Once-Banned from Study. Research on this Deadly Flu Virus is About to Resume

The Government has mysteriously made plans to allow research that had previously been halted on this bird flu over safety concerns. In 2014, the government had halted research on H5N1, but months ago without any publication, allowed research to resume in two labs. This information was published in the Journal of Science. Back in 2011, two labs had altered H5N1, making it more contagious among ferrets, who are used in flu research because they cafc ti in a similar way that humans do. About H5N1, rarely does it jump from birds to humans, but when it does it is extremely lethal because it is not evident when those infected spread the disease to others. If it were modified to become better transmissible between humans, the results could be disastrous and cause an extremely high death toll.

The decision itself and the lack of information surrounding it has provoked outrage from some members of the research community, they are worried of this strain of influenza portrait to mutate into viruses that could generate a deadly pandemic if accidentally unleashed or were the target of bioterrorism.

Marc Lipsitch of Harvard and Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University have called for more transparency in this process.  On Wednesday, they commented in the Washington Post:

“Making decisions to approve potentially dangerous research in secret betrays the government’s responsibility to inform and involve the public when approving endeavors, whether scientific or otherwise, that could put health and lives at risk”

-Brittany Stinson

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/health/bird-flu-pandemic.html