Posted on 09/20/2004 1:39:16 PM PDT by foolscap
University of Washington scientists plan to infect monkeys with a killer flu virus grown from tissue exhumed from victims of the 1918 epidemic.
They hope the insight they gain will unravel the mystery of why tens of millions of people worldwide died from the virulent flu strain and lead to development of better vaccines and drugs that may save lives in the future.
"This was the most deadly infectious disease in the history of mankind, killing at least 40 million people," said Dr. Michael Katze, a UW microbiologist and principal investigator for the local arm of the project.
"To this day, nobody understands why the virus was so deadly."
Most experts believe another killer flu pandemic is overdue, Katze said, so it's critical to gain information about the disease.
The UW received part of a $12.7 million grant, funded largely from Congress' $1.7 billion biodefense appropriation to the National Institutes of Health, to collaborate on the 1918 flu study with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.
A skeptic of resurrecting and enlivening the 1918 flu virus, however, said it is critical to first make sure we are adequately protected against creating a "man-made" pandemic...
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Great Influenza ping
Is it just me or this really a bad idea?
Now watch some Animal Liberation Front loons try to break in to free the primates after their exposure...
Captain Trips...
What is this? The Bambino flu?
Reminds me of the movies "28 Days" or "12 Monkeys".
Oh, that's going to be it! You know that some of them will try... This isn't something that should be played with.
I recently learned that that freaking virus killed my grandmother. I hope these yahoos are doing this work in a biosafety level 4 laboratory.
Nope, you're right - really bad idea. Maybe at CDC, deep underground in Atlanta. But not at a university, no matter how well-equipped.
"Her name was Enza;
"I opened up the window;
"And in flew Enza!"
Children's rhyme, 1919
Sounds like a remake of The Andromada Strain 1971.
Sci-fi thriller in which small team of superscientists tries to isolate deadly strain of virus from outer space, racing against time and nuclear detonation. From Michael Crichton's novel.
(Is it just me or this really a bad idea?)
It is a bad idea.
Anyone interested in buying my house (about 4 miles as the crow flies - or virus blows - from the UW)?
Although if it gets out it won't make much of a difference where you live. It was quickly world-wide in 1918 (I though it started earlier?) - before the age of the modern biological warfare delivery system (an airplane with 300 people packed on board), with one leaving Seattle every few minutes.
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