In their zeal to keep us all alive, it seems fair to say that
public health officials love bioterrorism preparedness measures.
In fact, the only thing they might love planning for more is
pandemics. So last month, when researchers at two different
facilities revealed they were able to mutate the virulent H5N1
avian flu strain to pass between mammals simply through the air,
the NIH was highly concerned. The discovery is alarming because
avian flu is considered one of the world’s deadliest pathogens,
with a 60% mortality rate. But while avian flu viruses have
infected humans in the past, those infections have come directly
from birds. If the virus can be mutated into an airborne
pathogen, the consequences can be catastrophic. Two research
teams (one led by Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the
Netherlands, and the other by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the
University of Wisconsin) engineered the new bird flu strains.
After growing the H5N1 strain for several generations, the
scientists discovered the exact genet