine that was immediately followed byAIDS cases. Some of the experimental vaccine wasmanufactured at the NIH. George Merck, who foundedthe drug company, was the leading biowarfare advisor toPresident Roosevelt during WW2. He was a central figurein creating the army's biowarfare laboratory at Ft. Detrick,Maryland, which later became an integral part of the NCI.Merck's role in the VCP was "to conduct investigationsdesigned to develop vaccines or other agents effective forthe prophylaxis and therapy for human neoplasia (cancer)of suspected viral etiology" (1972;139). Great interest wastaken in developing anti-herpes virus vaccines. Researchinvolved a new type of herpes vaccine using "purified viralprotein vaccines" and a "subunit vaccine" utilizing only apiece of the herpes virus (1977;135).The Merck company declared: "Since live attenuated orkilled virus vaccines for potentially oncogenic viruseswould not be acceptable for human use due to the danger oftransfer of functional genetic material, this project wasinitiated to determine whether vaccines to purified viralantigens acceptable for use in humans were of practicalvalue." (1977;160) (This proposed "purified" herpesvaccine was similar in type to the experimental "purified"hepatitis B vaccine injected into gays the following year.) Itis my contention that the introduction of HIV and the KSvirus into gay people, the most hated minority in America,was not an accident of nature due to monkeys in the jungle.Would scientists deliberately infect gay men with AIDS tofinally prove that animal cancer viruses cause cancer? Inthe January 1987 issue of MD magazine, an Oklahomainternist wrote: "Homosexuality is a sin, deserving thedeath penalty." With that kind of mentality not rare in themedical and scientific world, the answer to the question is,undoubtedly, yes.The VCP and biohazardsThe VCP was a biological disaster waiting to happen. Whatwould happen if one or more of these dangerous cancer andimmunosuppressive viruses escaped from the laboratoryand produced a worldwide biologic holocaust?The 1978 report from the Office of Biohazard Safety of theVCP states: "The inadequate care and handling of animalsduring the past several years have created a potential for theoccurrence of infection of humans with simian (primate)microorganisms and cross infection between species. Suchinterspecies disease transmission may seriouslycompromise the integrity of the experiment as well as thehealth of the experimenter. Due to the magnitude ofbiomedical research employing tissue cultures, frequentevaluation of tissue culture cross-contamination is veryimportant."-12 - Traditional African Clinic December 2006The yearly large-scale production of lethal cancervirusesBy the late 1970s the mixing of animal cancer viruses withhuman cells to produce new "xenotropic" viruses wasContinued on page 13

Continued from page 12- Virus Cancer Programcommonplace. The human cells in question wereplacenta ("afterbirth") cells from patients with immunedisease, and cells from leukemia (1978, p 192).Xenotropic viruses are viruses taken from one speciesand transplanted into another different species. Allthese experiments represent "species jumping"performed in a laboratory.By 1977 the Program was producing "approximately60,000 liters (15,840 gallons) of tissue culture-grownviruses, propagated in over 40 different cell lines, anddistributed in over 1250 shipments to over 250participating laboratories throughout the world."Also in 1977 Electro-Nucleonics Laboratoriesprocessed 8,044 liters (2,024 gallons) of viruscontainingfluids harvested from several tissue culturesystems. About half this volume was concentratedxenotropic viruses. That same year Pfizer drugcompany produced 28,000 liters (7,392 gallons) ofvirus harvest fluids. The vast majority included primateviruses, such as the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, woollymonkey sarcoma virus and baboon endogenous virus.(This baboon virus contaminated Gallo's lab at theNCI). Litton produced 37,438 liters (9,984 gallons) ofretrovirus material consisting essentially of four agents:mouse mammary tumor virus, Raucher murine (rat)leukemia virus, Gross murine leukemia virus andbaboon leukemia virus.The VCP and the creation of an AIDS-like disease inchimpsIn 1969 the military biowarfare experts predicted that abiological agent would be developed within a decadethat would have a devastating effect on the immunesystem and for which there would be no treatment. (Fordetails of this congressional testimony, Google: DonaldM MacArthur + biowarfare.)The VCP had a keen interest in acquiring "informationand materials from carefully selected patients sufferingfrom immunodeficiency diseases" (1972;318). This ismade clear in a 1973 Progress Report (p249) from theUniversity of Minnesota entitled, "The search for tumorvirus related information in human immunodeficiencypatients with cancer" The researchers proposed"continuation of studies linking immunodeficency,cancer, and oncogenic viruses."As biowarfare expert MacArthur predicted, newcancer-causing monster viruses (like HIV) were createdby the VCP which had a deadly effect on the immunesystem. In one experiment recorded in the 1973 Report(p169), later published in Cancer Research in 1974,newborn chimps were taken away from their mothers atbirth and weaned on milk from cancer virus-infected-13 - Traditional African Clinic December 2006cows. Some of the chimps sickened and died with twodiseases that had never been observed in chimpanzees. Thefirst was Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (later known asthe "gay pneumonia" of AIDS); the second was leukemia, acancer of the blood.Cancer-Causing viruses and "helper" virusesAs the 1970s began it was clear that some cancer-causingviruses could not produce cancer unless a "helper" viruswas present. Certain chicken, cat and mouse sarcomaviruses were found to be "defective" and unable to inducecancerous changes. However, when a "helper" leukemiavirus was added to the mix, the sarcoma virus was able toinduce cancer.Mixing of a mouse sarcoma virus with a cat leukemia virusproduced a "hybrid virus" which could grow continuouslyin cat cells. Such a "hybrid virus" was adapted to humanembryonic (fetal) cells (1971, p22). Thus, it is obvious that"species jumping" experiments were commonplace duringthe years of the VCP.By the late 1970s it was known that "type C RNA viruses"(the retroviruses connected with sarcomas and lymphomasand leukemias) existed normally in cells as "endogenousviruses" within the cellular genomes of many mammalianspecies. By 1977, the year the experimental hepatitis Bvaccine was being made, scientists in the VCP aimed "todetermine the oncogenic potential of putative humanviruses" and "to begin viral vaccine (conventional or other)testing and immunization programs" (1977;32). The exactmethod by which this was to be accomplished was notstated.Primate virus contamination of human cellsThe possibility that animal cancer viruses could causecontamination of viral laboratories and viral research wasan accepted risk for the VCP. Primate virus contaminationproblems have plagued the laboratories of the world's mostfamous AIDS researchers, much to their embarrassment.A decade before Gallo discovered HIV, he reported a"new" and "human" and cancer-associated "HL-23 virus"that was eventually determined to be not one but threecontaminating primate viruses (gibbon-ape virus, simiansarcoma virus, and baboon endogenous virus).The baboon virus was discovered in the early 1970s at theSouthwest Foundation for Research and Education in SanAntonio, Texas, which hosted a chimpanzee breedingcolony and produced simian viruses for research. Thebaboon virus somehow made its way into the blood cells ofa Texas women with leukemia. When the infected cellsreached Gallo's lab they were apparently joined with anContinued on page 14

Continued from page 13 – Virus Cancer Programadditional monkey virus and an ape virus. How thesethree viruses contaminated Gallo's lab is unknown.However, George Todaro, an equally famous virologist,was quoted as saying, "You can get three viruses into avirus preparation easily just by being sloppy, and Gallohad plenty of sloppy people." (See John Crewdson'sScience Fictions: A Scientific Mystery, A MassiveCover-Up, and the Dark Legacy of Robert Gallo, p20).As late as 1986 Max Essex of Harvard "discovered" anew human AIDS retrovirus that he found in the bloodof healthy Africans. Eventually this virus also proved tobe a monkey virus that originated in a nearby primatecolony. Somehow the animal virus had worked its wayinto Essex's lab and blood samples.Interestingly, both Gallo and Essex, the two foremostAmerican AIDS researchers, were the leadingproponents of the African green monkey theory ofAIDS. Now the more widely accepted theory, proposedby Beatrice Hahn (who worked in Gallo's lab when heproposed the green monkey theory), claims the virustraces back to chimpanzees in the African wild. Hahnhas never commented on the primate contaminationproblems in Gallo's lab.Could the primate "ancestors" of the RNA-type HIVretrovirus and the DNA-type herpes saimiri-like KSherpes virus have accidentally-or deliberately-workedtheir way into the experimental hepatitis B vaccine?The extremely high incidence of both these "new"viruses in the gay men, who volunteered for thehepatitis experiments, certainly provide enoughadditional circumstantial evidence to make the manmadetheory of AIDS as plausible as the monkey out ofAfrica theory.The gay hepatitis B experiments (1978-1981)The experimental hepatitis B vaccine injected into gayswas unlike any other vaccine previously made. It wasdeveloped in chimpanzees and manufactured in a yearlongprocess of sterilization and purification of thepooled blood of 30 gay men who were hepatitis B viruscarriers. During the first gay experiment (November1978-October 1979) at the New York Blood Center,there was great concern that the vaccine might becontaminated.According to June Goodfield's Quest for the Killers, p86, "This was no theoretical fear, contamination havingbeen suspected in one batch made by the NationalInstitutes of Health, though never in Merck's." The menwere given three inoculations of the vaccine over aperiod of time. The vaccine was successful with 96% ofthe men developing protective antibodies against thehepatitis B virus.