Health

Deadly Bird Flu Virus Study Published: Will Research Start Up Again?

Controversial H5N1 Studies Finally Published After Governments Delay

Gold shows the H5N1 virus among normal tissue. (Photo: Wikimedia)

NEW YORK (The Blaze/AP) — The second of two bird flu studies once considered too risky to publish was released Thursday, ending a saga that pitted concerns about terrorism against fears of a deadly global epidemic. Both papers describe how researchers created virus strains that could potentially be transmitted through the air from person to person. Scientists said the results could help them spot dangerous virus strains in nature.

But the question remains: will research on the controversial strain of H5N1 begin again?

A moratorium was declared on the research in January. New Scientist reports researcher Ab Osterhaus at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam saying “Now, we don’t know under what conditions we can lift the moratorium.”

A moratorium on publishing the papers and the research was instituted, acting on advice of a U.S. biosecurity panel. They warned the papers could show terrorists how to make a biological weapon.

That led to a wide-ranging debate among scientists and others, many of whom argued that sharing the results with other researchers was essential to deal with the flu risk.

Controversial H5N1 Studies Finally Published After Governments Delay

Balinese government officials prepare to cull chickens as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of bird flu in April 2012. (Photo: AP//Firdia Lisnawati)

In March, the U.S. issued a new policy on dual use research — research that could both harm and help humanity — and Science also published a paper Thursday that discusses implementation of this new policy. This review of the policy questions if it actually addresses the issue of dual use research at all, citing redundancies and other experiments that would be considered dual use that are not included. It also states that some of the compliance requirements in the policy would place an additional burden both on review agencies and the institution itself doing the research.

Bird flu has spread among poultry in Asia for several years and can be deadly in people, but it only rarely jumps to humans. People who get it usually had direct contact with infected chickens and ducks. Scientists have long worried that if the virus picked up mutations that let it spread easily from person to person, it could take off in the human population, with disastrous results.

Controversial H5N1 Studies Finally Published After Governments Delay

Distribution of bird flu in 2009. (Photo: Wikimedia)

The two teams that conducted the controversial research eventually submitted revised versions of their papers to the federal biosecurity panel. They said the changes focused on things like the significance of the findings to public health, rather than the experimental details themselves.

The panel announced in March it supported publishing the revised manuscripts, saying it had heard new evidence that sharing information about the mutations would help in guarding against a pandemic. It also concluded that the data didn’t appear to pose any immediate terrorism threat. The government agreed in April.

The benefit of scientists sharing data from the new paper “far outweighs the risk,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday.

One paper, from Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues, was published last month by the journal Nature. On Thursday, the journal Science published the second paper, from a team led by Ron Fouchier of the Netherland’s Erasmus Medical Center.

Both papers tested the ability of the altered bird flu viruses to spread through the air between ferrets, none of which died from those infections. The Fouchier paper reports that the virus could spread this way by acquiring as few as five specific mutations.

Two of those mutations are already found frequently in strains of the virus. And the other three could arise during infection of people or other mammals, a new mathematical analysis in Science concluded. But the likelihood is unclear. An author of the analysis compared the situation to earthquake prediction.

“We now know we’re living on a fault line,” Derek Smith of Cambridge University and the Erasmus center told reporters. “It’s an active fault line. It really could do something.”

Fouchier said the ferret results don’t give a clear answer about how deadly an altered virus would be in people.

Eddy Holmes of Penn State University, who studies the evolution of flu viruses but did not participate in the Fouchier or Kawaoka studies, said those works present the first good experimental evidence about how the bird flu virus could mutate to become more easily spread between people.

The studies are “a useful frame of reference” for studying that question, but not the final answer, he said.

