Bird Flu and the Environment

The question seemed straight ahead.

"In human medicine, most people agree that a person gets cold with flu when his immune system is suppressed." Did anyone think of suppressing the immune system of people and chickens in Vietnam, making them more vulnerable to the deadly effects of the H5N1 virus? What is the immune system's suppression of migratory birds? "The question was posed by Dr. Alex Thurman, President of the OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health at the first Avian Influenza Summit held in Washington, DC, on 27-28 February 2006. Re:" No one looks at this , In fact, no one thought about it, "echoed reporters and scientists during the break Which followed.

An investigation into the immunosuppressive effects of environmental chemicals - with a particular focus on dioxin - may shed light on outbreaks of avian influenza that appear to be spreading around the world. The association between dioxin and influenza may explain the increasing number of deaths in China and Vietnam, and in particular, Indonesia.

Dioxin: the most toxic chemical on earth
Dioxin is a generic term that describes a complex family consisting of more than 400 chemicals. Dioxin is formed unintentionally during industrial processes that combine chlorine and organic matter, such as wood, pulp or paper, in the presence of heat. Production facilities that manufacture pesticides from copper and bleaching paper release all dioxin releases as byproducts. In addition, dioxins can enter the environment by incineration of plastics, especially those that burn municipal and medical waste.

A high-stability chemical, dioxin can take more than 15 years to decompose to half of its original concentration. If launched in the local water supply - for example, ponds and rivers - can accumulate in fish. If it is not immediately absorbed by aquatic life, the remaining dioxin is deposited quickly into the sediment. Will remain there, forever, unless the food chain moves through weeds and frogs, becoming particularly toxic to humans and water birds.

Dioxin has been shown to disrupt the immune system at a low exposure to 1.0 ppt. (1 mile); (1) Because chemicals are usually a mixture of toxic and non-toxic compounds, the result of each chemical developed is called a "material equalizer" Toxic "(TEQ). TEQ is created for any chemical by comparing it to TCDD, the most toxic dioxin in the world.

Dioxin combined with influenza viruses: serious consequences
There is a clear association between exposure to dioxin and the effect of influenza viruses on the immune system, a connection studied using laboratory mice.

Research has clearly shown that two types of white blood cells (NK) and CD8 + cells are remarkably sensitive to very small concentrations of TCDD. Studies have shown that if rats were exposed to 100-1000 parts of TCDD before exposure to the common influenza A virus, the number of mice that died was much higher than the number of mice that were not previously exposed to this dioxin. (2) In another study, when rats were exposed to just 10 ppt of TCDD a week before they were exposed to influenza A, the death rate among mice increased. The researchers noted that this is "the smallest toxic dose of dioxin ever" to discourage the ability of the immune system to prevent influenza. (3)

In a third study, fluid extracted directly from the lungs of deceased mice showed that increased mortality in mice exposed to TCDD was due to intense inflammation of dioxin. Death was not due to viral infection alone. 4 In other words, the combination of influenza viruses and dioxins caused a lot of inflammation in the lungs - due to a massive cytokine storm - that destroyed normal lung tissue, resulting in death for most mice.

Dioxins in Vietnam

The amount of herbicides sprayed during the US-Vietnam conflict between 1961 and 1971 was estimated at more than 19 million liters. The highest concentrations were deposited above the Mekong Delta in what is now South Vietnam. The containers containing dioxin were known as the orange agent, which was identified by orange-colored drums. More than 30 years later, this persistent chemical in the soil and food of the local population continued to cause serious health problems.
In the absence of continuous air spraying, the main route of dioxin to enter the body is through food grown in toxic soils. Canadian researchers found that dioxin levels in soil samples in different parts of South Vietnam amounted to 898 ppt. Maximum pollution levels were measured in the Bien Hung Lake area - to be greater than 1.1 million ppb.

In 2002, dioxin levels were measured in 16 different food samples collected from local markets around Lake Bien Hung in southern Vietnam. The initial results were amazing. Three of the samples contained dioxin levels that were so high that they were sent to another independent laboratory for further analysis. The second laboratory confirmed the disturbing results. In the final report, chemical pollutants and significant concentrations of dioxin, up to 536 ppb, were detected in all 16 food samples. To set these high levels in perspective, the usual level of dioxin in food is less than 0.1 ppt.

Dioxin, Flu and Human: Connection?
In May 2006, Indonesia reported a range of human cases of avian influenza involving eight family members, of whom seven died. All but one person in the family seemed to have contracted the virus from another member of the family. This became the first reported spread of the H5N1 virus transmitted from one person to another, and another. Concerned officials feared the bird flu virus had acquired properties that would soon pass easily from human to human.

The deceased family members lived in a small village in the Karu district of Indonesia's northern Sumatra province. Karo Heights are located on Lake Toba, the world's largest volcanic lake. The largest lake in Southeast Asia, Tuba has been deteriorating since 1998, without protection against Indorain, the paper, pulp and ray company owned by multinational companies financed by the World Bank. Until it was closed, Induraion was the largest contaminant of Lake Toba in the past decade, resulting in the dumping of too much chlorine and dioxin into the water.

Interestingly, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of individuals with H5N1 influenza have not been satisfactory enough to seek medical care, according to WHO spokesman Dick Thompson in March 2005. 7 However, between 2003 and 11 As of April 2007, there were 291 cases and 171 deaths, with 61% of deaths in Vietnam and Indonesia. An investigation, possibly including a biopsy of fat, should be conducted to determine whether people who have died have higher concentrations of dioxin in their bodies much higher than those who have been exposed to the H5N1 virus and have been well or fully recovered.

What can he do?
The global epidemic is brewing, but not because the virus is "jumping into species" and is rapidly sailing around the world, killing everyone in its wake. Only the most vulnerable are likely to be affected. But there is very important missing information: what is the level of per capita risk? In addition to spending billions on global bureaucratic preparedness, real prevention is done through the development of tests and detoxification methods for humans.

Instead of funding the development of a vaccine that could be a marginal opportunity to be effective, billions of dollars would be spent better to fund international clean-up programs. Legislative initiatives that lay the teeth of implementation in international treaties already in books may be the best way to abort a disaster.