WHO ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over Lethal H5N1 Virus Research
The World Health Organization has come out to express its concern over a recently announced engineered form of the H5N1 bird flu virus that could become a lethal human pandemic if spread.
The organization issued a stern warning on Friday about the risks of the scientific production of the potentially highly contagious virus, arguing that the two scientific teams responsible for engineering the H5N1 strain must keep their work under tight supervision.
In the public statement, the WHO expressed that they were “deeply concerned about the potential negative consequences” of the virus.
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“While it is clear that conducting research to gain such knowledge must continue, it is also clear that certain research, and especially that which can generate more dangerous forms of the virus that those which already exist, has risks,” the organization said.
The research and findings of the experiment are set to be published in the U.S. journal “Science,” but the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity has warned that the if the methodology details of the experiment are published, the information could be replicated and used in a bioterrorism attack.
Researchers are also concerned that the virus, which is typically found in birds, could mutate into a form that can pass easily from person to person and spread across the world, potentially infecting millions.
The warning from the United Nation’s health organization came out on the same day that China reported a case of the H5N1 virus in southern city of Shenzhen. The man, 39, is in critical condition, according to Chinese authorities.
The bird flu was first detected in 1996 and has killed millions of birds. Around 600 people have been infected with the virus and about 60 percent of people who become infected with the bird flu die of the virus, according to the WHO.