-14- Traditional African Clinic December 2006It has been assumed by some that these men wereimmunosuppressed due to their promiscuity and historyof venereal disease. Although the young men in thestudy were indeed "promiscuous" (this was arequirement for entrance into the study), they were inexcellent health. Despite many previous sexual partners,these volunteers had never contracted evidence ofhepatitis B infection. Furthermore, immunosuppressedpeople often do not respond to the vaccine.The men in the Manhattan experiment had the highestrate of HIV ever recorded for that time period (over 20%of the men were HIV-positive in 1981, and over 40% in1984). Therefore, it must be assumed that many, if notmost, of these men eventually died of AIDS. The actualnumber of AIDS deaths among the men in theexperiment has never been revealed, nor have theirmedical records been studied. Attempts to secure thisinformation have been rebuffed due to the "confidential"nature of the experiment.The end of the VCP and the birth of AIDSBy 1980 the VCP came to an inglorious end with theinability to prove that viruses were involved in humancancer. More than any other program it built up the fieldof animal retrovirology, which led to a more completeunderstanding of how cancer and immunosuppressiveretroviruses caused disease in humans. The VCP was thebirthplace of genetic engineering, molecular biology,and the human genome project. I am convinced the VCP(and not Africa) is the birthplace of HIV/AIDS as well.As the VCP was winding down in the late 1970s, the gayexperiments began in New York City, and continued inother cities, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.These cities would rapidly become the three primaryepicenters of the new and unprecedented "gay-relatedimmune deficiency syndrome," later known as AIDS.The introduction of HIV and the KS herpes virus intogay men (along with some "novel" and now-patentedmycoplasmas discovered at the Armed Forces Instituteof Pathology) miraculously revived the career of RobertGallo and made him the most famous virologist in theworld, and, of course, turned the "failure" of the VCPinto a triumph.When Gallo's blood test for HIV became available in themid-1980s, the New York Blood Center's stored gayblood specimens were reexamined. Most astonishing isthe fact that 20% of the gay men who volunteered for thehepatitis B experiment in Manhattan were discovered tobe HIV-positive in 1980 (one year before the AIDSepidemic became "official" in 1981). This signifies thatManhattan gays in 1980 had the highest incidence ofContinued on page 15

Continued from page 14- Virus Cancer ProgramHIV anywhere in the world, including Africa, thesupposed birthplace of HIV and AIDS. In addition, in1982, in an AIDS trial in New York City one out offive gay men (20%) tested positive for the new KSherpes-8 virus when stored blood samples were reexaminedby epidemiologists at the NCI in 1999.Rarely mentioned by AIDS historians is the fact thatthe New York Blood Center established a chimp viruslaboratory for viral vaccine research in West Africa in1974. One of the purposes of VILAB II, inRobertsfield, Liberia, was to develop the hepatitis Bvaccine in chimps. The lab also prides itself byreleasing "rehabilitated" (but virus-infected) chimpsback into the wild.Also conveniently forgotten in the history of AIDS isLEMSIP (The Laboratory for Experimental Medicineand Surgery), the primate colony located outside NewYork City. For many years, until disbanded in 1997,LEMSIP supplied scientists with primates and primateparts (and unknown primate viruses) for transplantationand virus research. Primate parts (and primate viruses)were experimentally transplanted in human beings asearly as the 1960s.LEMSIP was also affiliated with New York UniversityMedical Center, where the first cases of AIDSassociatedKaposi's sarcoma were discovered in 1979.Researchers at NYU were also heavily involved in thedevelopment of the experimental hepatitis B vaccineused in gays. According to Leonard Horowitz, authorof Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola, NYU MedicalCenter received government grants and contractsconnected with biological warfare research beginningin 1969.The evidence gathered here is a tiny fraction of thecircumstantial evidence supporting the man-madetheory of AIDS. Scientists have a long and provenhistory of covertly experimenting on people "in thename of science." Anyone who takes the time to studythe reports of the VCP will recognize that humanexperimentation with cancer viruses was undoubtedlyconsidered and ultimately desired. Is the fact thatHIV/AIDS appeared within a decade of this dangerouscancer virus experimentation a coincidence? ShouldAIDS be blamed on human sexuality, gays, blacks, andmonkeys? I think not.There is nothing wrong or unpatriotic or"conspiratorial" in presenting the vast amount ofevidence that connects out-of-control animal cancerexperimentation and biowarfare research with the birthof AIDS. What is wrong, however, is the unwillingnessof the scientific establishment and the media and the public tolook at it.Dr. Cantwell is a retired dermatologist and has written twobooks on the man-made origin of AIDS; and two books on theinfectious origin of cancer, all published by Aries RisingPress, PO Box 29532, Los Angeles, CA 90029,(www.ariesrisingpress.com).☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻Roche's Tamiflu to AddWarning on Psychiatric Risks(Update 1)By Catherine LarkinNov. 13, 2006 (Bloomberg) -- Roche Holding AG's Tamifluflu treatment must carry information warning of potentialrisks of psychiatric side effects, U.S. regulators said. TheFood and Drug Administration approved a labeling revisionto include information on those risks after reports of selfinjuryand mutilation among Japanese patients using the drug,the agency said today in an e-mailed statement. Most of theseside effects were reported in children.The new label will urge doctors to monitor patients withinfluenza for signs of abnormal behavior immediately afterthey begin taking Tamiflu. While the “relative contribution ofthe drug to these events is not known,” the regulators said thelabeling revision is intended to mitigate the potential risks.Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland, said in a statement that itis committed to working with regulators to ensure that thedrug's labeling accurately reflects reports of adverse events.To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Larkin inWashington at clarkin4@bloomberg.net.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLUqmToDWYS8&refer=home#☻☻☻☻☻☻-15- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 10– Custom-Built Pathogensnormally staid panels of scientists and security expertshave also warned about the consequences of abuse. Anunclassified CIA study in 2003 titled "The DarkerBioweapons Future" warned of a potential for a "classof new, more virulent biological agents engineered toattack" specific targets. "The effects of some of theseengineered biological agents could be worse than anydisease known to man," the study said.It is not just the potential for exotic diseases that iscausing concern. Harmless bacteria can be modified tocarry genetic instructions that, once inside the body,can alter basic functions, such as immunity or hormoneproduction, three biodefense experts with the DefenseIntelligence Agency said in an influential report titled"Biotechnology: Impact on Biological Warfare andBiodefense."As far as is publicly known, no such weapons have everbeen used, although Soviet bioweapons scientistsexperimented with genetically altered strains in thefinal years of the Cold War. Some experts doubtterrorists would go to such trouble when ordinarygerms can achieve the same goals."The capability of terrorists to embark on this path inthe near- to mid-term is judged to be low," Charles E.Allen, chief intelligence officer for the Department ofHomeland Security, said in testimony May 4 before apanel of the House Committee on Homeland Security."Just because the technology is available doesn't meanterrorists can or will use it."A far more likely source, Allen said, is a "lone wolf": ascientist or biological hacker working alone or in asmall group, driven by ideology or perhaps personaldemons. Many experts believe the anthrax attacks of2001 were the work of just such a loner. "All it wouldtake for advanced bioweapons development," Allensaid, "is one skilled scientist and modest equipment --an activity we are unlikely to detect in advance."Genes for SaleThroughout the Western world and even in developingcountries such as India and Iran, dozens of companieshave entered the booming business of commercial genesynthesis. Last fall, a British scientific journal, NewScientist, decided to contact some of these DNA-bymailcompanies to show how easy it would be to obtaina potentially dangerous genetic sequence -- forexample, DNA for a bacterial gene that producesdeadly toxins.Only five of the 12 firms that responded said theyscreened customers' orders for DNA sequences thatmight pose a terrorism threat. Four companiesacknowledged doing no screening at all. Under currentlaws, the companies are not required to screen. In theUnited States, the federal "Select Agent" rule restrictsaccess to a few types of deadly bacteria, viruses and toxins.But, under the CDC's interpretation of the rule, there arefew such controls on transfers of synthetic genes that can beturned into killers. Changes are being contemplated, but fornow the gap is one example of technology's rapid advanceleaving law and policy behind."It would be possible -- fully legal -- for a person toproduce full-length 1918 influenza virus or Ebola virusgenomes, along with kits containing detailed proceduresand all other materials for reconstitution," said Richard H.Ebright, a biochemist and professor at Rutgers University."It