27 Dec 2011

Bird flu research controversy ‘wake-up call’

Fears over a new laboratory-made super strain of bird flu which could transfer between humans should be a “wake-up call” about the risks of the disease, a leading scientist tells Channel 4 News.

It sounds like the plot of a film: two groups of scientists have created mutant strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus which could threaten us all. Or could it?

Some experts believe the new research is so dangerous – particularly if it falls into the wrong hands – that it should not be published. Others say that it is a vital piece in the jigsaw that could lead towards a vaccine for the dangerous disease.

The controversy has arisen because of the way the virus has affected ferrets in a laboratory environment. For the first time, the bird flu virus has become airborne, or able to transfer between ferrets breathing the same air.

This could have major implications for humans because ferrets are one of the best models available for human influenza.

In the past, bird flu has only been transmitted from bird to human, when humans came into very close contact with infected poultry – never between humans. For this reason, despite its high mortality rate – around 60 per cent of humans who contract the disease die of it – only around 350 people are known to have died of the illness globally.

It’s a wake-up call for all of us. Professor Peter Openshaw, Imperial College

But the fear is, if the new strain affects humans in the same way as it has affected ferrets, the disease could theoretically be transferred between humans as easily as ordinary flu – via coughs and sneezes.

This raises doomsday-like fears should it ever leave the lab – and has prompted fierce debate among scientists over whether the research should be published.

Professor Peter Openshaw, director of the centre for respiratory infection at Imperial College in London, told Channel 4 News: “I think there’s always a concern with scientific research that although the benefits we get from the research are enormous, there is also the potential to cause harm and we need to balance that harm against the benefit.

The bird flu virus - as new research sparks fears the disease could be used as a weapon (Reuters)

“I think clearly in this case if the worst case scenario were to develop and the virus were to get out, either accidentally or deliberately, then the consequences would be absolutely terrible and I think that there does need to be some degree of regulation. The question is who does the regulating.”

Compromise could be agreed if only the outline details of the findings are reported, as has been recommended by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity.

But the study’s lead author at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Dr Ron Fouchier, believes the detailed data should be released.

He said: “We will respect the advice and try to publish in censored form. But we still believe the detailed data should be published. We have the moral obligation to share the details with those that need to know.”

Read more: GM chickens designed to 'halt bird flu spread'

He believes the threat posed by H5N1 evolving in the wild far outweighs the harm that hypothetical bioterrorists could do.

Professor Openshaw said that for now, the main implications of the new research were a reminder of the dangers of bird flu.

“It’s very important information that in a relatively small number of mutations, you can convert a virus which can’t spread into one which has the potential to spread very widely,” he told Channel 4 News.

“It is a wake-up call for all of us – we shouldn’t be complacent about the presence of H5N1 out there in some of the wild bird and domestic bird population. We need to maintain a very high level of preparedness and have all our plans ready to go if an outbreak like this were to happen.”