Geneva/London (Reuters) – two studies revealing of how experts mutated lethal H5N1 avian influenza at a virus capable of creating a global human pandemic will be finally published, but just keep secret for now for biosafety experts assess risks of disseminating these data, said on Friday who.
Speaking after a high-level meeting between experts in influenza and U.S. biosecurity officials in Geneva, a spokesman for the World Health Organization (who) reported that it reached an initial agreement published controversial work, only after he becomes a deeper analysis of risks.
“There is a preference from a public health perspective completely disclose the information from these two studies.” “However, there are important public concerns about this research should be evaluated first,” said Keiji Fukuda, Assistant Director-general for health security and environment of the United Nations.
Who convened the meeting to break the stalemate between the scientists who studied the necessary mutations that H5N1 is transmitted between mammals and the authorities of the National Advisory Council of science of the Biosafety of United States (NSABB, for its acronym in English), who want their work be censored or “retouched” before being disseminated in scientific journals.
Biosafety experts fear that the virus mutated forms to teams in the Netherlands which independently arrived and United States can escape or fall into the wrong hands and be used to unleash a pandemic worst of Spanish flu of 1918-19, which killed some 40 million people.
“Needs to have a discussion more complete on the risks and benefits of research in this area, and the risks of the virus itself, told journalists the spokesman of who Gregory Hartl.
However, a scientist close to the NSABB who spoke with Reuters immediately after the decision said that the Committee was “deeply frustrated” by this.
High rate of mortality
The H5N1 virus, first detected in Hong Kong in 1997, is deep-rooted among poultry in many countries, mainly in Asia, but so far remains difficult human transmit infected.
The virus has infected nearly 700 people worldwide since 2003 and killed half of them, a death rate much higher than that of the H1N1 flu – known as swine flu – which generated a pandemic in 2009 and 2010.
The last year, two teams of scientists – one led by Ron Fouchier at the Erasmus medical centre and another led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka in the University of Wisconsin, said they discovered that a small number of mutations just that the H5N1 virus spreads as flu common among mammals, maintaining its high mortality rate.
In December, the NSABB requested two journals – Nature and Science – leaders who not to disclose details of the investigation for fear that they can be used by bioterrorist.
Officials said that a potentially lethal form of bird flu involves one of the greatest threats known to human health and justify the order unprecedented censure investigations.
Who expressed concern and experts in influenza around the world a ceasefire declared on January 20 for 60 days “in any investigation involving highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses” that allows to generate easily communicable forms.
Fouchier, who participated in the meeting of two days at who that ended Friday, said that the consensus of experts and officials was “that in the interest of public health, the full article should be published” at some future date.
“This was based on the high-impact on public health of this work and the need to share the details of the studies with a very large community, for the sake of science, surveillance and public health as a whole”, told reporters Fouchier.
In the way current, people can not contract the H5N1 strain if they are not in close contact with ducks, chickens and other birds infected with the virus. The contagion now cannot be taken of one person to another.
But the Dutch and American researchers found that when H5N1 acquired mutations that allow you to live in the upper respiratory tract rather than the lower, there is no way that can move by air, as they confirmed with studies on infected ferrets.
Ferrets are considered a good animal model on how the virus of influenza in persons behave.
Fouchier pointed out that “it was the vision of the group” in the meeting that the risks that this particular virus or the flu virus can in general be used as bioterrorism agents “would be very, very few”.
“The risks are not zero, but are very, very small”, insisted the Dutch scientist.
(Published in Spanish by Ana Laura Mitidieri)
