Coronacircus Revisionism Chapter One: The Strange Case of Brescia

In previous posts we suggested that the current respiratory disease that is being called “Covid-19” may be caused by something else than the new coronavirus so many people are being tested positive for. Please see this article for a summary of the reasons we think that might be the case.

Of course, proposing a plausible alternative theory is much harder than falsifying an erroneous one. Such an alternative, to be plausible, must be falsifiable, and must not yet be falsified by observation. There must also be some evidence, at least circumstantial, to corroborate it.

In this Chapter 1 our of “Revisionism” series, we are not yet prepared to propose such a theory. We would like however to report on the strange pneumonia epidemic that occurred in and around Brescia in Lombardy (Italy) between September and November 2018. As you may know, that is also the first epicenter of the current “Covid” epidemic in Europe. Only this one happened slightly more than a year before. It was extremely peculiar, and was extensively covered by the local press. Here were its main characteristics (references will be found below).

Local hospitals were overwhelmed: over 850 people were admitted in a short time span, among which at least 10 died. Astonishingly, the patients affected were 70% male (does that remind you of anything?). They were furthermore predominantly elderly, or with diseases that involve immunosuppression and/or other risk factors such as smoking. Children were barely affected (still nothing?). The patients that presented the most serious conditions suffered from respiratory distress and had to be put on ventilators.

Furthermore, health authorities at the time said this episode was unlike anything they had ever seen.

The legionella bacterium was at first strongly suspected; because cases were so localized, a first hypothesis was that the water supply may be contaminated. After this was ruled out, the next hypothesis was that local industrial cooling towers were spreading the bacteria. In the end, less than 10% of patients were found positive to the bacteria, and it was ruled out as the primary cause. To this day, the origin of the epidemic, which disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and never spread beyond the region of Brescia, remains a complete mystery.

We present below references and the chronology of that story, as it was covered by the local press (with translated excerpts, emphasis ours). No definitive cause was found except that it was most probably due to some kind of local pollution (because of the narrow geographical distribution of cases). In retrospect, it is obvious it looks eerily similar to the Covid disease the world is now dealing with on a larger scale.

Indeed there is no doubt that if the same epidemic happened today, it would be attributed to the new coronavirus.

September 9th 2018

Water supply alert after 150 pneumonia cases in Brescia, Italy
Sky news (archive 1, archive 2).
Authorities suspect the presence of a pneumonia-causing virus is lurking in the water supply in the city of Brescia, Lombardy.
Authorities have issued a health alert after 150 cases of pneumonia were recorded in a week in northern Italy.
Samples have been taken from the water supply network for analysis, but results are not expected for several days.
Hospital emergencies in several municipalities to the south and east of Brescia identified 121 cases of pneumonia, a health officer in the Lombardy region said on television.

September 10th 2018

Brescia, 138 cases of pneumonia: hypothesis of a bacterium in the water
Il Fatto Quotidiano (archive 1, archive 2).
The numbers are those of an epidemic. The number of cases of pneumonia in the lower part of eastern Brescia has exceeded 130. 121 accesses registered in the emergency room, of which 107 were admitted. Most of these are over 60s, with pre-existing health conditions. The hospital of Montichiari was particularly assaulted, with the percentage of consultations for pneumonia passed from 1 to 80 percent.
Yesterday afternoon, in Brescia, a summit was held between Ats, the Lombard health protection agency, and the aqueduct managers in the lower Brescia area. The supervisory staff of the Department of Hygiene and Health Prevention and of the Public Health Laboratory of Ats Brescia is engaged in the verification of the water network of the municipalities concerned.

September 11th 2018

Legionella pneumonia, very serious, a 29-year-old from Brescia who was hospitalized in Monza
Corriere della Sera (archive 1, archive 2).
«On Monday 10 September, up to 8 pm, there were 235 accesses to the emergency room, 196 are currently hospitalized, 12 people who have refused admission or who have been discharged, two deaths, one with an established diagnosis of legionella». This was stated by the Lombardy Welfare Councilor Giulio Gallera, reporting to the Regional Council on the pneumonia epidemic affecting Bresciano, Mantovano and Cremonese. “In 12 cases, on the total number, it has been ascertained that it is legionella,” he added.
“We can say that there is a falling epidemic curve. There is no data that leads us to believe that there are new cases”, Gallera continues. “There is no reason to close schools or not to drink tap water”, clarified the commissioner. “The subjects involved are 70% male, predominantly elderly or with diseases that involve immunosuppression. Children, young people and people without health problems have not been affected“.

