The below from Aug 14, 2008 seems to suggest the US have had their "experts" involved in such modification for several years, at least.
Conspiracy theories abound, but would be one way of eliminating a huge economical burden the planet faces and will continue to face as population growth continues to place insurmountable pressures on the planet's finite resources {and on Governments' unfunded liabilities}.
Stephen King's - The Stand [Need2No] - who said Fact was stranger than (Science) Fiction?
====================================== Pentagon's Avian-Spanish Flu Biowarfare Scams by F.WILLIAM ENGDAHL (August 14, 2008) There is alarming evidence accumulated by serious scientific sources that the US Government is about to, or already has, 'weaponized' Avian Flu.If the reports are accurate, this could unleash a new pandemic on the planet that could be more devastating than the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic which killed an estimated 30 million people worldwide before it eventually died out. Pentagon and NIH experiments with remains in frozen state of the 1918 virus are the height of scientific folly. Is the United States about to unleash a new racially selective pandemic through the process of mandatory vaccination with an alleged vaccine "against" Avian Flu?There is reason to believe that sections of the international pharmaceutical industry cartel are acting in concert with the US Government to develop a genetically modified H5N1 virus substance that could unleash a man-made pandemic, perhaps more deadly than the 1918 'Spanish Influenza' pandemic claiming up to 30 million lives.
BTA Price at posting:
80.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