is also possible to advertise and to sell the product, inthe United States or overseas."While scientists tend to be deeply skeptical of governmentintrusion into their laboratories, many favor closer scrutinyover which kinds of genetic coding are being sold and towhom. Even DNA companies themselves are lobbying forbetter oversight.Blue Heron Biotechnology, a major U.S. gene-synthesiscompany based in suburban Seattle, formally petitioned thefederal government three years ago to expand the SelectAgent rule to require companies to screen DNA purchases.The company began voluntarily screening after receivingsuspicious requests from overseas, including one from aSaudi customer asking for genes belonging to a virus thatcauses a disease akin to smallpox."The request turned out to be legitimate, from a realscientist, but it made us ask ourselves: How can we makesure that some crazy person doesn't order something fromus?" said John Mulligan, Blue Heron's founder and chiefexecutive. "I used to think that such a thing wasimprobable, but then September 11 happened."Some scientists also favor greater scrutiny -- or at least peerreview -- of research that could lead to the accidental ordeliberate release of genetically modified organisms. Intheory, such oversight is provided by volunteer boardsknown as institutional biosafety committees. Guidelines setby the National Institutes of Health call on federally fundedschools and private labs to each appoint such a Board. A2004 National Academy of Sciences report recommendedthat the committees take on a larger role in policingresearch that could lead to more powerful biologicalweapons.In reality, many of these boards appear to exist only onpaper. In 2004, the nonprofit Sunshine Project surveyed390 such committees, asking for copies of minutes or notesContinued on page 19-16- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

African Traditional Herbal Research ClinicVolume 1, Issue 12 NEWSLETTER December 2006FEATURED ARTICLESHEMP SEED: THE MOST NUTRITIONALLYCOMPLETE FOOD SOURCE IN THE WORLDPart Oneby Lynn OsburnFrom: Hemp Line Journal, July-August 1992, pp. 14-15, Vol. I No. 1Seeds of the plant cannabis sativa, hemp seed, containall the essential amino acids and essential fatty acidsnecessary to maintain healthy human life. No othersingle plant source has the essential amino acids in suchan easily digestible form, nor has the essential fattyacids in as perfect a ratio to meet human nutritionalneeds.The importance of hemp seed nutrients to human healthcannot be fully appreciated without someunderstanding of bio-chemistry in life. Unfortunately,any attempt to understand the flow of life leads into therealm of the most troublesome of the three infinities --the infinitely complex.Some deep thinkers believe life is a paradox not to beunderstood but experienced to the fullest. However, theSages have said, "Know thyself." At any rate it isparadoxic to attempt simplifying the infinitecomplexity of flowing life. Yet, it is far better for thehealth and development of any thinking and feeling,uniquely individual human being, to pursue knowledgethan to lounge in ignorance.One out of two Americans win die from the effects ofcardiovascular disease (CVD). One out of fourAmericans will die from cancer. Researchers believecancers erupt when immune system response isweakened. Pioneers in the fields of biochemistry andhuman nutrition now believe CVD and most cancersare really diseases of fatty degeneration caused by thecontinued over-consumption of saturated fats andrefined vegetable oils that turn essential fatty acids intocarcinogenic killers. And if this is not scary enough,more Americans are succumbing to immune deficiencydiseases than ever before. Sadly it is ignorance ofhuman nutritional needs that will cause thisoverwhelming majority of Americans to die slowlyfrom these afflictions -- the greatest killers in affluentnations.HEMP SEED PROTEINS AND THEBUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE ANDIMMUNITYThere are eight amino acids the human body cannotmake and two more the body cannot make in sufficientquantity, so they are essential to life. A diet without anyone of them will eventually cause disease and death.These essential amino acids, along with eleven othersthe body can make from them, are chained together inaccordance to genetic guidelines, via RNA formatsfrom DNA blueprints, into structural proteins that givebody to life, and into enzymes (globular proteins) thatcarry out the mechanics of living.Nearly three quarters of body solids are proteins. Thebody is literally constructed and maintained by aninfinitely complex system that simply builds proteinsfrom amino acid sub units. Every amino acid consistsof an amine and a carboxyl bound to the same carbonatom. All but the smallest amino acid have one, moreor less complex, carbon containing side chainconnected to the carbon atom shared by the amine andcarboxyl groups. The amine group, ND, is slightlybasic; the carboxyl group, COOH, is a mild acid. Theamine group of one amino acid unites with the carboxylgroup of another forming a peptide link. Proteins aremade of amino acid peptide chains in specificsequences. The number of possible amino acid peptidecombinations is infinite.Peptide chains can bend, twist and unite with otherpeptide chains by forming weak hydrogen bondsbetween nitrogen and oxygen atoms along the chain.Amino acids can also form bonds through side chainlinkages. All three types of amino acid bondingmethods contribute to the infinite possibility of proteinshapes and reactivity potentials. Though each speciesbuilds proteins unique to itself, life can tailor new onesif challenged by the pressures of existence.Continued on page 18-17- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 17 – Hemp SeedHemp is not unique in having all the essential aminoacids in its embryonic seed. Flax seeds also contain allthe essential amino acids as do many other seeds in theplant kingdom. What is unique about hemp seed proteinis that 65% of it is globulin edistin. That is the highestin the plant kingdom.Globulins are one of seven classes of simple proteins.Simple proteins are constructed from amino acids andcontain no non-protein substances. Globulins are inseeds and animal blood. Edistins are found in seeds;serum globulin is in blood. Edistins are plant globulins.And globulins along with albumins are classified asglobular proteins. All enzymes, antibodies, manyhormones, hemoglobin and fibrogin (the body convertsfibrogin into non-soluble, fibrin, a blood clotting agent)are globular proteins. They carry out the main work ofliving.Albumin, globulin and fibrogin are the three majortypes of plasma proteins. Plasma is the fluid portion ofblood that supplies nutrients to tissues. And the threeprotein types: serum albumin, serum globulin andfibrogin, compose about 80% of plasma solids. Theseplasma proteins serve as a reservoir of rapidly availableamino acids should any body tissues be in need.Plant seeds contain albumin and globulin but nofibrogin. Albumin is the nutritive material that fills thespace in the seed between the embryo and the seedcoat. The embryo needs albumin to fuel its initialgrowth until photosynthesis begins. Globulin edistinswithin the embryo guarantee this new life has theenzymes necessary for metabolic activity.Globulin is the third most abundant protein in thehuman body. Globulins perform many enzymatic(causing reactions to take place) functions within theplasma itself. More importantly, they are responsiblefor both the natural and acquired immunity a person hasagainst invading organisms. The body uses globulinproteins to make antibodies which attack infectingagents (antigens) that invade the body. Globulins likegamma globulin are absolutely essential to maintain ahealthy immune system. They neutralize alienmicroorganisms and toxins.Globulins are divided into three classes: alpha, beta andgamma globulins. Alpha and beta globulins operate astransport vehicles by combining with other substancesand carry protein from one part of the body to another.They haul the materials needed to build new andreplace worn or damaged bodily structures. Gammaglobulins are divided into five classes of antibodiescalled immunoglobulins. All are formed to combatspecific cell invading antigens. They comprise thebody's first line of defense against disease and infection.Immunoglobulins are produced by B lymphocyte (whiteblood cells) plasma cell clones located in lymph systemnodes. Infecting antigens normally must pass through thelymph system before entering the blood stream.Regarding human protein requirement: "Qualitively, it isconsidered desirable to secure amino acids similar to thoseof human tissues, both as to kinds and relative quantities ofthe various kinds." [Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology,Kimber, Gray, Stackpole, 1943]During digestion proteins in food are broken down intoamino acids. The amino acids are then taken into the bodyand reassembled into human proteins according to need andthe availability of the amino acids necessary to makespecific proteins.The body needs the necessary kinds of amino acids insufficient quantity in order to make proteins such as theglobulins. Proper quantities of the right kinds may not beavailable to the body much of the time. So even though thebody has enough essential amino acids available to preventdeficiency diseases, it may not have enough to buildquantities of immunoglobulins necessary for the immunesystem to repel infection.The best way to insure the body has enough amino acidmaterial to make the globulins is to eat foods high inglobulin proteins. Since hemp seed protein is 65% globulinedistin, and also includes quantities of albumin, its proteinis readily available in a form quite similar to that found inblood plasma. Eating hemp seeds gives the body all theessential amino acids required to maintain health, andprovides the necessary kinds and amounts of amino acidsthe body needs to make human serum albumin and serumglobulins like the immune enhancing gamma globulins.Eating hemp seeds could aid, if not heal, people sufferingfrom immune deficiency diseases. This conclusion issupported by the fact that hemp seed was used to treatnutritional deficiencies brought on by tuberculosis, a severenutrition blocking disease that causes the body to wasteaway. [Czechoslovakia Tubercular Nutritional Study, 1955]ANTIBODIESAntibodies are globulin proteins programmed to destroyantigens (any substance eliciting a response fromlymphocytes: bacteria, viruses, toxins, living and deadtissue, internal debris, etc.). Circulating in blood plasmalike mines floating in a harbor antibodies await contact withthe enemy, then initiate a cascade of corrosive enzymes thatbore holes in the antigen surface causing it to break apart.Antibodies are custom designed to neutralize or disintegrateone specific type of antigen. White blood cells called B celllymphocytes seek out and lock-on to antigenic proteins or-18- Traditional African Clinic December 2006Continued on page 19

