posted on April 12, 2005 06:14:12 PM
Scientists rush to destroy pandemic flu strain
WHO concerned samples may set off global epidemic
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET April 12, 2005
Thousands of scientists were scrambling Tuesday at the urging of global health authorities to destroy vials of a pandemic flu strain sent to labs in 18 countries as part of routine testing.
The rush, urged by the World Health Organization, was sparked by a slim, but real, risk that the samples, could spark a global flu epidemic. The vials of virus sent by a U.S. company went to nearly 5,000 labs, mostly in the United States, officials said.
“The risk is relatively low that a lab worker will get sick, but a large number of labs got it and if someone does get infected, the risk of severe illness is high and this virus has shown to be fully transmissible,” WHO’s influenza chief, Klaus Stohr, told The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear why the 1957 pandemic strain, which killed between 1 million and 4 million people — was in the proficiency test kits routinely sent to labs.
It was a decision that Stohr described as “unwise,” and “unfortunate.”
That particular bug was “an epidemic virus for many years,” Stohr said from the U.N. health agency’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “The risk is low but things can go wrong as long as these samples are out there and there are some still out there.”
The 1957 strain has not been included in the flu vaccine since 1968, and anyone born after that date has no immunity to it.
Dr. Nancy Cox, chief of the influenza branch at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said her agency was notified of the situation Friday morning. She also said officials strongly doubt someone deliberately planted the dangerous germ or that this was an act of bioterrorism.
“It wouldn’t be a smart way to start a pandemic to send it to laboratories because we have people well trained in biocontainment,” she said.
The concern over the shipment of pandemic flu virus to thousands labs renews questions about the safe handling of deadly germs — an issue that led to toughened U.S. rules after anthrax was sent in the mail in 2001, killing five Americans.
Most of the flu samples — 3,747 — were sent starting last year at the request of the College of American Pathologists, which helps labs do proficiency testing. The last shipments were sent out in February.
Dr. Jared Schwartz, an official with the pathology college, said a private company, Meridian Bioscience Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, is paid to prepare the samples. The firm was told to pick an influenza A sample and chose from its stockpile the deadly 1957 H2N2 strain.
Stohr said U.S. health officials also reported to WHO that some other test kit providers besides the college used the 1957 pandemic strain in samples sent to labs in the United States. Schwartz identified them as Medical Lab Evaluators, the American Association of Bioanalysts and the American Association of Family Practitioners.
U.S. labs at risk
Almost 99 percent of the labs that got the test kits are in the United States, Stohr said. Fourteen were in Canada and 61 samples went to labs in 16 other countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America, according to the WHO.
Some of the labs outside the United States have already destroyed their samples, he said, and WHO is hoping that the rest of the vials will be destroyed by Friday. The health agency wouldn’t name the other countries whose labs received the samples.
The test kits are used for internal quality control checks to demonstrate that a lab is able to correctly identify viruses or as a way for labs to get certified by the College of American Pathologists.
The kits involve blind samples. The lab then has to correctly identify the pathogen in the vial in order to pass the test. Usually, the influenza virus included in these kits is one that is currently circulating, or at least one that has recently been in circulation.
On March 26, National Microbial Laboratory Canada detected the 1957 pandemic strain in a sample not connected with the test kit. After informing WHO and the CDC of the strange finding, the lab investigated. It informed the U.N. health agency on Friday that it had traced the virus to the test kit.
The WHO then notified the health authorities in all countries that received the kits and recommended that all the samples be destroyed immediately.
That same day, the College of American Pathologists faxed the labs asking them to immediately incinerate the samples and to confirm in writing that the operation had been completed.
Stohr said the test kits are not the only supplies of the 1957 pandemic strain sitting in laboratories around the world.
“The world really has to think what routine labs should be doing with these samples they have kept in the back of their fridges,” Storh said.
Viruses are classed according to the level of lab safety precautions that must be taken when handling them. Routine viruses can be handled in labs with a basic level of biosafety protection. However, very dangerous viruses, such as Ebola, can only be handled at labs with top-level safety measures. Those labs have a biosafety level of 4.
The 1957 flu virus has for years been a level 2 virus, but many countries have upgraded it to a biosafety level of 3 because so many people have no immunity to it. Stohr said U.S. officials reviewing the classification and are expected to increase it to a level 3 later this summer.
posted on April 13, 2005 05:42:18 AM
Isn't it amazing that out of thousands of labs receiving the virus that only one lab in Canada identified the flu strain and reported it to the WHO and CDC. It's also interesting that this information giving credit to the Canadian lab is buried at the end of U.S. news reports.
posted on April 13, 2005 05:58:32 AM
I read about this last night and this morning it's plastered all over the news. That and the fact that they want to allow hunters to shoot cats in Wisconsin (I think it's Wisconsin). How sick are thing becoming?
posted on April 13, 2005 06:25:58 AM
I remember I had the flu in 1957.I believe they called it "the Russian Flu" I was 12 at the time in 7th grade in high school.I was just sitting there in class and I didnt feel sick,but I started getting dizzy.I just passed out and when I woke up I was on the floor and the teacher had her hands around my head.I was out cold even before I hit the floor.They sent me home and I was out of school for over a week.I remember the doctor coming to the house(remember those days?) He told my mom I had the "Russian" flu.I heard this morning they called it the Asian flu,I dont know if I had a differrent strain,but to pass out cold,it was bad news.
