A top U.S. official is defending the decision to censor two studies of H5N1 influenza virus strains that he says could escape the lab or be used as a form of bioterrorism.
This past December the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity recommended the restricted publication of two studies that involved genetically engineering super-strains of bird flu that are easily transmissible between humans.
Photo: Kham/Reuters
A duckling is pictured at an incubating farm outside Hanoi September 7, 2011. Virologists warned on Tuesday that there was no vaccine against a mutant strain of H5N1 bird flu now spreading in China and Vietnam and called for closer monitoring of the disease in poultry and wild birds to stop it spreading to people.
A duckling is pictured at an incubating farm outside Hanoi September 7, 2011. Virologists warned on Tuesday that there was no vaccine against a mutant strain of H5N1 bird flu now spreading in China and Vietnam and called for closer monitoring of the disease in poultry and wild birds to stop it spreading to people. (Kham/Reuters)
In a commentary published today, Paul Keim, acting chair of the NSABB, said a pandemic by such a pathogen could reasonably be concluded to cause such devastation that it should be prevented at all costs.
Scientists at Erasmus Medical College in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison insists their studies need to continue, arguing that given the potential consequences of a global outbreak, it is crucial to know whether these viruses can ever become transmissible.
The researchers have agreed to a 60-day suspension while officials discuss the issue, and a meeting is scheduled for February at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Keim’s commentary is published in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
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