Continued from page 16 – Custom-Built Pathogensfrom any meetings convened to evaluate researchprojects. Only 15 institutions earned high marks forshowing full compliance with NIH guidelines, saidEdward Hammond, who directed the survey. Nearly200 others who responded had poor or missing recordsor none at all, he said. Some committees had never met.Stockpiles Aren't EnoughNew techniques that unlock the secrets of microbial lifemay someday lead to the defeat of bioterrorism threatsand cures for natural diseases, too. But today, thesearch for new drugs, of all kinds remains agonizinglyslow.Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the federalgovernment budgets nearly $8 billion annually -- an 18-fold increase since 2001 -- for the defense of civiliansagainst biological attack. Billions have been spent todevelop and stockpile new drugs, most of them eachtied to a single, well-known bioterrorism threat, such asanthrax.Despite efforts to streamline the system, developingone new drug could still take up to a decade and costhundreds of millions of dollars. If successful, the drugis a solution for just one disease threat out of a list thatis rapidly expanding to include man-made varieties.In a biological attack, waiting even a few weeks fornew drugs may be disastrous, said Tara O'Toole, aphysician and director of the Center for Biosecurity atthe University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Wehaven't yet absorbed the magnitude of this threat tonational security," said O'Toole, who worries that thenational commitment to biodefense is waning over timeand the rise of natural threats such as pandemic flu. "Itis true that pandemic flu is important, and we're notdoing nearly enough, but I don't think pandemic flucould take down the United States of America. Acampaign of moderate biological attacks could."© 2006 The Washington Post Companyhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000580_pf.html☻☻☻☻☻☻Continued from page 18 – Hemp Seed.It also will make clones of itself called plasma cells.Most of the clones begin producing antibodies for thatantigen. Others become memory cells which may spendyears wandering through the blood stream looking forthat specific antigen. If the body is exposed to it againthe memory cells lock-on to one and begin producingplasma cell clones and a flood of antibodies that wipeout the invader. One lymphocyte can divide intohundreds of plasma cells in a few days. A mature plasmacell can make about 2000 antibodies every second for thefew days it lives. This is how the body acquires immunity.The body's ability to resist and recover from illness dependsupon how rapidly it can produce massive amounts ofantibodies to fend off the initial attack. If the globulinprotein starting material is in short supply the army ofantibodies may be too small to prevent the symptoms ofsickness from setting in.Hemp seed is the premier plant-seed provider of globulinstarting material -- the highest in the plant kingdom. Eatinghemp seeds will insure the immune system has the reservoirof immunoglobulin resources needed to make diseasedestroying antibodies.Next issue: Part II, Hempseed Oils and the Flow of Life ForceReferences:• Blood: The River of Life, Jake Page; Dr. Robert A. Good, Dr.Lawrence S. Lessin, Dr. Kenneth C. Robbins, consultants.U.S. News Books 1981.• Fats and Oils: The Complete Guide to Fats and Oils inHealth and Nutrition, Udo Erasmus. Alive Books 1986.• Life and Energy: An Exploration of the Physical andChemical Basis of Modern Biology, Isaac Asimov. AvonBooks 1962.• Organic Chemistry, R. T. Morrison. 1960• Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology, Kimber, Gray,Stackpole. 1943• Textbook of Medical Physiology, Arthur C. Guyton, MD. W.B. Sunders Company 1971.• Textbook of Organic Chemistry, E. Wertheim. The BlakistonCompany 1945.http://www.ratical.org/renewables/hempseed1.html☻☻☻☻☻☻Does a man not know when he has pepper in hiseyes? If we forget yesterday, how shall we remembertomorrow.African Proverb-19- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 3–The Meaning of Peace in ATRgood and just. As God’s messengers and intermediariesbetween God and humans, they are the targets ofnumerous cults and prayers.There is yet another class of spiritual beings who arenot always good. Some of them are good, some are, tosay the least, mischievous, while others are outrightevil. And they are innumerable! Some of these arehuman, like the wandering spirits of some dead personswho due to some lack did not make it to the home ofthe ancestors and also the spirits of witches and wizardswho, though still alive, are believed to be able to leavetheir bodies and inhabit lower animals in order to harmother persons.Perhaps the most dearly loved spiritual beings in ATRare the ancestors, those “living-dead” (to borrow theexpression of John Mbiti), who are effectivelymembers of the family and clan, now living in a statethat permits them to enjoy some special relationshipwith God, the divinities and the good spirits. They arealso believed to have some power over the evil spiritsand are therefore able to protect the living members oftheir respective families from harm. To qualify to be anancestor, it is not enough just to be dead. An ancestor isone who died after having lived a life judged to be fullyrealized and morally upright, an integral life. Theancestors are so dear to the heart of Africans and socentral in their traditional religious practices that someoutsiders have mistakenly described ATR simply as“ancestor-worship.”b) WorshipReligion for the Africans embraces life as a whole andworship touches every aspect of their lives. Strictlyspeaking, only God and the divinities are worshippedand this is done through sacrifices, offerings, prayers,invocation, praises, music and dance. In many localitiesin Africa there is no direct cult of the Supreme Being,yet God is the ultimate object of worship whom thepeople approach through intermediaries: religiousfunctionaries, the ancestors and the divinities. There isno clear separation between the spiritual and thematerial, the sacred and the profane. Nevertheless,there is an abundance of temples, shrines, groves andaltars used for public and private worship in most partsof Africa. Some special trees, some rivers, forests,mountains, considered manifestations of the sacred,often serve as places of worship. This has led somescholars to imagine that it is these natural objects thatare being worshipped – to the amusement of thetraditional religionists.Some of the good spirits and all the ancestors arevenerated and constantly implored to intervene onbehalf of humans. The evil spirits are neverworshipped, even though some evil persons arebelieved to align themselves with the evil spirits inorder to tap their evil powers and use them to harmothers. The veneration of the ancestors, which usuallytakes the form of libations, offerings and prayers,sometimes also becomes more elaborate and intenseleading to the blurring of the line which usuallyseparates worship and veneration. But this is notpeculiar to ATR, as Christians who also have the cult ofthe saints can testify to.(The story is told of a lady who went everyday to herparish church to pray. Each time she entered the churchshe would go straight to where there was the statue ofthe Our Lady, light a candle, kneel in prayer for a verylong time and at the end would leave, without even asmuch as a bow in the direction of the BlessedSacrament. The sacristan, who had watched this go onfor several months and felt irritated by thismisplacement of emphasis, one day decided to play atrick on the lady. He hid behind the altar and just as shebegan her usual prayers he started saying in a voicemeant to rouse awe: “I am Jesus! I am Jesus! I amJesus!” The lady, unable to bear this any longer burstout: “Shut up! I am talking to your Mum!”)c) MoralityThe practical aspect of belief in ATR is not onlyworship but also human conduct. Belief in God and inthe other spiritual beings implies a certain type ofconduct, conduct that respects the order established byGod and watched over by the divinities and theancestors. At the centre of traditional African moralityis human life. Africans have a sacred reverence for life,for it is believed to be the greatest of God’s gifts tohumans. To protect and nurture their lives, all humanbeings are inserted within a given community and it iswithin this community that one works out one’s destinyand every aspect of individual life. The promotion oflife is therefore the determinant principle of Africantraditional morality and this promotion is guaranteedonly in the community. Living harmoniously within acommunity is therefore a moral obligation ordained byGod for the promotion of life. Religion provides thebasic infrastructure on which this life-centred,community-oriented morality is based. John Mbiti’sfamous phrase “I am because we are; and since we are,therefore I am,” captures this ethical principle well. Theimplication is that one has an obligation to maintainharmonious relationships with all the members of thecommunity and to do what is necessary to repair everybreach of harmony and to strengthen the communityContinued on page 21-20- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 20 – The Meaning of ATRbonds, especially through justice and sharing. And this isnot simply a social need but a religious obligation sinceGod, the divinities and the ancestors, the guarantors ofthis order of things, are quick to punish defaulters. Anyperson who infringes a moral norm in traditional Africansocieties has not only the members of the community tofear for reprisals but also God and the spiritual beings.