Russian ↔ US Connection: African Swine Fever Vaccine

Summer of 2016, before US Trump election, “U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer became the first foreign company in its sector to localize its business in Russia…” Banning swine from the country failed to materialize.

1. “Playing Russian Roulette with Swine: Vaccine or Bioweapon?”  In this global pandemic, hearing the cry of pain as the beastly virus lures its head, it would serve man well to take into account the words of Mark Wheelis in A Short History of Biological Warfare and Weapons:

“Although biological weapons have been used only sporadically throughout human history, and their military effectiveness has never been clearly demonstrated by use in war, the impact of natural disease outbreaks continually reminds us that they are potentially very effective weapons.”

2. US government push for the jab includes solicitation by physicians, falsely attempting to reassure the public that these drugs were “created by people from their community.” Not some doctors in a faraway country.  Wrong!

“It would be logical for Pfizer and NovaMedica to offer part of the Kaluga plant’s products for export.” – Victor Dmitriev, the CEO of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

3. Viruses can be traced back to both labs and food supply chains. Why focus only on one animal when you have two, three…..? In Journal of Virology,

“Currently, ASF is endemic in more than 20 sub-Saharan African countries. In Europe… Sardinia (Italy)… Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia…with ASFV outbreaks occurring in 2018 to 2019 in China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Serbia, Myanmar, North Korea, and the Philippines…Belgium.

In a special to Russia Beyond the Headlines RBTH, Svetlana Arkhangelskaya reported in 2016 “Russian and American virologists are working on a new vaccine against African swine fever, which devastates pig herds.”

President Biden, “African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a contagious and often lethal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the swine industry.” We’ve awaited almost 200 days for you and your administration to report ASF to the public. Why the delay?

Political –  US appears to be taking a cue from their experiment with Cuba 50 years ago.  San Francisco Chronicle reported that “With at least the tacit backing of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officials, operatives linked to anti-Castro terrorists introduced African swine fever virus into Cuba in 1971.” Recall how, “All production of pork, a Cuban staple, halted, apparently for several months.” China may relate.

Economic – September 2020 article, “China bans German pork imports after African swine fever case” in Reuters makes it pretty clear, “The United States is also “well positioned” to ship more pork to China, said Joe Schuele, spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation. U.S. live hog futures climbed.” Wall Street is smiling.

Sir, Mr. President, if US allegedly singlehandedly put on the market COVID-19 vaccines in 2020, why was there a need to work with the Ruskies for a “new vaccine against African swine fever” in 2016?

It appears the two countries conveniently complement each other. One supplies the scientific high tech and the other the “guinea pig.”  You see, “American scientists are working with genetic material and bioinformatics systems, while their Russian colleagues are conducting animal tests.”

Like COVID-19, a vaccine for the virus appears to be a global effort as it includes South Africa, China, Europe, UK and Germany. Unlike the COVID jab, will US and Russia freely supply it? Reported in July 2016, Victoria Zavyalova of RBTH, “Russian pharma companies eye international expansion”

But not all drugs are created equal. According to Yevgeny Zhuravlev, an official at the Urals biomedical cluster, in Skolkovo, reported to be Russia’s equivalent of Silicon Valley.

“Our priority is southeast Asian countries because they are more opened to medicines made in Russia,” Zhuravlev told RBTH. Dezitol destroys HIV, various germs, and pathogenic fungi that are already on the surface and those that appear there after treatment.”

Speaking of Russia’s Silicon Valley, “Made in China” had largely replaced “Made in America” by the 2000s. Then, in 2018, a new “truth” quickly arose. Not from the clothing, food, automotive or household goods industries but from technology. Apple CEO stated, “Here’s what we do today. The iPhone is really not made anywhere. It’s made everywhere. That’s the truth.”

So, where the heck are vaccines actually made? Doctors who have sold out, cease from falsely stating that the jab was “created by people from their community.”

