Shots - Health Blog Thu February 9, 2012 International Meeting
On Controversial Bird Flu Research Draws Near The World Health
Organization has just one week left to prepare for a highly
anticipated meeting on controversial bird flu research. One
official says that 22 invitations have gone out and the WHO is
still waiting to hear back from some of the invitees. Recent
experiments involving the H5N1 bird flu virus have caused a
furor in the science community, and the WHO was urged to convene
an international discussion. The scientists, journal editors and
others who attend are expected to review the facts and the most
pressing issues related to this specific work, rather than have
a broader discussion about the possibility of international
oversight of potentially worrisome biological research. Critics
of the experiments say scientists took a potentially deadly bird
flu virus and tweaked it in ways that could make it contagious
between people. They worry that the altered virus might escape
the lab and cause a g