“In order to aid man in ethical living, God has put in himthe ‘oracle of the heart’… the ‘inner oracle’… This‘oracle of the heart’ is a person’s conscience, the law ofGod written in him. A person is at peace when he obeyshis conscience.” On the contrary, when he disobeys this‘inner oracle,’ he lives in constant fear, especially in fearof all natural manifestations of divine power. The Igboexpress this in a proverb: “Ọbụ onye ñụlụ iyi asị ka egbeigwe na-atụ egwu” (It is only one who has committedperjury that is afraid of the thunder). It has been notedthey say is not the truth.Perhaps because of their strong attachment to thecommunity, Africans have a very strong sense of justice.Without justice, life in the community would beimpossible; there would be no harmony. A victim ofinjustice often makes a direct appeal to God. Africansbelieve that God, who is just and who sees and knowseverything, hates injustice as is illustrated by thefollowing Akan proverb: “Nyame mpe kwaseabuo nti enawama obiara edin” (It is because God hates injustice thathe has given each one a name). Traditional Africanmorality has cosmic dimensions which will emerge fromour brief look at the world-view implicit in ATR.Excerpts from The Meaning of Peace in African TraditionalReligion and Culture. Part III of IV to be continued in thespecial December issue.http://afrikaworld.net/afrel/goddionah.htm☻☻☻☻☻☻☻EPIDEMIC IN AFRICAEbola Virus Kills Thousandsof GorillasSPIEGEL ONLINE - December 8, 2006Outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus has killed up to5,500 gorillas in West Africa. A study released on Fridaysays that together with commercial hunting, the viruscould threaten the species with extinction.An outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa hasn't justkilled people. It has also caused the deaths of up to 5,500gorillas in the region, according to a study published onFriday. Over 90 percent of the regional gorilla populationperished between 2001 and 2005, and the outbreak --combined with commercial hunting -- threatens to send thespecies into extinction, the researchers said.The report, published in Friday's edition of the journalScience, says "ape species that were abundant and widelydistributed a decade ago are rapidly being reduced to a tinyremnant population." The survey is the first comprehensiveassessment of the deadly Ebola outbreak in Congo andGabon in 2002 and 2003 that killed anywhere from 3,500 to5,500 gorillas and an uncounted number of chimpanzees.Ebola has killed 1,287 people in Africa since 1976according to the World Health Organization Web site."The Zaire strain of Ebola virus killed about 5,000 gorillasin our study area alone," said research team leaderMagdalena Bermejo of the University of Barcelona inSpain, according to the report. "Add commercial hunting tothe mix, and we have a recipe for rapid ecologicalextinction."Bermejo's team began studying a group of western gorillasin 1995 in the Lossi Sanctuary in north-western DemocraticRepublic of Congo. "By 2002 we had identified 10 socialgroups with 143 individuals," the researchers wrote. Butthat year, an outbreak of Ebola killed dozens of people inthe region, as well as 130 of the gorillas. The researchersturned their attention to another group of 95 gorillas, but a2003 outbreak killed all but 4 of those animals.That prompted the team to analyze the regional pattern ofgorilla deaths. Friday's report concludes that the virusspread primarily from gorilla to gorilla in a southwarddirection. They arrived at the 5,500 figure based on thenumber of observed deaths and the known mortality rate ofthe Ebola virus, which kills between 50 and 90 percent ofits victims.Ebola hemorrhagic fever causes severe fever, headaches,joint and muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followedby diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and internal andexternal bleeding. The virus is transmitted by direct contactwith bodily fluids such as blood, urine or saliva. There is nocure or effective treatment, and vaccines are still indevelopmentThe virus seems to be spreading faster among gorillas thanamong humans, Friday's report finds. Peter Walsh, anecologist at the Max Planck Institute for EvolutionaryAnthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has an explanation. Hesays gorilla groups share territories, often eating fruit fromthe same tree. Feces from a sick gorilla could easily infectothers. Moreover, gorillas and chimpanzees are known tohandle the bodies of sick or deceased apes when they findthem, which will often transmit the virus.Continued on page 22-21- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 21 – Epidemic in AfricaBermejo's research supports a different study released inJuly which concluded that the virus was spreading amonggorilla groups, rather than from humans to apes. "Ourwork is complementary to that -- we have shown it isspreading between groups," Walsh said."The issue here is that there is a certain amount of workthat needs to be done to take these vaccines that alreadyexist and put them into gorillas," Walsh said. "The pricetag on that is a couple of million bucks." He is hoping forcontributions from wealthy donors.amb/Reuters/APhttp://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,453323,00.html☻☻☻☻☻☻☻Was the 'Spanish Flu'Epidemic Man-Made?Sixty Million Dead In 1918-19By Henry Makow PhDDecember 2, 2006In 1948 Heinrich Mueller, the former head of theGestapo, told his CIA interrogator that the mostdevastating plague in human history was man-made.He was referring to the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919that infected 20% of the world's population and killedbetween 60 and 100 million people. This is roughly 3times as many as were killed and wounded in World WarOne, and is comparable to WWII losses, yet this modernplague has disappeared down the memory hole.Mueller said the flu started as a US army bacteriologicalwarfare weapon that somehow infected US army ranks atCamp Riley KS in March 1918, and spread around theworld.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/peopleevents/pandeAMEX86.htmlHe says that it "got out of control" but we cannot discountthe horrible possibility that the "Spanish Flu" was adeliberate elite depopulation measure, and that it could beused again. Researchers have found connections betweenit and the current "Bird Flu."http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4308872.stm%20There was nothing "Spanish" about this flu. According toWikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu%20"In the U.S., about 28% of the population suffered, and500,000 to 675,000 died. In Britain 200,000 died; in Francemore than 400,000. Entire villages perished in Alaska andsouthern Africa. In Australia an estimated 10,000 peopledied and in the Fiji Islands, 14% of the population diedduring only two weeks, and in Western Samoa 22%. Anestimated 17 million died in India, about 5% of India'spopulation at the time. In the Indian Army, almost 22% oftroops who caught the disease died of it.""Indeed, symptoms in 1918 were so unusual that initiallyinfluenza was misdiagnosed as dengue, cholera, or typhoid.One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of thecomplications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes,especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleedingfrom the ears and petechial hemorrhages in the skin alsooccurred. ...Another unusual feature of this pandemic wasthat it mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemicinfluenza deaths occurring in people under 65 and morethan half in young adults 20 to 40 years old. This isunusualsince influenza is normally most deadly to the very young(under age 2) and the very old (over age 70).”MUELLER'S SOURCEAt a 1944 Nazi bacteriological warfare conference inBerlin, General Walter Schreiber, Chief of the MedicalCorps of the German Army told Mueller that he had spenttwo months in the US in 1927 conferring with hiscounterparts. They told him that the "so-called double blowvirus" (i.e. Spanish Flu) was developed and used during the1914 war."But," according to Mueller, "it got out of control andinstead of killing the Germans who had surrendered bythen, it turned back on you, and nearly everybody else."("Gestapo Chief: The 1948 CIA Interrogation of HeinrichMueller" Vol. 2 by Gregory Douglas, p. 106) (Actually theArmistice didn't take place until August 11, 1918.)The interrogator, James Kronthal, the CIA Bern StationChief asked Mueller to explain "double blow virus." Itreminds me of AIDS.Mueller: "I am not a doctor, you understand, but the'double-blow' referred to a virus, or actually a pair of themthat worked like a prize fighter. The first blow attacked theimmune system and made the victim susceptible, fatally so,to the second blow which was a form of pneumonia...