September 14th 2018

Pneumonia, it is not water that transmits the infection
Il Giorno Brescia (archive 1, archive 2).
The Istituto Superiore di Sanità excludes the possibility that the water network has been transmitting pneumonia between the various municipalities of the Lower Brescia region concerned. «After checking the drinking water distribution network, the possibility of possible connections between the various municipalities involved was excluded», wrote the experts on the Epicentro portal by ISS, underlining that «however, sampling has been carried out to the water network (more than 50 points sampled) and at the homes of those diagnosed with legionellosis».
On September 10th, the Institute recalls, there were 235 cases of pneumonia registered in the emergency room, the highest number recorded on 6 and 7 September, 196 people hospitalized, 2 deaths. The death toll does not take into account the suspected case, which led to the death of a 68-year-old yesterday at the Gavardo hospital in Brescia. So far there have been 12 cases of legionellosis confirmed and 9 municipalities most affected, with at least 5 cases each. The subjects involved are mainly males (about 70%).

September 17th 2018

Epidemic of pneumonia in Lombardy: the current situation and ongoing investigations
Istituto Superiore di Sanità (archive 1, archive 2).
In relation to the pneumonia cases recorded in numerous municipalities of the Provinces of Brescia and Mantua starting from the beginning of September 2018, the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) emphasizes that the epidemiological and microbiological investigation of all cases is still ongoing and is aimed at finding an eventual common exposure such as: frequentation of environments, whether working or leisure or commercial activities, participation in public events or other. Specific actions are also under way to identify the source and methods of transmission of the bacterium.
The subjects involved are mainly males (about 70%), mainly elderly or people with immunosuppression conditions and / or with risk factors (such as smoking habits). Since the diagnosis of legionellosis was confirmed mainly on the day of 10 September (until the morning the confirmed cases were only 2), the epidemiological survey is now oriented towards a cluster of legionellosis. At the moment, clinical research continues on individual cases to confirm the etiologic agent of pneumonia in hospitalized patients. All cases of pneumonia will be tested for Legionella with more than one diagnostic method, since initially all cases were negative to the urinary antigen.
Sampling for the research of the Legionella pneumophila bacterium is now focusing on the cooling towers of the industrial settlements in the area. All the affected municipalities are located near the river Chiese.

September 19th 2018

Legionella in the region of Brescia, remediation started in the three companies suspected of the epidemic
Il Giorno Brescia (archive 1, archive 2).
Work in progress to sanitize the cooling towers of the three companies from which the abnormal wave of pneumonia and legionella in the lower Brescia region would have started.
According to the director general of Ats Brescia, Carmelo Scarcella, the situation in Brescia is a case that “has no evidence in the international scientific literature, it is new in terms of size and mode of development” [TN: it is like nothing that has been seen before].
Scarcella specifies that the towers for now is only a working hypothesis and that therefore there is no certainty that they are responsible for the incident.

September 21st 2018

Pneumonia, another dead: he was 57 years old and lived between Brescia and Mantua
Il Giorno Brescia (archive 1, archive 2).
The patient arrived at the hospital in Pavia fifteen days ago, after being admitted to Mantua, due to the aggravation of the conditions, so much so that the use of the Ecmo [TN: respirator] for extra-body breathing was essential. But the man died at dawn yesterday. On Wednesday, however, a 90-year-old resident in the province of Brescia died in the Mantua area. To date, in the area between the Bassa Bresciana and Mantovano, there are 450 visits to the emergency room for pneumonia and 45 confirmed cases of legionella with two deaths due to the bacterium.

September 23rd 2018

The epidemic of pneumonia is close to 500 cases: Legionella may not be the only cause
Fanpage.it (archive 1, archive 2).
The reassurance of recent days collides with the reality of the facts. The epidemic of pneumonia that hit the provinces of Brescia and Mantua in Lombardy in particular since the beginning of September shows no sign of abating: the cases have reached a peak of 500. And they bring with them the uncertainty about the causes of contagion. Legionella, the bacterium considered the only one responsible, has so far been ascertained only in 45 of the 485 people affected by bacterial pneumonia.
In addition, more detailed investigations have “cleared” the paper mill of Lake Garda in Montichiari, Brescia, of which the cooling tower in recent days the Health Protection Agency had said it had traces of bacteria. And so, as written by the mayor of Montichiari Mario Fraccaro in a post, we are back in a certain sense to the starting point.

