Schism over H5N1 avian flu research leaks out. Sparks flew recently at a New York Academy of Sciences panel discussion about whether or not certain recent research into the H5N1 avian flu virus has created a major biosecurity threat and what, if anything, to do about it. Scientific American 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Censoring research results. The methods and results should be redacted from two research papers describing controversial experiments on the H5N1 avian flu virus, concludes a federal biosecurity advisory board. Chemical & Engineering News 2012-02-02T09:00-05:00
Vietnam reports second bird flu death in a month. A Vietnamese official on Thursday confirmed the country's second human death from bird flu in less than a month, after it went nearly two years with no reported fatalities. Associated Press 2012-02-02T09:00-05:00
Don’t censor influenza research. Such caution, though well intentioned, is misplaced. The censorship of influenza research will do little to prevent its misuse by evildoers — and it may well hinder our ability to stop influenza outbreaks, whether natural or otherwise, when they do occur. New York Times 2012-02-02T09:00-05:00
25,000 ducks killed in avian flu campaign. In Victoria, authorities are working to contain the first confirmed outbreak of the avian flu in Australia for 15 years. Twenty-five-thousand ducks are being killed at a farm north of Melbourne after the virus was detected there last week. Australia ABC News 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Bird flu leaves tracks in brain. After surviving a bout of virulent bird flu, mice’s brains show short-term reductions of a key brain chemical and long-lasting signs of infection, a new study finds. The research suggests this type of flu might leave people more vulnerable to brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Science News 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Avian virus outbreak in Victorian forces duck cull. A national disease emergency plan has been activated to prevent an outbreak of deadly bird flu in Australia after the discovery of infected birds at two free-range duck farms north of Melbourne. Sydney Australian 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
U.S. panel defends call to censor bird flu studies. A potentially deadlier form of the bird flu virus poses one of the gravest known threats to humans and justifies an unprecedented call to censor the research that produced it, a top U.S. biosecurity official said on Tuesday. Reuters 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Bird flu 'censorship' decision. A group which advises the US government on biosecurity has explained why it wants two research papers on H5N1 bird flu to be censored. BBC 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Swine flu way up after low year. Swine flu is back in Mexico, the epicenter of a world pandemic three years ago that panicked people around the globe. Associated Press 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Adaptations of avian flu virus are a cause for concern. The life sciences have reached a cross-roads. The direction we choose and the process by which we arrive at this decision must be undertaken as a community. Physicists faced a similar situation in the 1940s with nuclear weapons research, and it is inevitable that other scientific disciplines will also do so. Nature 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Reasons for proposed redaction of flu paper. For avian and other highly pathogenic flu strains, experiments should be vetted carefully before being conducted. At this time, there is no formal, standardized mechanism for screening proposals and papers that contain dual-use research of concern, apart from assessments by authors, editors and reviewers. Nature 2012-02-01T09:00-05:00
Unite to fight bird flu. Two research teams have found that a handful of mutations allow H5N1 to spread like ordinary flu while staying just as deadly, at least in ferrets. Given that ordinary flu can infect a third of humanity in a season and that half the people who catch H5N1 die, the implications are not hard to fathom. New Scientist 2012-01-31T09:00-05:00
Research into mutant flu 'must go on.' One of the scientists at the centre of the controversy over the creation a highly dangerous form of bird flu which could cause a devastating human pandemic has denounced attempts by the US Government to censor the research over fears that the findings might be misused by bioterrorists. London Independent 2012-01-29T09:00-05:00
Study finds virus to be fast learner on infecting. Viruses regularly evolve new ways of making people sick, but scientists usually do not become aware of these new strategies until years or centuries after they have evolved. The report is being published in the midst of a controversy over a deadly bird flu virus that researchers manipulated to spread from mammal to mammal. New York Times 2012-01-27T09:00-05:00
Mexico ups swine flu screening as cases increase. Mexico's newspapers are warning of an alarming increase in swine flu for the first time since a pandemic shut down much of the country three years ago, while the government insists there's no need for another international scare. Associated Press 2012-01-27T09:00-05:00
Caution urged for mutant flu work. Why would scientists deliberately create a form of the H5N1 avian influenza virus that is probably highly transmissible in humans? In the growing debate about research that has done precisely that, a key question is whether the public-health benefits of the work outweigh the risks of a potential pandemic if the virus escaped from the lab. Nature 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
Bird flu mutation studies must go on. Despite declaring last week a 60-day moratorium on the studies to allay security fears, Yoshihiro Kawaoka argued in a commentary in the journal Nature it was urgent and vital that his work continue. Reuters 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
UW research lab's bird flu virus not fatal to mammals. A University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist whose bird flu research has pulled him into the fray of an international controversy disclosed Wednesday in the journal Nature that the contagious virus created in his lab was not fatal and responded to available vaccines. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
H5N1: Flu transmission work is urgent. The redaction of our manuscript, intended to contain risk, will make it harder for legitimate scientists to get this information while failing to provide a barrier to those who would do harm. Nature 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
A central researcher in the H5N1 flu debate breaks his silence. In the heated debate about two labs that engineered a variant of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus that for the first time easily transmits between mammals, one critical voice has been missing: Yoshihiro Kawaoka. But today, he speaks his mind in a Nature commentary and in a detailed response to questions from ScienceInsider. Science 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
Open the debate on flu research. Insights from research on the H5N1 avian flu virus might help to improve pandemic preparedness in the future. But concerns have been raised that the publication of such work would amplify the risk of an accidental, or intentional, release of the virus that could spark a human pandemic. Nature 2012-01-26T09:00-05:00
Man dies of bird flu in southwest China. A man in southwest China died of bird flu on Sunday after three days of intensive care treatment in hospital, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Health as saying. Reuters 2012-01-23T09:00-05:00