[Schreiber told me] a British scientist actually developedit...Now you see why such things are insanity. These thingscan alter themselves and what starts out as a limited thingcan change into something really terrible."The subject of the Spanish Flu arose in the context of adiscussion of typhus. Mueller said the Nazis deliberatelyContinued on page 23-22- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 22 – Spanish Fluintroduced typhus into Russian POW camps and,along with starvation, killed about three million men.The typhus spread to Auschwitz and otherconcentration camps with Russian and Polish POWS.In the context of the Cold War, Mueller says: "IfStalin invades Europe...a little disease here and therewould wipe out Stalin's hoards and leave everythingintact. Besides, a small bottle of germs is so muchcheaper than an atom bomb, isn't it? Why you couldhold more soldiers in your hand than Stalin couldpossibly command and you don't have to feed themclothes them or supply them with munitions. On theother hand, the threat of war...does wonders... for theeconomy." (108)Is Mueller credible? In my opinion he is. GregoryDouglas apparently is a pseudonym for his nephewwith whom he left his papers. Normally a hoaxwould not run to thousands of pages. TheInterrogation is 800 pages. The Memoirs are 250pages. The Microfilmed Archive apparently covers850,000 pages. Finally, the material I have read isincredibly well informed, authoritative andconsistent.CONCLUSIONThe "Elite" cult has made no secret of its desire todecrease the world population. (See Alan Stang,Population Extermination: How Will it be Done?http://www.etherzone.com/2006/stang112406.shtmlIt's possible that World War One was adisappointment to the Elite in terms of the numberskilled. Whether the "Spanish Flu" was deliberate ornot, we cannot say. But apparently the US Army hasa record of experimenting withdrugs/chemicals/bacteria on unwary soldiers. Didsuch an experiment get "out of control" at Fort Riley?http://www.rense.com/general36/history.htmSo far, the Bird Flu has only killed 160 people since2003. Is it a harbinger of something more deadly?Hopefully it isn't but we should be mindful of theshocking precedent set by the 1918 InfluenzaPandemic.See also "Hitler's Gestapo Chief Became TopTruman Advisor"http://www.savethemales.ca/001699.htmlSee also "The Influenza Pandemic of 1918"http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/%20-- Henry Makow Ph.D. is the author of "A Long Way to go fora Date." His articles exposing fe-manism and the New WorldOrder can be found at his web site www.savethemales.ca Heenjoys receiving comments, some of which he posts on his siteusing first names only. hmakow@gmail.com☻☻☻☻☻☻☻Uganda Tops Africa TB ListJane NafulaDaily Monitor, KampalaNovember 17, 2006Uganda has the highest tuberculosis prevalence rate inAfrica Dr. Stefan Kaufmann has said.Kaufmann, who heads a project Biomarkers of ProtectiveImmunity Against TB/HIV/AIDS in Africa, was speakingto the annual consortium meeting on Wednesday inKampala.A consortium of partners in Africa including MakerereUniversity is implementing the project. It is intended tocreate new vaccines for TB because the current vaccineBCG becomes ineffective when a child makes five years.Addressing participants Vice President Gilbert Bukenyasaid TB is among the major causes of mortality inUganda.He said according to the 2006 World Health OrganisationTB Report, Uganda is ranked 15 out of 22 countries inthe world with a high burden of TB.Prof. Bukenya, a medical doctor, said the detection andtreatment success rates of 43 and 68 percent; respectivelyfor new sputum smear-positive cases are still below theWHO global standards of 70 and 85 percent respectively.He attributed Uganda's performance to inadequaterecording and reporting, poor access to health areservices, insufficient number of skilled staff anddiagnostic facilities.He urged African governments to collaborate in thedevelopment of the TB vaccine.Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that may affectalmost any tissue in the body especially the lungs.It is common among HIV/AIDS patients. According tothe US Agency for International Development, 20 percentof TB patients are HIV positive.Bukenya said Uganda would start producing ARV's inJuly 2007.☻☻☻☻☻☻-23- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Chik Virus Has NowSpread To the USFrom The CDCSeptember 29, 2006Chikungunya Fever Diagnosed Among InternationalTravelers -- United States, 2005 --2006Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirusindigenous to tropical Africa and Asia, where it istransmitted to humans by the bite of infectedmosquitoes, usually of the genus Aedes (1).Chikungunya (CHIK) fever, the disease caused byCHIKV, was first recognized in epidemic form inEast Africa during 1952-1953. The word"chikungunya" is thought to derive from descriptionin local dialect of the contorted posture of patientsafflicted with the severe joint pain associated withthis disease. Because CHIK fever epidemics aresustained by human-mosquito-humantransmission, the epidemic cycle is similar to those ofdengue and urban yellow fever. Large outbreaks ofCHIK fever have been reported recently on severalislands in the Indian Ocean and in India (refs. 2-6). In2006, CHIK fever cases also have been reported intravelers returning from known outbreak areas toEurope, Canada, the Caribbean (Martinique), andSouth America (French Guyana) (2,3,5-7). During2005-2006, 12 cases of CHIK fever were diagnosedserologically and virologically at CDC in travelerswho arrived in the United States from areas known tobe epidemic or endemic for CHIK fever. This reportdescribes 4 of these cases and provides guidance tohealth-care providers.Clinicians should be alert for additional cases amongtravelers, and public health officials should be alert toevidence of local transmission of chikungunya virus(CHIKV), introduced through infection of localmosquitoes by a person with viremia.Case Reports ------ Minnesota. On 12 May 2005, anadult male resident of Minnesota returned from a 3-month trip to Somalia and Kenya. He had onset ofillness hours after arrival in the United States,including fever, headache, malaise, and joint painmainly in a shoulder and a kneeLouisiana. On 15 Jan 2006, an adult female residentof India had onset of an illness characterized byfever, joint pain (in the knees, wrists, hands, andfeet), and muscle pain (in the thighs and neck). InMarch 2006, she traveled to Louisiana, where she soughtmedical attention for persistent joint pain. At CDC, testsof a single serum sample collected on 30 Mar [2006] (74days after illness onset) were positive for IgM andneutralizing antibodies to CHIKV. The patient wassubsequently lost to follow-up.Maryland. An adult female resident of Maryland visitedthe island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean from October2005 through mid-March 2006. On 18 Feb 2006, duringan ongoing CHIK fever outbreak on the island, she hadonset of fever, joint pain (in the hands and feet), and rash.A local physician clinically diagnosed CHIK fever, butno laboratory tests were conducted. After returning to theUnited States, the patient sought medical attention forpersistent joint pain. At CDC, tests of a single serumsample collected on 22 Mar [2006](32 days after illnessonset) were equivocal for IgM and positive forneutralizing antibody to CHIKV, consistent with a recentCHIKV infection in which IgM antibody was waning. At5 months after onset, the patient had persistent joint pain(in the hands and feet).Colorado. An adult male resident of Colorado visitedZimbabwe during 17 Apr -- 29 May 2006. On 29 Apr[2006], he had onset of illness with fever, chills, jointpain (in the wrists and ankles), and neck stiffness; a rashappeared a few days later. All symptoms resolved within2 weeks, except for joint pain, which persisted forapproximately 1 month. At CDC, tests of a single serumsample collected on 12 Jun [2006] (44 days after illnessonset) were positive for IgM and neutralizing antibody toCHIKV.MMWR Editorial Note:Most CHIKV infections are symptomatic (8). In clinicalinfections, the incubation period typically is 2-4 days.Illness is characterized by sudden onset of fever,headache, malaise, arthralgias or arthritis, myalgias, andlow back pain. Skin rash occurs in approximately half ofcases (9). Joint symptoms can be severe and involvesmall and large joints. Although CHIK fever typicallylasts 3-7 days and full recovery is the usual outcome,certain patients experience persistent joint symptoms forweeks or months and occasionally years after illnessonset (1).Serious complications (e.g., neuroinvasive disease) arerare, and fatal cases have not been documentedconclusively. Transplacental CHIKV transmission andsevere congenital CHIKV disease have been described(10). CHIKV infection is believed to confer life-longimmunity (1).Because no specific drug therapy is available, treatmentContinued on page 25-24- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 24 – Chik Virusof CHIK fever is supportive. No licensed CHIKVvaccine exists. Therefore, prevention recommendationsfor travelers to tropical Asia and Africa shouldemphasize mosquito repellent and avoidancemeasures. Additional information is available athttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/chikungunya/chickvfact.htmDuring May 2004-May 2006, approximately 300 000suspected CHIK fever cases were reported on islandsin the Indian Ocean, including approximately 264000 suspected cases on Reunion, a French overseasdepartment (2,3). Other affected areas includedMombasa, Kenya, and the islands of Comoros, Lamu,Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, and the Seychelles.In addition, since early 2006, an estimated 180,000suspected CHIK fever cases have occurred in theIndian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, andMaharashtra (4). In recent years, extensive CHIKVactivity also has been documented in Southeast Asia(9). In 2006, as of 11 May, approximately 340imported CHIK fever cases were reported in Europe,mainly in France, reflecting the high frequency oftravel between Europe and islands in the IndianOcean (2). To date, no known local mosquito-borneCHIKV transmission has occurred in Europe or othernon-indigenous areas._Aedes aegypti_ is the primary CHIKV vector inAsia, but _Ae. albopictus_ (the Asian tiger mosquito)likely was the primary vector in Reunion (2,3). InAsia, CHIKV epidemics involve a human-mosquitocycle with humans serving as the sole vertebrateamplifying hosts (1). In Africa, sylvatic cyclesinvolving nonhuman primates and forest-dwellingAedes species (e.g., _Ae. furcifer_) also occur. MostCHIKV epidemics occur during the tropical rainyseason and abate during the dry season (1,9). HumanCHIKV infections include a transient, high-titeredviremia (typically detectable during the first 2 days ofillness, ranging up to 6 days after illness onset) that isadequate