May 3, 2013

expert reaction to study into mixing of flu viruses

A Chinese study, published in Science, looked at mixing the H1N1 and H5N1 variants of the flu virus strains in order to investigate what would be genetically required to produce a flu virus that was both highly infectious and transmissible from human to human.

Dr John McCauley, director of the WHO Centre for Influenza at MRC National Institute for Medical Research, said:

“Experiments of the type described by Hualan Chen, and those previously described by Fouchier and Kawaoka and their colleagues, continue to shed light on some of the characteristics of avian influenza viruses that can be transmitted between small mammals through the air. The work done in China was done using guinea pigs, but there would be a valid scientific interest in pursuing the study of these viruses in ferrets, as it would further improve our understanding of the risk of transmission to the human population. All experiments of this type need to be undertaken within the existing rigorous processes of virus containment.”