Blog #7: Divides Emerge In US, World Response to Mutant Flu

The United States and the rest of the world is beginning to emerge into a divide on whether or not to publish, or keep secret, the results and details of a newly engineered mutant bird flu virus, a virus that can pass through the air between animals. This split is hopefully planning to be resolved when new data (saying the disease is not as lethal as believed), is put up to the test in the upcoming US-based advisory panel for these tests.

            In the later part of 2011, a panel of US scientists and biosecurity experts studied “two US-funded studies that showed how an engineered bird fly, H5N1 virus, could be transmitted in the air between ferrets in a lab”. The results and data was reviewed by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) and they found the data to be too risky, and if issued to the general public it could ‘spark a deadly pandemic’, if the flu escaped or were unleashed by spiteful members who knew of the virus.

            Here’s where the rest of the world comes in, a meeting of international flu experts earlier this month came to a conclusion quite different. They found that the data should eventually be published in its entirety. Argument and discourse has gone back and forth between the US and the international group based in Geneva for the past month. The virus does not pose any serious or death related threat. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease in the US, simply requests the information stays on hold till they “know much more about this”.

            I stand of the US’s side in this case, I believe that if information pertaining to a disease, and potentially a serious one, should stay completely under wraps until all knowledge about it is known. Alerting the public could cause for serious concern by some, which could lead to a deadly pandemic, as the NSABB concluded. The bad thing now, is some information has been released…as in this article… and people around the world are going to see 1) Potential for a deadly virus is on the rise and 2) Health officials from all over the world are arguing about whether or not to release secret details about the virus.

            The job for citizens, and the right to them, is to be well informed, and they are being informed in a “shady” manner. Keeping information from people and only releasing snips from an argument between international health leaders is only going to make people worry even more than just releasing the information.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j0uuRzdlHB4iKCH8c_77RXyJ8Nzw?docId=CNG.9338f6cd1895cc31fbf59471dfe5a40d.231