To be fair, Pfizer is not alone in engaging with the Ruskies. Reportedly, “Another U.S. company – Abbott, which produces high-quality affordable medicines for cancer and chronic diseases at its Veropharm plant in Russia – is also considering the possibility of export.”  

Recall my paper, “IP Titan: Eyeing Israel’s Cradle of Innovation” where I point to a Steven Tepper, senior research analyst for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology at Tel Aviv-based IBI Investment House.’ Tepper points out that “even though they’re being marketed by Novartis or Pfizer or another company, we know that these products came from the industry here in Israel.”

Yuli Edelstein, Israel’s Minister of Health, in an interview on Britain’s HARDtalk seemed pleased with the percentages of Israelis vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. And why not. Isn’t it your vac?

US is not the only country “selling out.” It was also reported five years ago that “Sanofi has already announced its plans to export insulin to Europe, while Germany’s Stada is already sending a number of drugs it produces in Russia to Germany.”

US & Russian Connection goes back decades with R$D at the International Space Station. But 2016 and 2020 Elections and “interference” took center stage.  

It shouldn’t surprise politicians that the public, having lost trust in their government and Big Pharma, are hesitant to be injected with the jab.

Look, when it comes to government, like Dictators and Kings, the motto for the peasants is “for the greater good.” In other words, for the few that practice a healthy lifestyle, you need to “take one for the team” or your unhealthy neighbor swine. But where’s the test and vac for the African swine fever virus?

Here’s an idea for those getting the vac. My friend decided to get a complete blood count (CBC) to see if it identified any viral, parasitic or bacterial infections. He scheduled one before and another CBC soon after his jab. He figured he could monitor his health and the effect of the jab.

Pork, the “other white meat” and Virus

“If there is just one section and it is identical for all types of the virus, then it will be possible to develop a universal vaccine. If not, and should a new type of the virus emerge, then it will be possible to promptly respond to the situation and quickly develop new vaccines.” – Denis Kolbasov, head of the National Research Institute of Veterinary Virology and Microbiology

Questionable food practices in the midst of SARS, COVID-19, and India’s “Black Fungus” are overshadowing African Swine Flu (ASF). Looks like we’ve gone from a “Mad Cow” to an African Sad Filthy pig creating the ASF, or what I term the “Omega-0.”  

“IMPORTANCE Currently, there is no commercially available vaccine against African swine fever. Outbreaks of this disease are devastating the swine industry from Central Europe to East Asia, and they are being caused by circulating strains of African swine fever virus derived from the Georgia 2007 isolate.” – From article published on March 2020 in Journal of Virology.

Some argue that ASF is not transmittable to humans. Still, research found in animal experiments noted symptoms of pneumonia, swollen joints and “clinical signs (anorexia, depression, fever, purple skin discoloration, staggering gait, diarrhea, and cough) and changes in body temperature…” are remarkably similar to COVID-19 and SARS.

How is it that a creature people are commonly compared to can succumb to a “contagious and often lethal disease” of which we humans are immune from? All things being equal, I’d rather not find out how resistant I am to the strain. 

Reports of contaminated meat in the US continue. Consider a BBCs report in 2019, “UK’s National Health Service website states that: “Many global outbreaks of infectious illnesses (pandemics) that have occurred in recent history are thought to have been caused by viruses previously only found in animals. After mutating, the viruses became capable of infecting humans.”

Not taking any risks with the pig?  You may still not be safe as factories like manufacturers have promoted the bad practice of sharing processing plants resulting in cross-contamination. Allergies of nuts and dairy may be the least of your worries.

Farmers, your timing seems ideal in injecting animals with vaccines and use of technology to monitor animals’ health and behavior. But what happens when the “healthy animal” reaches the cutting table? 

Friends and family around the world where Kosher practices are integral to your beliefs, could your Fillet Minion have traces of a slab of swine?  COVID and Delta may have nothing on the Omega-0.