U.S. Gives the Go Ahead to Publish Controversial Bird Flu Research
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Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A top U.S. health official said Friday the U.S. government is giving the green light to publish two controversial studies on H5N1 avian (bird) flu research, Health Day reports.
The researchers manipulated the potentially deadly virus until it could be transmitted between ferrets, which are considered models of humans. So far, Health Day says, the disease cannot be transmitted between humans.
Although the Department of Health and Human Services requested censorship of some of the data, out of fear the information could be misused by terrorists to create biological weapons, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Friday that full publication of the research was approved, Health Day reports. The director of USNIH said the research did not appear to enable misuse of the information that could endanger national security or public health.
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