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Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on April 13, 2005 06:29:51 AM
Well Cheryl, what do you want them to do with the cats. Every day I sit with my granddaughter and watch the cats as they roam the streets. Yes we live in town and there are many in this neighborhood. Why can't they keep their cats in the house? When we had our home in another area if you left your windows open you could hear them howl all night. Something has to be done and I guess if you want them they are yours.
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You start by fining owners who allow their cats to run the streets (sounds funny doesn't it - like kids running the streets). Around here, stray cats have kept the mouse and rat population down to where I haven't seen a mouse in two years. They are welcome to roam here. They hurt nothing. I'm not fond of cats, but shooting them (like they shoot the deer) is outrageous. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so.
I remember having the Russian Flu. The Asian flu was the deadliest of the two. Never had that.
What angers me the most is that this virus was allowed to leave the lab that was storing it. They are only supposed to test current strains. This could have been a real disaster. One that I'm sure they'd blame on terrorists. It's bad enough that we have to worry about terrorist activities without having to worry about these kinds of "accidents".
posted on April 13, 2005 08:33:49 AM
Cheryl, Minnesota and Michigan do allow shooting of cats. So it isn't anything new. A cat cannot be shot if it wears a collar and that is what the State of Wisconsin is proposing. So why don't cat owners put collars on? If they love their animal they would, or is it because they don't want to pay the license fee? It would save their cat. Dogs have to have them why not cats.
I know in our apartments they don't allow them but when I look out my window into the next apartment building there sits a cat in the window.
The pet owners need to be held responsible. That includes neutering the animal. Shooting the animals because they have irresponsible owners is cruel and inhumane. Not to mention dangerous.
In Solon, near where I live, the city okayed hunters to shoot deer. Okay. However, they were allowed to go onto the homeowner's property and shoot. They were pretty darn close to people's homes. It's frightening that you could have a hunter poised outside ready to shoot. Can you imagine looking out your window to find a hunter sitting in a tree in your backyard ready to shoot the first deer that comes along? Imagine your young children having to see and hear all of this. You don't exactly feel safe in your own home.
What, are we lacking big game to shoot at and now we have to shoot cats? Come on. It sounds like you live in a nice neat little suburb. I don't. I live in the city. Here we prefer cats to mice and/or rats.
posted on April 13, 2005 12:18:00 PM
I guess I missed something here-why are they shooting cats?? Our femaile has been spayed and is a house cat.My wife takes her for a walk on a lease.We dont let her run outside because we have a lot of "tics" here in Dutchess Co.
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Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on April 13, 2005 12:45:44 PM
Yes I can Cheryl because I used to Deer Hunt and was the target of one hunter. Thank goodness for the big tree next to me as it took the hit.
I live in the city. Not in a subdivision. Just a regular street with apartment buildings but down the road about 1/2 a mile there are woods and I imagine they hang out there.
You hear horror stories of people disposing of litters of cats and dogs a couple of miles out of town because they don't want to bring them to the humane socity or do what is necessary to keep the pets. I think these are the same people that let their cats and dogs run the streets. How can it be changed? Probably the same people that let their kids run wild. I imagine the state will back off if someone can come up with a good idea.
They won't destroy yours classic because you did the proper thing. Many people don't and let them run wild. That is the problem.
posted on April 13, 2005 01:43:03 PM
I think I missed something too. Whats up with the cats?
Could it be ferral cats? They are dangerous, and I'd probably shoot one, if it got near our pets.
My 18 year old cat would die if I kept him inside. He's always been an outdoor cat, that comes in in the evening. He was born on a farm and lived there for a few years, and I really think it would kill him faster if he didn't have his independence of the outdoors. And I don't think I could 'house break' him either
posted on April 13, 2005 03:39:46 PM
lol db-I also misspelled female
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Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on April 13, 2005 07:26:33 PMSo why don't cat owners put collars on?
Collars on cats is asking for trouble. Cats are forever getting into tight spots as they go on their adventures. A collar could easily hang a cat up for good.
Here, cats are legally considered feral, not domestic animals. All cats.If your neighbor's dog digs up your garden, you can have the dog picked up and held until the owner pays a fine. If it's your neighbor's cat, it's entirely up to you how you deal with it, and your neighbor can't do anything about it.
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Dick Cheney: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11..."
I imagine the state will back off if someone can come up with a good idea.