LONDON:
The author of a paper on a mutant bird
flu strain said on Monday that experts agreed to publish it only after he
explained that the virus was "much less lethal" than previously
feared.
A panel
of US science and security experts on Friday said two papers on mutant viruses
should be published after all, reversing its earlier decision to withhold key
details.
Professor
Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, author of one of the
papers, told journalists in London that his revised version addressed fears
that the paper's findings could be used by bioterrorists.
Friday's
announcement came after the revisions to the papers were reviewed by the
nongovernmental US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB).
The US
experts had previously opposed publishing the research -- which showed how an
engineered H5N1 flu virus could pass easily in the air between ferrets -- over
fears it could end up in the wrong hands and result in a deadly man-made flu
pandemic.
Fouchier
said his revised version made clear that the mutant virus is "much less
lethal" than the NSABB had previously believed.
"I
did say that it's one of the most dangerous viruses, and it's the truth,
because these viruses are a little scary," Fouchier said.
"If
they go airborne they can cause pandemics and pandemic flu has killed millions
of people."
Some
members of the advisory board understood that the ferrets in the experiment had
all died as a result of being infected, leading to the paper being blocked.
"The
information was in the original paper but perhaps it was not as clear as it
should have been," Fouchier said.
"Our
virus does not kill ferrets when it is in aerosol. This was in the original
manuscript but it was not spelt out."
The
NSABB faced criticism after it ruled unanimously in December that a pair of
US-funded studies, one by a team from Wisconsin and the other led by Fouchier,
should not be printed without heavy edits of key details.
Bird
flu is believed to kill more than half the people it infects, making it much
more lethal than common strains of the seasonal virus.
According
to the World Health Organization, there have been 573 cases of H5N1 bird flu in
humans in 15 countries since 2003, with 58.6 percent resulting in death.
-
AFP/al
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment