Organisers of the International Bird Flu Summit to be held this fall in Washington, DC, are planning sessions to discuss preparedness and response countermeasures – including mass vaccination and quarantine efforts.

The summit – organised by the privately held company SyllabusX – targets a wide audience: public health officials, international agencies and organisations, public policymakers, the pharmaceutical industry, scientists, researchers and stakeholders in industries such as poultry production, livestock, diagnostics, food safety and healthcare.

“With the emergence of a highly virulent strain of bird flu affecting both cattle and humans,” the event’s website states, “it is imperative that we come together to discuss preparedness, response strategies, and the future implications of this evolving situation.”

SyllabusX did not respond when The Defender asked who hired the company to organise the summit. Internist and bioweapons expert Dr Meryl Nass told The Defender the conference was “basically a trade show” designed to fuel the biodefense industry.

SyllabusX, a conference planning company, is charging a lot of money for admission, Nass said. “What they’re giving the attendees is an opportunity to find out what contracts may be available to them so that they can get government – or other – contracts.”

SyllabusX’s chief research officer, Ahmed Al Faraj, is a “business executive with a proven track record in international defence sales,” according to his LinkedIn profile.

Nass noted that the conference website wasn’t very well designed, leading some people to think it was a scam. “But no, they have these things all the time,” she said, “because there’s quite a big biodefense industry now and you have to feed it. Right now the way to feed it is with bird flu contracts — and that could be anything from selling nets for chickens to vaccines,” Nass said.

Nass – who has written extensively on bird flu on her Substack – said the virus has been “ginned up” as an existential threat for 20 years.

Two decades ago, there was a type of bird flu that killed roughly 60 per cent of the people who had it. However, the virus has mutated, she said. “So it is no longer a deadly disease.”

Additionally, the bird flu has never been transmitted from human to human – although labs doing gain-of-function research could manipulate the virus so that it becomes transmissible by humans, Nass said.

Brian Hooker, Children’s Health Defence chief scientific officer, told The Defender the conference was “capitalising on and monetising fear” around the threat posed by the labs that do gain-of-function work on bird flu viruses.

“The conference organisers are peddling fear porn as opportunists and grifters who, like Tony Fauci during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, seek to increase their wealth at the expense of others,” he said. “They are purveyors of profit, not preparedness.”

Hooker added that little is known about what is going on in bird flu gain-of-function labs. “We really have no idea what might happen as they are not held to account regarding what strains they have developed and the threat posed to humans. Their work is covered by a big black box.”

Only nine humans have contracted bird flu and all had direct contact with infected birds, reported The Associated Press (AP). All reported mild symptoms, the AP said. None were hospitalized.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, “Sporadic infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses in mammals have been reported in the United States, Canada, and other countries, but the risk to the general public from these viruses remains low.”

No human-to-human transmission of H5N1 has occurred, the CDC said.

“Although the current public health risk is low,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the World Health Organization (WHO), Nature reported on July 12, “WHO is operating in a constant state of readiness for a potential influenza pandemic.”

The summit’s #1 topic is “Mass Fatality Management Planning.”

Additional topics included “Delivery Of Vaccine And Antiviral Medication,” “Command, Control and Management,” “School-Based Planning” and “Surveillance and Data Management.”

A promotional brochure promises a robust discussion of bird flu medical countermeasures that covers: According to the brochure, the summit features numerous breakout sessions, including one for first responders focused on “Conducting Mass Vaccination Efforts” and “Enforcing Quarantine Measures Effectively.”

Another breakout session for law enforcement agencies focuses on how to manage crime surges, social unrest and public disorder during a pandemic. The session also covers implementing isolation measures in correctional facilities.

Additionally, the summit plans to cover “How to Effectively Counter Mis- and Dis-information.”

The summit – with its emphasis on planning for a possible pandemic – is similar to Event 201, a pandemic simulation training exercise undertaken in October 2019 by public health and government officials before the Covid-19 pandemic.

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There are four sponsorship levels: Titanium, Platinum, Gold and Silver. Each grants the group or company different levels of visibility at the event. For example, Titanium sponsors who pay $19,995 can deliver a keynote talk, moderate a breakout session of their choice and show a 15-second corporate promotional video during the general session.

They also can join any panel discussion of their choice as a panellist, put their promotional items in the conference bag given to attendees, and display their logo multiple times in the conference program and on the event website.

Silver sponsors who pay $7,995 can join any discussion panel of their choice as a panellist. They also get their logo featured on the event’s homepage.

It is unclear if SyllabusX has a process for vetting the knowledgeability or ethical integrity of potential sponsors.

The company did not respond when The Defender asked whether it keeps all money generated from selling sponsorship packages or, if not, where that money goes. The CDC did not immediately say if any of its staff will attend the summit.

• A The Defender report