H5N1 research unleashed, almost

Abstract

On Feb 10, we reported the tale of two research articles in which the authors had generated viruses based on highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 that were transmissible in mammals. The publication of these papers was put on hold at the request of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) on the basis of concerns about biosafety and bioterrorism. The board advised that redacted research papers reporting only the aims and conclusions without details of the methods and results be published, with more technical details being supplied to only a select group of influenza researchers. Avian influenza and the dual-use research debateSince the first human cases of infection with avian influenza H5N1 were reported 15 years ago, the disease has caused 344 deaths among 583 known cases—a case fatality of nearly 60%. Despite the highly lethal nature of this virus, it is very rarely transmitted from birds to people, and even less frequently, if ever, transmitted from person to person. Nonetheless, the possibility of the virus mutating or recombining with another to develop pandemic potential is a bleak prospect for public health. So it is not surprising that the news that two groups of researchers have purposefully generated H5N1 strains that are transmitted easily in aerosols among ferrets, a widely used model of human influenza transmission, has generated a fierce debate about the conduct and dissemination of dual-use research, as reported in this month's Newsdesk. Full-Text PDF H5N1 research put on holdIn December last year, the publication of two papers submitted to Nature and Science was put on hold after an unprecedented recommendation from the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) that details of the methods and results be removed before the articles were released. The two articles contain details of experiments in which researchers had generated influenza A H5N1 viruses that could be transmitted from mammal to mammal—something natural mutations have failed to achieve. Full-Text PDF