Comments (16)

  • CulperGang
    Posted on June 23, 2012 at 7:34pm

    The question should be> When will the TECHNOCRATS/scientist infect the birds again, to knock off another couple of thousands of people. The 1% which the scientist are, and their taskmasters the uber rich, BilderB think most of humanity, are, dispensable and we are ALL now their petrie dish.
    Chemtrails are very real. I saw one last year being dispersed………the trail lasted ONE and a half hours. I grew up around THREE major international airports and never saw trails last more than ten minutes. THIS was something very different. Cancer up 1000% even though there has been TRILLIONS of $ in research. THAT research funded on HOW to accelerate carcinogens, not cure them. Welcome to the 21st century serfdom of the BilderB.

    Report Post » CulperGang  
  • Mike Austin
    Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:01pm

    They released it because they are all part of the eugenics, environmental and progressive whacko’s group.

    Report Post »  
    • Partygirl
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 11:41pm

      I agree. Whenever I see something like this I think of the scientists who were studying killer bees and then let them loose to wreak havic on the public. A bunch of over educated fools who can’t think further than what they want. Not what is good for the public. They didn’t have to publish it. If they wanted to share it, then just amoung themselves. Sickening I think. I just hope they don’t cause an pandemic on purpose. Evil?

      Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on June 23, 2012 at 11:08am

      I’ll wait to hear what Obama tells us to do. I‘m sure he has America’s back!

      Report Post » db321  
  • RaydocX
    Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:00am

    There are more lethal bugs out there than a 96% survival agent, so worries about un, terrorists, or our own leaders are a bit hysterical… Then again, our leaders and those around the world think global warming is real and a threat and man made, that spending is the way to address massive debt, and that despite such glaring idiocy they know better than you and I what we should eat, watch, and think…

    Report Post » RaydocX  
    • Mike Austin
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:05pm

      You are assuming way too much.
      You can easily triple or quadruple the 4% lethality rate if this is a true pandemic. The hospitals and clinics will be overwhelmed and many will die untreated due to lack of space or drugs. Long term lung damage and pnuemonia will also take its toll. Do the math. It will be more than the 1918 flu.

      Report Post »  
  • beckyspatflaveredstew
    Posted on June 22, 2012 at 12:32am

    Do not worry your simple little heads, the powers that we allow to be, will have the perfected version ready to release, when it best suites their global government agenda.

    Report Post »  
    • MRMANN
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:58am

      Yes, eugenics.

      Report Post »  
    • justangry
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 5:47am

      Don’t forget we lose our sovereignty to the UN in a pandemic thanks to Jr.’s executive order.

      Report Post » justangry  
    • loriann12
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 6:57am

      I’m bothered by one contradiction. I have a lowered immune system due to fighting cancer. I was told that no only should I NOT get the vaccine, but no one in my house should get the vaccine because I could catch the flu from them getting the vaccine. And yet, they constantly tell me that immune compromised people should be first in line. That just smacks of eugenics to me. Weed out the week first.

      Report Post »  
  • stang289
    Posted on June 22, 2012 at 12:01am

    The one world people will try to force flu shots on you because of a more deadly and contagious bird flu. This makes money for the drug companies, but the flu shots over time will actually be detrimental to your immune system. Avoid taking these flu shots, and instead build up your immune system with Hawthorn pills, vitamins, and herbs. Also have some masks on hand when the evil ones try to spread this virus with chemtrails.

    Report Post » stang289  
    • justangry
      Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:11pm

      One question about chem trails. Why wouldn‘t they just spread something when they’re spraying neighborhoods for mosquitos instead of going through the hastle of putting on a plane?

      Report Post » justangry  
  • nobull14
    Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:57pm

    Looking at the map the countries that are over populated have the most risk of being killed off from the bird flu ???? that’s too bad and south America is not showing the truth and Mexico does not get mention ??? A kill off is coming because there is 7 billion people crapping on planet earth with no place to flush .

    Report Post »  
  • lassiegirldawn
    Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:54pm

    Watch the cases of bird flu now, purposely let go into the masses.

    Report Post »  
  • chips1
    Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:28pm

    Only three was this information could get into the wrong hands. Telephone, telegraph and tell Obama.

    Report Post »  
    • scuba13
      Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:34pm

      Hahahahahahaha………that’s not funny.

      Report Post » scuba13  

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