In November 2005, a government letter to the public encouraged people to prepare to fight a potentially devastating outbreak of infectious disease.  The disease it referred to is bird flu- specifically, a human-to human outbreak of the H5N1 virus, a highly infectious form of it.

Here we are in September 2006, nearly one year later, and still standing guard for this large-scale pandemic, which has yet to occur…and, quite frankly never will.

Can bird flu be deadly to humans?  Yes.  Has it killed 127 people worldwide since 2003?  Yes.  Will bird flu emerge as a pandemic, killing 200,000 to 2 million people, as the media and the U.S. government have claimed?  No…and here’s why

Perhaps you’ll find it odd, as I did, that so much media attention has been devoted to spreading paranoia about bird flu.  As recently as August 30, 2006, newspaper articles have still been urging Americans to “gather supplies” to “hunker down in their homes” when and if this major pandemic hits.

Meanwhile, what you don’t hear is that no cases of H5N1 have been reported in North America.  Nor that almost all cases of H5N1 in humans have occurred in people who have close contact with infected poultry…and the virus is NOT easily transmitted between humans.

The first step for anyone caught up in this bird flu nonsense is to relax and realize the truth: Unless you are a full-time bird handler in a third-world country who has a seriously challenged immune system, you probably have a much better chance of winning the lottery than dying from the proposed epidemic.

That over a hundred people have died from bird flu is indeed tragic.  But to put things into perspective, H5N1 has caused exceedingly few deaths relative to other illness currently plaguing the world.  AIDS claims the lives of 2.8 million people worldwide each year.  Cholera kills over 100,000.  And every year in the United States, 300,000 people die as the result of obesity, while ordinary flu kills 36,000.

Yet here we are, being urged to “hunker down” for a non-existent bird flu pandemic which has not killed a single person in North America.

An entire industry has been spawned from the public’s fear of an outbreak.  Everything from respirators to pandemic survival guidebooks are out there, but among those who stand to gain the most are the drug companies, which have been peddling vaccines and drugs such as Tamiflu to “protect” you.

Forget the bird flu.  It is the misdirection and lies coming from the drug companies and the government that should concern you.

The bird flu hoax has been used to justify the purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu- a drug that does not even treat the bird flu.  At best, it only decreases (by less than 24 hours) the time one is sick-and, in fact, it can actually contribute to the virus’s mutating into more lethal forms.

The U.S. has placed an order for 20 million doses of this drug at a price of $100 per dose.  That comes to a staggering $2 billion of your tax money.  It should come as no surprise that the drug companies receiving this windfall also happen to have the largest political lobbying group in the country.

Through all of this, not a word about the fact that part of the solution to eradicating bird flu is to seek out and support healthier sources of chicken from local pastured poultry operations.  Nor that taking flu drugs and holing up inside your home is not the answer to staying health.  Nor that we lack information to truly help combat the REAL epidemics in our country-chronic diseases like cancer, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

Instead of telling the public to stock up on canned items and a respirator, the media should be spreading the word about what really can minimize your chances of getting sick-not only from the flu, but from any serious disease.

Making healthy lifestyle choices-like exercising regularly, eating a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, getting regular chiropractic adjustments, sleeping enough, and keeping stress to a minimum-will help improve your immune system…and that’s your real first line of defense against illness.

(Taken from Dr. Mercola and his book “The Great Bird Flu Hoax: The Truth They Don’t Want You to Know about the Next Big Pandemic.”