to infect feeding mosquitoes (1). _Ae.aegypti_ and _Ae. albopictus_ are abundantperidomestic species and aggressive daytime bloodfeedersin all tropical and most subtropical areas ofthe world, and _Ae. albopictus_ now lives in manytemperate areas of the eastern and westernhemispheres, including Europe and the United States.Therefore, some risk exists that CHIKV might beintroduced into previously nonendemic areas bytravelers with viremia, leading to local transmissionof the virus, especially in tropical or subtropical areasof the United States (e.g., the Gulf Coast and Hawaii)or its territories (e.g., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.Virgin Islands).Early recognition of local transmission followed byprompt, aggressive vector control and other public healthmeasures might prevent long-term establishment of thevirus in new areas. Of the 4 patients described in thisreport, 3 posed no substantial public health risk becausethey probably no longer had viremia upon arrival in theUnited States; although the 4th patient was likely viremicupon arrival in Minnesota in mid-May, transmission tocompetent local mosquito vectors in that climate wasunlikely.In early illness, the clinical features of CHIK fever can besimilar to those of dengue and malaria, especially inpatients without joint symptoms. In both dengue andCHIK fever, rash usually is generalized. During 1991-2004, 9 confirmed or probable cases of CHIK fever werediagnosed serologically at CDC among travelers to theUnited States (CDC, unpublished data, 2006). Additionalimported but unrecognized cases likely occurred.Clinicians should be aware of possible CHIKV infectionin travelers returning from CHIK-fever--endemic oroutbreak areas, particularly if an acute febrile illness witharthralgias or arthritis occurs. Suspected cases should bereported promptly to local and state public health officialsand to CDC. Mosquito exposure should be strictlyavoided (e.g., by staying within a screened environmentand using barrier clothing and repellents) during the firstweek of illness to prevent infection of local mosquitoes.In the United States, diagnostic tests for CHIKV infectionare not available commercially but are available at CDCby special arrangement through state health departments.Laboratory diagnosis depends on antibody-capture IgMELISA and plaque-reduction neutralization tests ofserum. Comparative serologic tests for closely relatedalphaviruses (e.g., o'nyong-nyong and Sindbis viruses)should be conducted as geographically appropriate, andtests for dengue usually are indicated. Virus isolationattempts and PCR assays are performed selectively.Serologic tests should be performed on both acute- andconvalescent-phase serum specimens collected at least 2weeks apart, but clinicians should not delay submissionof acute-phase samples pending collection ofconvalescent-phase samples. To arrange submission ofspecimens to CDC for diagnostic testing, cliniciansshould consult their state public health laboratory andCDC's Arboviral Diseases Branch (telephone, 970-221-6400). Specimen shipping and handling instructions areavailable athttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/misc/specimensubmission.htmContinued on page 26-25- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 25 – Chik VirusReferences1. Jupp PG, McIntosh BM. Chikungunya virus disease. In:Monath TP, ed. The arboviruses: epidemiology andecology (vol 2). Boca Raton, Florida: CRCPress;1988:137--57.2. Depoortere E, Coulombier D, European Centre forDisease Prevention and Control Chikungunya RiskAssessment Group. Chikungunya risk assessment forEurope: recommendations for action. Euro Surveill2006;11:E060511.2. Available at:http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ew/2006/060511.asp#23. Parola P, de Lamballerie X, Jourdan J, et al. Novelchikungunya virus variant in travelers returning fromIndian Ocean islands. Emerg Infect Dis 2006;12:1493--9.Available at:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no10/pdfs/06-0610.pdf4. Ravi V. Re-emergence of chikungunya virus in India.Indian J Med Microbiol 2006;24:83--4.5. Ligon BL. Reemergence of an unusual disease: thechikungunya epidemic. Semin Pediatr Infect Dis2006;17:99--104.6. Public Health Agency of Canada. Notices andinternational reports. Outbreak of chikungunya virus:south west Indian Ocean and India. Available at.7. Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC).Chikungunya in Martinique and French Guyana. CARECsurveillance report. Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago:Pan American Health Organization; 2006;26:17.Available at http://www.carec.org/pdf/csrjune2006.pdf8. Retuya TJA Jr, Ting DL, Dacula BD, et al. Chikungunyafever outbreak in an agricultural village in Indang, Cavite,Philippines. Philippine Journal of Microbiology andInfectious Diseases 1998;27:93--6.9. Laras K, Sukri NC, Larasati RP, et al. Tracking the reemergenceof epidemic chikungunya virus in Indonesia.Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2005;99:128--41.10. Robillard PY, Boumahni B, Gerardin P, et al. Verticalmaternal fetal transmission of the chikungunya virus.Presse Med 2006;35:785--8.Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, TropicalAgricultural Economics - Univ of West Indieshttp://www.rense.com/general73/cchik.htm☻☻☻☻☻☻☻New Strain of Chik Virus IsDefinitely A MutantPatricia Doyle, PhDDecember 3, 2006We have been talking about Chikungunya for well over ayear now and, in the beginning, I did not get much emailabout the virus. Well, people are starting to realize thatthe strain of Chikungunya virus running around the globeis definitely virulent.As Dr. Charles Calisher of Univ. of Colorado points out,there is a danger of Chik becoming endemic in the US ifmosquitos in warmer states become infected.I stated this a year ago, and I state it again, this oubreakof Chikungunya virus is different and deadly. It alsoappears that the virus is neurotropic as well. It has causedencephalitis and/or meningitis and there have been deathsattributed to this ONCE rare and ONCE benign disease.Anomalous Fever Runs RampantIn MaldivesThe Department of Public Health and various doctorshave confirmed that a viral fever with anomaloussymptoms has been running rampant through theMaldives during the course of the last few days. Thefever has been found in several different regions and hasproved to spread very quickly and very easily. Doctorshave said that when coupled with other factors, the viralfever could prove to be very dangerous.The public is becoming more and more concerned aboutthe facts and nature of the viral fever.Confirmed symptoms of the new virus include high fever,headaches, aches in joints and muscles, dizziness andnausea, weakness, and outbreak of rashes. Some doctorshave said that these were the symptoms of ChickenGunya, spread through mosquitoes in neighbouringcountries."There is a viral fever with unusual symptoms," said Dr.Ahmed Raazee, a senior doctor at Indira GandhiMemorial Hospital, last Tuesday. "However, we have asof yet been unable to diagnose what this particular viralfever is. We would need to conduct a serology test inorder to find out what disease this is."Chicken Gunya is a disease similar to Dengue Fever, andcan only be easily identified through blood tests. ChickenGunya is transmitted by mosquitoes (genus AedesEgypti) which are used as temporary hosts. Aedes Egyptiare generally smaller than other mosquitoes and tend toContinued on page 27-26- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Continued from page 26 – New Strain of Chik Virusbite during the day time. Doctors consider theemploying of means to avoid getting bitten bymosquitoes a necessity."The public should not panic," said a senior doctor."The public should instead focus on preventativemeasures. We are sure that it's a viral fever, sopatients should drink a lot of water and have ORS(Oral Rehydration Salts) in addition to medicine."The Department of Public Health had detected theoutbreak of a fever throughout the Maldives as earlyas a month ago, and had sent blood samples to alaboratory in Pune, India, for analysis. TheDepartment of Public Health had suspected that theprevious fever had been Chicken Gunya, but the testshad proven negative.IGMH officials said that the hospital had sentsamples of the fever that is currently turning upthroughout Maldives to laboratories abroad foranalysis. According to doctors, the first symptoms ofthis new fever appear to be nausea and aches all overthe body, especially in the joints and muscles."Most patients seem to be suffering from thesesymptoms the most," said one doctor. "In some cases,the nausea and vomiting spells are so bad that thepatients' bodies become dehydrated and reach a verycritical stage. Furthermore, if the fever is notcontrolled and grows too strong, it could cause harmto the brain and put the patient's life in danger.However, the chances of this happening are low."The rainy season further complicates the matter ofreducing mosquito populations. The number ofpatients infected with the viral fever was 284 on 28thNovember. Sri Lanka is also currently experiencingan outbreak of a viral fever.http://www.haveeru.com.mv/?page=engdetails&id=9588☻☻☻☻☻☻☻US Government Admits LymeDisease Is A BioweaponBy LymerayjaJanuary 7, 2006This is the first admission by a US government bodythat the cause is an incapacitating biowar agent:SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The $10.6 million MargaretBatts Tobin Laboratory Building will provide a22,000-square-foot facility to study such diseases asanthrax, tularemia, cholera, lyme disease, desertvalley fever and other parasitic and fungal diseases.