tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
TORONTO - As influenza scientists and biosecurity experts continue to do battle over controversial bird flu studies, some in the flu world worry arguments being used to push for full publication of the studies may be eroding the credibility of the field.
This concern is not about whether the studies, which show how H5N1 flu viruses can be made to transmit easily among mammals (in this case ferrets), should be published. Many ? though not all ? flu scientists believe the papers should be published in full to further study of a virus that has alarmed them for years.
But some are uneasy about the way a number of proponents of publication are pursuing that end, at times taking positions that contradict long-held claims flu researchers have made about the importance of H5N1 work. Central to that concern is the assertion being made by a small group of flu scientists that the virus isn't as deadly as people have been led to believe ? an argument critics see as a double-edged sword.
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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ar...rmine-credibility-of-the-field-142072313.html
This concern is not about whether the studies, which show how H5N1 flu viruses can be made to transmit easily among mammals (in this case ferrets), should be published. Many ? though not all ? flu scientists believe the papers should be published in full to further study of a virus that has alarmed them for years.
But some are uneasy about the way a number of proponents of publication are pursuing that end, at times taking positions that contradict long-held claims flu researchers have made about the importance of H5N1 work. Central to that concern is the assertion being made by a small group of flu scientists that the virus isn't as deadly as people have been led to believe ? an argument critics see as a double-edged sword.
..
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ar...rmine-credibility-of-the-field-142072313.html