Practical Eschatology: Because Nothing Bad Happened Last Time: USDA Conducting Gain of Function Research In China

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Because Nothing Bad Happened Last Time: USDA Conducting Gain of Function Research In China

You may have noticed news stories about a bird flu epidemic. In an article published earlier today, Food Safety News notes that "[s]ince it first struck a commercial poultry flock on U.S. soil in early 2022. avian flu has been a harsh master, affecting 85.8 million birds in 48 states." The same article reports on the second case a human coming down with disease. This second person, from Texas, did not catch the disease from birds, however, but from dairy cows.

In that regard, the Washington Post reports that "[t]his same strain [of bird flu] has now spread to cows," and "[h]ealth officials have detected H5N1 in cattle across 16 herds in six states." But the article reassures us that the chances of a human contracting the disease is small:

Transmission among humans has, so far, been uncommon. Most people infected with bird flu worked closely with infected animals. Of those who contracted avian flu from other humans, most were living in the same household with a symptomatic person, resulting in close, prolonged and unprotected exposure. During the current H5N1 outbreaks, there has been no documented human-to-human transmission.

And it should be noted that considering the large number of dairy cows and domestic chickens and such throughout the country, the number that have been found to be infected have been relatively small. "Of course," the WaPo article notes, "this could change. The more widespread the virus becomes among other mammalian species, the more it could acquire mutations that facilitate its spread among humans."

And that is what brings us to this next article which is from the Daily Mail: "USDA and China CCP lab are creating deadly BIRD FLU viruses as part of $1m collaboration - and YOU are paying for it." Stop me if you've heard a variant of this story before:

   Lawmakers are demanding answers after it was revealed the US is sending taxpayer dollars to a Chinese army lab to make bird flu viruses more dangerous to people.
   Eighteen members of Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) about the project, which was first revealed by DailyMail.com.
   It is part of a $1million collaboration between the USDA and the CCP-run Chinese Academy of Sciences - the institution that oversees the Wuhan lab at the center of the Covid lab-leak theory.
* * *
   The research comes as fears about bird flu rise. A farm worker in Texas caught the H5N1 strain that is racing through cattle across the US earlier this month, becoming only the second ever American to be diagnosed - and experts are bracing for more cases.
   In February, it was revealed the United States government was funneling $1million to China to see if scientists could make 'highly pathogenic avian influenza' more contagious to mammals using gain-of-function research.
   Government records showed the collaboration began in April 2021 and is scheduled to be funded through March 2026. The USDA previously told this website the project was applied for in 2019 and approved in 2020.
   The research involves infecting ducks and geese with different strains of viruses to make them more infectious, and studying the viruses' potential to 'jump into mammalian hosts,' according to research documents obtained by the watchdog group White Coat Waste Project and shared exclusively with this website.
   It is being funded through the USDA and the main collaborators on the project are USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute - a Wuhan lab partner.
   And it has been ongoing despite similar research being restricted in 2022 and growing concerns that dubious Chinese studies may have started the Covid pandemic.

Maybe the better question is why the Deep State is helping China develop bioweapons.

And while we are on that issue, check out the video and stories below. The video is from Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov and published about a year ago concerning China's efforts to develop ethnic-specific bioweapons:

VIDEO: "China’s New ‘Ethnic Specific’ Bio-Weapons Target Specific Races Based on DNA"

Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov (20 min.)

As the video discusses, and apparently as part of this effort, the Chinese government has not only been buying up genetic data about Americans from various companies, but it also operates businesses that directly obtain genetic material from Americans. One of the examples mentioned in the video is a company called BGI (fka Beijing Genomics Institute) one of the world's largest manufacturers of prenatal tests.

The company drew the attention of members of Congress earlier this year, as related by this NBC News article, "Congress wants to ban China's largest genomics firm from doing business in the U.S. Here's why." From the lede:

   Bipartisan legislation was introduced in both houses of Congress Thursday that would effectively ban China’s largest genomics company from doing business in the U.S., after years of warnings from intelligence officials that Beijing is gathering genetic information about Americans and others in ways that could harm national security.

   The bills, backed by leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the Senate Homeland Security Committee, target BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute, which in 2021 was blacklisted by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company. Five company affiliates also have been sanctioned by the Commerce Department, which accused at least two of them of improperly using genetic information against ethnic minorities in China.

   In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said their legislation would ban BGI — or any company using its technology — from federal contracts, a move the company said in a statement would “drive BGI from the U.S. market.”

BGI claimed that it was not associated with the Chinese military or government, and that banning it from operating in the United States would drive up costs of healthcare and reduce competition. But the article continues:

   “BGI has extensive collaboration with the People’s Liberation Army,” he said. “They’ve published numerous papers in conjunction with the PLA with regard to their research. And so this type of military civil fusion, which often occurs in the [People’s Republic of China], is of great concern, especially when they’re going to be collecting data, potentially on Americans to be then used in research with the PLA.”
   BGI and its subsidiaries spent $420,000 on lobbying in 2023, according to Open Secrets, a group that tracks lobbying expenditures.
   An investigation by Reuters in 2021 concluded that BGI’s popular prenatal test, taken by millions of pregnant women around the world — but not in the U.S. — was developed in collaboration with the Chinese military and was being used by the firm to collect genetic data.
   The U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center reacted to the Reuters report by warning that “non-invasive prenatal testing kits marketed by Chinese biotech firms serve an important medical function, but they can also provide another mechanism for the People’s Republic of China and Chinese biotech companies to collect genetic and genomic data from around the globe,” the center said.