Doubts about BioWatch were aired in Congress today, with a House committee chair criticizing plans and a top federal disease expert expressing concerns.
(CIDRAP News) – Chinese scientists report that lab-generated hybrid viruses combining genes from avian H5N1 and pandemic 2009 H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza viruses can achieve airborne spread between guinea pigs, a finding that seems likely to renew the debate about the risks of creating novel viruses that might be able to spark a human pandemic.
(CIDRAP News) – A new study suggests that a lab-derived hybrid H5N1 influenza virus that is capable of airborne transmission among ferrets may well be capable of doing the same thing in humans.
(CIDRAP News) – Chinese agriculture officials today confirmed the H7N9 virus in chickens and pigeons from Shanghai markets, providing new clues about how humans may have been exposed to the virus, which has since yesterday been detected in two more people.
Resources & Literature
Recent Literature
Blaine JW.Establishing a national biological laboratory safety and security monitoring program. Biosecur Bioterror 2012 Dec 17;10(4):396-400
Gangadharan D, Smith J, Weyant R. Biosafety recommendations for work with influenza viruses containing a hemagglutinin from the A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage. MMWR 2013 Jun 28;62(rr06):1-7
GAO (US Government Accountability Office).High-containment laboratories: assessment of the nation's need is missing. GAO-13-466R. Posted Mar 25, 2013 (but dated Feb 25)
Higgins JJ, Weaver P, Fitch P, et al. Implementation of a personnel reliability program as a facilitator of biosafety and biosecurity culture in BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories. Biosec Bioterror 2013 Jun 18;11(2):130-7
IOM (Institute of Medicine). Perspectives on research with H5N1 avian influenza: scientific inquiry, communication, controversy: summary of a workshop. Apr 8, 2013
Merens A, Cavallo JD, Thibault F, et al.Assessment of the bio-preparedness and of the training of the French hospital laboratories in the event of biological threat. Euro Surveill 2012 Nov 8;17(45):pii=20312