September 29th 2018

Pneumonia, the cause is in a form of legionella more rare?
BSNews (archive 1, archive 2).
The ASL has ceased to spread to the newspapers the data on new cases of legionella and pneumonia registered in the province of Brescia. But the epidemic shows no sign of stopping, and at the same time the analysis of the technicians in search of the sources of contagion continues. And a breakthrough could finally be close. According to what was published by the Bresciaoggi newspaper, in fact, in some patients the same type of legionella found in the cooling towers of the two companies of Carpenedolo and Calvisano was found. Not serogroup 1, responsible for nine out of ten cases in Italy, but serogroup 2-14, much rarer. Only rumors, for now, but that could give a new direction to the investigation of the health authorities.

October 1st 2018

Pneumonia epidemic in the Brescia area. Over 600 registered cases and at least 2 deaths in the last 4 weeks
AgenPress (archive 1, archive 2).
An epidemic of pneumonia occurred in the Brescia region with over 600 cases and over 450 hospital admissions and at least two deaths in the last four weeks. The incidence of pneumonia in the period grew by more than nine times in eight municipalities in the Lower Bresciana Orientale, with peaks of 2,661% in Remedello, from where one of the two reported deaths, of 4,510% to Acquafredda, of 2,950% in Visano. The epidemic has however spread to the whole of Brescia and also to several municipalities of Mantua, affecting males in two thirds of cases and people aged less than 60 in 39% of cases, with ages between 60 and 75 in 24.5 % of cases and with age greater than 75 years in the remaining 36.5%. The average age of the sick is 64 and a half years.
The ATS of Brescia is engaged in the determination of the etiology, i.e. in the identification of pathogens responsible for this scourge and the modality of transmission of the disease. The ordinary instruments of forensic medicine, anamnesis and laboratory diagnostics available to the Brescia hospital clinic may not be sufficient. At present 48 cases of legionella have been recognized.

October 13th 2018

Pneumonia: in the Brescia area an average of 16 cases a day
MeteoWeb (archive 1, archive 2).
750 cases diagnosed, an average of 16 per day between August 25 and October 10. The report of the Higher Institute of Health certifies that the epidemic of bacterial pneumonia registered in the Lower East is an “unprecedented phenomenon at national and probably continental” level. It is not so much the absolute number of infections that make the infectious wave anomalous, as the ratio between the average of expected and recorded cases, the limited area of the outbreak, the aggressiveness of the bacterium that has overlapped with that of legionella. In the “red” zone, the most affected area, which includes Carpenedolo, Montichiari, Calvisano, Visano, Remedello, Isorella and Acquafredda, in September the bacterial pneumonia was 200% higher than expected. During the peak the average of 24 infections per day was exceeded. No deviations from expectations, however, for Legionella, which also resulted in at least two confirmed deaths: the 56 cases diagnosed are in line with those expected by epidemiologists.

October 23rd 2018

Pneumonia: «Epidemic run out». However, the analysis does not stop
Giornale di Brescia (archive 1, archive 2).
The epidemic has run out […]. In the meantime, the investigation of the causes of the epidemic continues, which have not yet been fully ascertained. The Higher Institute of Health is responsible for this case. It has received both the environmental samples collected by Ats and those of patients tested positive for Legionella. A complex investigation therefore that will still require weeks of work.

November 8th 2018

The epidemic that continues to scare: more than 900 cases and already 10 deaths
Brescia Today (archive 1, archive 2).
Out of the total number of patients suffering from bacterial pneumonia, less than 10% were found positive for legionella.
Then there are eight more deaths, nine considering also the 51-year-old woman from Provaglio d’Iseo […]. Just as a result of the violence of the epidemic in the Bassa was born a Committee of citizens […] that has already announced the battle: the next step is the implementation of a class action lawsuit, to get compensation.

December 10th 2018

Legionella pneumonia: «Two years for answers»
Giornale di Brescia (archive 1, archive 2).
‘To date we do not have sufficient elements to establish a correlation between what happened in the environment for the cooling towers of companies and the spread of legionella in humans“. This was stated by the director of ATS of Brescia Carmelo Scarcella talking about the epidemic that caused 880 cases of pneumonia between late August and early September, 70 of which were legionella, in the Lower Brescia and the Mantovano. Not even the Istituto Superiore di Sanità was able to give definite answers on the causes of what happened. «It will take two years of analysis to have perhaps a definitive answer» added Scarcella. In the meantime, the investigation by the Complaints Agency for culpable epidemics remains open without any suspects.

Here is a not-so-wild idea: if you find the culprit of the “Brescia epidemic”, you will find the culprit of the “COVID-19 pandemic”.

If someone has more investigative resources that we do, here is below a larger sample of press articles pertaining to this case. If you find something else interesting in any of these, please let us know; at the very least, please help us make sure everything is properly archived.