More labs close to deadly bird flu mutations: researcher

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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-birdflu-idUSTRE80J02X20120120

More labs close to deadly bird flu mutations: researcher
By Sharon Begley
NEW YORK | Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:54pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An international debate over whether to censor new research on bird flu may soon prove academic, as other laboratories close in on similar findings showing how one of the most deadly viruses could mutate to be transmitted from one person to another.

Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands is pushing for openness. He is the lead researcher on one of the studies that showed how the H5N1 virus can be transmitted through airborne droplets between ferrets, a model for studying influenza in humans...

 

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Re: More labs close to deadly bird flu mutations: researcher

Additional snippets

In an opinion piece published in Science on Thursday, Fouchier argued for the release the research to help public health officials better prepare for a scenario where the virus could mutate and become more deadly, spreading from person to person via coughs and sneezes. He emphasized that other researchers are close to the same findings, some of them inadvertently, and should be warned in advance how the virus could become airborne.

"We have identified, from the published literature, laboratories working with H5N1 viruses that may only require one to three mutations before the viruses used may become transmissible" via airborne particles, the Erasmus team wrote.

They did not identify the other laboratories, though other experts say they include facilities in both government and academia. "We want them to be careful," Fouchier said in an interview. "They did not know that they were one or two or three mutations away" from having an easily transmissible mutant virus.

Continued: http://news.yahoo.com/more-lab...