-27- Traditional African Clinic December 2006The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionidentified these diseases as potential bioterrorism agents."http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10039154/So, for the first time, a US government body admits thatLyme disease is a biological warfare agent. This is thereason that hundreds of thousands of men, women andchildren around the world have been left to rot withwrong diagnoses, or have had their Lyme diseaseacknowledged but been told that it is an "easily-treated"disease, given 3 weeks' antibiotics, then told to shove offwhen their symptoms carried on after that.In Britain the existence of the epidemic is deniedcompletely, and virtually no effort made to warn oreducate the public about the dangers of ticks, which carrythe bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.The Borrelia genus has been a subject of biowarexperimentation at least as far back as WW2, when theinfamous Japanese Unit 731, which tortured andexperimented on live prisoners, studied it. The reality is,Lyme disease is for many a chronic, horrendous,incapacitating disease producing crippling fatigue,constant pain, loss of memory, possible paralysis,psychosis, blindness and even death.It was an ideal biowar agent because it evades detectionon routine tests, has an enormous range of differentpresentations, and can mimic everything from ADHD tomultiple sclerosis to carpal tunnel syndrome torheumatoid arthritis to chronic fatigue syndrome (M.E.)to lupus to schizophrenia. Enemy medical staff wouldnever know what had hit them, nor even that ONE illnesshad hit their population, rather than an unexplained rise indozens of known conditions.Honest doctors and scientists who tried to treat orresearch Lyme disease according to ethical principleshave been viciously persecuted by government-backedorganisations in the US, Europe and elsewhere. Manyspecialists in the US were threatened with loss of theirlicense or had anonymous, false allegations sent to themedical board, which tied them up in mountains ofpaperwork and legal fees...some were forced out ofmedicine or even driven to suicide.Instead, medical disinfo agents, most of whom have abackground in military/biowarfare units, such as Dr AllenSteere, Mark Klempner, Philip Baker, EdwardMcSweegan, David Dennis, Alan Barbour etc wereenabled to assume top positions in Lyme research, CDC,NIH etc from where they issued false information ,covering up the true seriousness and chronic nature of thedisease, and comdemned untold numbers to a living hell.http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/328067.html☻☻☻☻☻☻☻

Malaria Fuels HIV/AidsSpread In AfricaBy Will DunhamDecember 8, 2006Note - What the story ISN'T saying is thatmosquitoes are SPREADING HIV. Every time amosquito or ANY biting insect takes blood from aninfected human and then bites the next person, scoresof viruses and bacteria are transmitted. To write anews story without pointing to the obvious diseasevectoringreality of mosquitoes is gross deception atthe least. This is a particularly odiousstatement: "Higher viral load causes more HIVtransmission, and malaria causes high HIV viralload." Mosquitos are already KNOWN to transmitover 70 different retroviruses. HIV is aretrovirus...but there is no mention of any of this inthe following story. - edWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Malaria may be helpingspread the AIDS virus across Africa, the continenthardest hit by the incurable disease, scientists said onThursday.The way the two diseases interact greatly expandsthe prevalence of both among people in sub-SaharanAfrica, a team of scientists said in a study in thejournal Science.Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by aparasite, greatly boosts viral load -- the amount ofhuman immunodeficiency virus in the blood ofinfected people -- making them more likely to infecta sex partner with HIV, they stated."Higher viral load causes more HIV transmission,and malaria causes high HIV viral load," said leadstudy author Laith Abu-Raddad of the FredHutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle andthe University of Washington.Abu-Raddad, an AIDS researcher, estimated thatmalaria has helped HIV infect hundreds of thousandsand perhaps millions of people in sub-SaharanAfrica. AIDS was first identified a quarter centuryago.At the same time, HIV fuels malaria's spread becauseHIV-infected people are more susceptible to malariaas a result of HIV ravaging the immune system, thebody's natural defenses, the researchers said.AIDS and malaria are concentrated in sub-SaharanAfrica. Abu-Raddad said scientists were puzzledwhen they realized that the risky sexual behavior bypeople in the region was not by itself sufficient toexplain the swift spread of HIV, so other factors must beinvolved.They focused their work on Kisumu, a Kenyan city byLake Victoria where HIV and malaria are both common.They said 5 percent of HIV infections can be blamed onthe increased HIV viral load due to malaria, and 10percent of adult malaria cases can be blamed on HIV.Since 1980, 8,500 more people got HIV infections, andthere were 980,000 more episodes of malaria (a personcan get it more than once) in a city whose adultpopulation is 200,000, the study found.PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTSThe findings have implications for public health efforts,Abu-Raddad said, showing the importance for authoritiesto tackle these diseases together.Of the 39.5 million people worldwide infected with HIV,24.7 are in the poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa.About 2.1 million of the world's 2.9 million AIDS deathsin the past year were in this region.Malaria kills more than a million people annually, mostlyyoung children in sub-Saharan Africa.The researchers produced their results with amathematical model using HIV and malaria infectiondata gathered in Malawi by James Kublin of theHutchinson Center. This enabled them to quantify for thefirst time the synergy between malaria on HIV and its tollon people.Scientists previously determined that a lack of malecircumcision and the incidence of genital herpes alsowere facilitating the spread of HIV. Abu-Raddad notedthat circumcised men are much less likely to get HIV,and that genital herpes opens a door for HIV to infect aperson.Abu-Raddad said malaria now can be considered a thirdserious factor facilitating the spread of HIV.The two diseases drive one another even though theyhave different modes of transmission -- malaria bymosquito and HIV predominantly by sexual intercourse,Abu-Raddad noted.Abu-Raddad said once an HIV person gets malaria, his orher viral load goes up and stays higher for six to eightweeks, making the person far more infectious to others.http://www.rense.com/general74/mala.htm☻☻☻☻☻☻☻-28- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Life is a universal necessity that all creation crave for,BUTIt is not negotiable,It is more than just anything.So it will always need special attention,At any time, whenever.Life’s biggest support is Health.If you are in good health,THENAll the worries about life are no more.BUTIf it is otherwise, you will always sitand wait in fear for the day it will come to pass.So why not fend away your worries,with the biggest GUARD ever,HERBS!!!!!!These guarantee the best of all you could ever know,Because there is a lot more to them than meets the eye.For Long and Good Healthy Living,Come Visit Us TodayAfrican Traditional Herbal Research Clinic1175A Mukalazi Road, P.O BOX 29974Bukoto, Kampala, Uganda East Africawww.Blackherbals.comHours: 9:00am – 6:00pm Monday – Friday10:00am – 4:00pm SaturdayPhone: +256 (0) 41 530 456clinic@blackherbals.comcomposed by Ritah-29- Traditional African Clinic December 2006

Mission StatementOur aim at The African Traditional HerbalResearch Clinic is to propagate and promote theawareness in Afrikan peoples at home and abroad oftheir health, biodiversity, history and cultural richness.We gather pertinent information on these issues anddisseminate these freely to our people in Uganda, therest of the continent, and anywhere in the Diasporawhere Afrikans are located…. One of the mainingredients for increasing poverty, sickness,exploitation and domination is ignorance of one's self,and the environment in which we live. Knowledge ispower and the forces that control our lives don't wantto lose control, so they won't stop at anything to keepcertain knowledge from the people. Therefore, we areexpecting a fight and opposition to our mission.However, we will endeavor to carry forward this workin grace and perfect ways.“Where there is no culture, there is no indigenousknowledge. Where there is no indigenousknowledge, there is no history. Where there is nohistory, there is no science or technology. Theexisting nature is made by our past. Let us protectand conserve our indigenous knowledge.”☻☻☻☻☻☻C ALENDAR OF E VENTSSPECIAL EVENT: CLINIC OPENINGPLACE: AFRIKAN TRADITIONAL HERBAL RESEARCH CLINICTIME:Afrikan Traditional Herbal Research Clinic1175A Mukalazi Road, P.O. Box 29974Bukoto, Kampala, Uganda East AfricaPhone: 041 530 456Email: clinic@blackherbals.comADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTEDHerb of the MonthVitamin C, (Ascorbic acid) plays an essential role in the immunesystem. It is found in every cell of our body and performs variousfunctions:• It aids in fighting off foreign invaders.• It is vital to the production of collagen, which is involvedin the building and health of cartilage, joints, skin, andblood vessels.• It helps protect the fat-soluble vitamins A and E as well asfatty acids from oxidation.• It aids in neutralizing pollutants.• It is needed for antibody production.• It has natural antihistamine properties.Studies have found that Vitamin C may:• Contribute to healthy bones• Help prevent periodontal disease• Aid in healing wounds• Combat inflammation and pain• Aid iron absorption• Break down histamine• Offer potent antioxidant protection• Protect lung function• Maintain cognition in the elderlySources of Vitamin CSince our bodies do not produce Vitamin C, it is imperative we getit from other sources. Here are just a few.• Berries Alfalfa Onions• Cantaloupe Avocados Potatoes• Grapefruit Beet greens Spinach• Guava Broccoli Sweet potatoes• Lemons Cabbage Tomatoes• Limes Collards• Mangoes Dandelion greens• Oranges Green and red bell peppers• Papayas Green peas• Pineapples Lettuce☻☻☻☻☻☻☻BULK RATEUS POSTAGEPAIDPERMIT00000NO.Mailing AddressStreet Number and NameCity, Country, etc.-30- Traditional African Clinic December 2006