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U.S. Gives Go-Ahead On Publication Of H5N1 Research; Dutch Regulators Continue To Debate
The U.S. government on Friday formally accepted a recommendation from the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) "to publish two controversial studies of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, moving the pair of papers another step closer to publication," ScienceInsider reports (Malakoff, 4/20). "Groups led by the two scientists -- Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin and Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam -- engineered the H5N1 virus to be more transmissible between ferrets, mammals whose response to the flu is most like humans," Bloomberg Businessweek notes. "The research is critical to understanding and detecting bird flu strains, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said [on Friday] in a statement," Bloomberg writes, noting that the NSABB "recommended in March that Sebelius and Collins approve publication" (Wayne, 4/20).
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