Pandemic Threat Is Real

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   Once-Banned Bird Flu Study Suggests Pandemic Threat Is Real

Researchers found the virus could potentially mutate and spread widely among people, but that hasn't happened so far

WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Data in a formerly banned study detailing how the H5N1 avian (bird) flu virus can morph -- with the possibility that it could spread from person to person and cause a global pandemic -- may help nations prepare for the impending threat.

That's some of the motivation for lifting the ban and publishing the study in the May 2 online issue of Nature, experts say.

The initial ban applied to two studies slated to be published in two medical journals, Nature and Science. In December, the U.S. government intervened, requesting that both journals censor some of the data for national security purposes. The concern was that terrorists might use the information to create a lethal biological weapon.

The ban was lifted in April, after the U.S. government conducted a risk assessment in March. Nature also commissioned an independent assessment. Both showed that publication would confer more public benefit than risk.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/05/02/once-banned-bird-flu-study-suggests-pandemic-threat-is-real

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Kilt2 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Advisor Group Joined: December 17 2007 Status: Offline Points: 469	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kilt2 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Pandemic Threat Is Real Posted: May 09 2012 at 2:53am
	Once-Banned Bird Flu Study Suggests Pandemic Threat Is Real Researchers found the virus could potentially mutate and spread widely among people, but that hasn't happened so far WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Data in a formerly banned study detailing how the H5N1 avian (bird) flu virus can morph -- with the possibility that it could spread from person to person and cause a global pandemic -- may help nations prepare for the impending threat. That's some of the motivation for lifting the ban and publishing the study in the May 2 online issue of Nature, experts say. The initial ban applied to two studies slated to be published in two medical journals, Nature and Science. In December, the U.S. government intervened, requesting that both journals censor some of the data for national security purposes. The concern was that terrorists might use the information to create a lethal biological weapon. The ban was lifted in April, after the U.S. government conducted a risk assessment in March. Nature also commissioned an independent assessment. Both showed that publication would confer more public benefit than risk. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/05/02/once-banned-bird-flu-study-suggests-pandemic-threat-is-real
	And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

Kilt2 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Advisor Group Joined: December 17 2007 Status: Offline Points: 469	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kilt2 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May 12 2012 at 7:10am
	Now we are very very close disturbing Kawaoka found that the hybrid virus could spread between ferrets in separate cages after acquiring just four mutations. Three of these allow the HA protein to stick to receptor molecules on mammalian cells, and the fourth stabilizes the protein. “Before we initiated this experiment, we knew that receptor specificity is important,” says Kawaoka. “We didn’t know what else was needed.” Worryingly, some Middle Eastern H5N1 strains can already recognize human receptors2. Kawaoka’s work suggests that they could be just one stabilizing mutation away from being able to spread between humans. Discovering “that HA needs to be stable to be transmissible through the air between mammals” is a key finding, says influenza virologist Wendy Barclay at Imperial College London. http://www.nature.com/news/mutant-flu-paper-published-1.10551
	And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.