Avian Flu and Vaccine Mix up. Ooops.

Accident?  We are so screwed.  I wonder at what point does someone "volunteer" to be a carrier.  It would be easy to inject someone with Avian Flu, Small Pox or something worse and then get on a plane for a nice ride with lots of people.  Or ride a crowded subway, go to a sports game.  (SO)

Vaccines infected with deadly avian flu virus

12 March 2009

A large consignment of seasonal flu vaccine, which was due to be circulated to 18 European countries, has been infected with deadly live avian flu virus.  Had the contamination not been detected, the vaccines may have started an avian flu pandemic, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

The World Health Organization is carrying out investigations at the Austrian research facility of Baxter International, the pharmaceutical company, where the contamination happened.  Baxter has confirmed that the consignment contained live H5N1 virus, which causes avian flu.

A researcher in the Czech Republic discovered the lethal contamination when laboratory ferrets that he had injected with the H3N2 flu vaccine suddenly died.  The H5N1 virus becomes lethal as an injection only when it is mixed with H3N2, a process known as reassortment.

The WHO investigation team says it doesn’t have evidence to suggest that Baxter had deliberately reassorted the two viruses, but “what remains unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter facility,” a WHO official said.

Despite dire warnings from health officials, no avian flu pandemic has occurred as human-to-human infection hasn’t happened.  So far, several hundred people have died after catching the virus from poultry, although governments have warned that millions would die if people could infect each other.

Baxter is currently working on a new type of avian flu vaccine, called Celvapan, which is based on cell culture technology.  
The technology, which is being developed at Baxter’s research facility in the Czech Republic, by-passes the conventional process where a virus is incubated in chicken eggs.  Instead, Baxter is working with the ‘native’ virus that does not need to be modified.

Last year the vaccine passed the first two phases of safety trials, and Baxter announced that “Celvapan combines innovative science and breakthrough production technology with the aim of protecting people against an H5N1 pandemic flu infection.”

(Sources: Toronto Sun, February 27, 2009; New England Journal of Medicine, 2008; 358: 2573-84).

This just in!

Brown out at White House

Gerald Celente is Right

Costco closes it's Costco Home centers in Tempe AZ and in Kirkland WA.
There are two more giant buildings that are going to add to the Home Depot Expos that closed as well.

Maybe we can turn them into homeless shelters? Just an idea.

WSJ article link: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090402-702092.html

Ouch Toyota and Honda now

I was just sent this article. HHHmmmm.
This is from Bloomberg.com

Toyota Borrows From Japan-Owned Bank to Finance U.S. Car Sales

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By Doron Levin and Naoko Fujimura



April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. borrowed from a Japan-owned bank in the first quarter to finance U.S. car sales as private investors demanded up to 50 percent more interest for the company’s debt.

“Our higher cost of funds shocked us,” following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September, George Borst, chief executive officer of Toyota Financial Services- America in Torrance, California, said yesterday. “We’ve been turning over rocks everywhere” to find capital to lend to buyers of Toyota, Scion and Lexus automobiles in the U.S.

Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, is offering near- record incentives to lure consumers as demand plunges. The company posted better-than-expected sales in the U.S. last month in part because it increased incentives per vehicle by 88 percent from a year ago, according to Edmunds.com.

“Toyota needed the loan as it’s not making money in the U.S.,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo, which manages $28 billion. “This will make it easier for other carmakers to ask for government aid.”

The carmaker’s finance arm borrowed an undisclosed amount from the bank, Borst said. Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. have said they also plan to apply for loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a government-controlled bank. Both carmakers forecast losses for the quarter ended March 31.

Toyota’s Loss

Toyota jumped 7.3 percent to 3,700 yen at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo, after the Japanese currency weakened to 100 against the dollar for the first time in five months. Honda added 1.7 percent, and Mazda rose 3.8 percent.

Toyota has forecast a loss of 350 billion yen ($3.5 billion) for the year ended March 31 and it may post a loss of 224 billion yen in the current fiscal year, according to the median of 20 analyst estimates, compiled by Bloomberg.

The carmaker lost the top credit rating from both Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services in February. Moody’s cut Toyota to Aa1 from Aaa and S&P lowered the carmaker to AA+ from AAA.

Denso Corp. the world’s largest listed carparts maker and an affiliate of Toyota, had its credit rating cut to Aa2 from Aa1 by Moody’s today. The partsmaker said it will have a loss for the year ended March 31 as Toyota slashed production.

The carmaker’s sales in the U.S. plunged 39 percent last month. Still, that was less than the 41 percent drop forecast by analysts as the company offered an average of $1,600 in incentives on each model. In Japan, Toyota’s sales dropped 32 percent in March.

Bond Yields

Toyota sold 80 billion yen in 10-year bonds priced to yield 2.012 percent in February. That compares with 150 billion yen of 10-year bonds sold in August 2002, priced to yield 1.337 percent. The extra yield over government bonds of similar maturity that investors demand to own the company’s 50 billion yen bond due in March 2012 surged to 213 basis points yesterday, up from 54 basis points on Oct. 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

On March 3 Japanese media reported that Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, was negotiating a five-year loan of about $2 billion from JBIC. Toyota executives denied that the loan constituted a government “bailout.”

Last year the carmaker borrowed from 330 financial institutions worldwide in 18 currencies, Toyota’s Borst said.

The U.S. arm of Toyota Financial Services Corp. borrowed the equivalent of $25 billion in 2008 for financing of cars and trucks, Borst said. He declined to say how much Toyota plans to borrow this year.

American Solutions Forum: A Blog Transformation: Introducing the American Solutions Forum

American Solutions Forum: A Blog Transformation: Introducing the American Solutions Forum

Two great blogs to follow.

Mike, Feveriam on Youtube and at www.feveriam.wordpress.com Fantastic commentator.

Todd, www.americansolutionsforum.com a friend of mine. Deep thinker. And he's a great guy too.

SO

Frodo Baggins spotted in London G20 Protests

You can believe it or not. But pictures don't lie. See for yourself.