Birdflu: Crucial gene data locked away in private databank !

[oscar111]

As best as i understand it, {not an expert}... The gene scientist who runs the site is saying that WHO is using a private data repository .... and some crucial gene map information on bird flu is not available to scientists in general. Unclear if private means corporate or only-available-to-WHO-staffers.

Obviously, this hinders the fight against bird flu !

A petition has been started by that scientist, and i urge you to sign it. Only a pathetic four hundred have signed it so far. Even tho the petition was mentioned on CNN. Site founder is Dr. Niman, who has been with U. Pittsburg.. and made the flu monoclonal antibody in the 'eighties.

CLUSTER... SECOND BIGGEST ON RECORD
BTW, the press has not reported the latest two Indonesian deaths fully, to my casual knowledge: in fact, the "two sibling deaths" which are the very latest news.... are part of a family cluster of 7. The second largest cluster on record. That number seven was nowhere in the news i saw. Odd.

ISOLATE NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA
For details on my idea to easily isolate both north and south america by using the natural barriers of our two oceans, see my Journal, top right module. Journal link is at the top of this post, first icon.

TEXAS NOW TO USE WEBCAMS TO SEAL BORDER
Even the more difficult chore of sealing a land barrier is now seen as feasible by TX governor Perry, who now plans to spend five million for webcams ... and to have the whole world watch the border online. I'm no fan of Perry, but i prefer his positivism to the odd defeatism about borders i have oft seen. Fellow dems, stop being defeatists.

I am an optimist.... humans can do anything they set their mind to. Just as JFK implied, before the moonshot. We can seal borders, we can seal oceans. Progressives don't buy defeatism.

PETITION LINK:

http://www.petitiononline.com/h5n12006/petition.html

THE SITE HOME PAGE, HOSTED BY DR. NIMAN:
http://www.recombinomics.com/

FROM HIS SITE'S LINKS TO UPI:
Recombinomics added, "Sequences from this outbreak and early human cases in Indonesia are sequestered at the World Health Organization's ... private database."

Only one sequence from an Indonesian H5N1 patient has been released publicly so far, the firm noted.

snip

The most common strain is similar to the publicly available sequence, which has a novel cleavage site that has not been previously reported in poultry in Indonesia or elsewhere, Recombinomics said.

snip

A third strain is in the recent large cluster in north Sumatra and is amantadine resistant. "Release of these human sequences would provide clues on their origin," Recombinomics argued.

snip

"Data from an H5N1-infected cat as well as other hosts in Indonesia and worldwide would also enhance the analysis, adding to the need for the release of all sequestered H5N1 sequences."

[MercutioATC]

1. Oscar, we've given you a dozen reasons why "sealing the hemisphere" won't

work.

If you'd care to address them, I'd be interested.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=222&topic_id=8670

[Avalux]

2. I don't even know where to begin.

You say you are not an expert, so I'm wondering how you could have come up with a plan to protect the Americas from getting one single case of avian flu. I strongly suggest you learn the basics about viruses, influenza A specifically - how they replicate, how they mutate, how they are transmitted, etc. It's just plain irresponsible to promote such things without a working knowledge of your subject matter.

Also, I cannot recommend signing this petition. The WHO is not keeping important data from virologists; influenza A has been publicly shared and studied extensively for years.

I urge you to posting about avian flu until you have the opportunity to inform yourself. I would be willing to assist by providing links to some good websites and also by sharing what I know with you. If you're interested, send me a PM.

[Mojorabbit]

4. They are keeping sequences behind a secret database

There has been a lot of hoop te do about it. There are a bunch of scientists sitting on sequences till they can publish a paper and they are not sharing them. I can understand them wanting to publish but this is too important not to share the sequences. Some countries are hoping to develop vaccines and it is a financial consideration. Italy put out a challenge to other scientists to immediately place their sequences in the public gene bank and they are doing it themselves. The US is not.England is not, China has only published animal sequences but no human I believe. I signed the petition.
I can send you some links if you would like them.

[Avalux]

5. I'd be interested in some links.

Keep in mind though, this is about birds and vaccine development to reduce transmission of avian flu among them. It's not about human vaccine development. I would agree it is a good idea to release sequences from different versions of avian influenza A for common use. You may PM with with your info and I'll get back to you once I review. Thanks. :hi:

[Mojorabbit]

6. Here are two and I will pm you more when I am more awake

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/24/AR2006052402293.html?sub=AR
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1142203809676&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News
I believe it is about being first with a human vaccine. Having custody of the latest sequences gives a lab an up on where to head on development of one.

[Mojorabbit]

3. Don't look to the WHO for any warning either

It looks like they are going to keep the level at 3 till it hits 6.
A long good article
Human Flu Transfers May Exceed Reports
In the wake of a cluster of avian flu cases that killed seven members of a rural Indonesian family, it appears likely that there have been many more human-to-human infections than the authorities have previously acknowledged.

The numbers are still relatively small, and they do not mean that the virus has mutated to pass easily between people — a change that could touch off a worldwide epidemic. All the clusters of cases have been among relatives or in nurses who were in long, close contact with patients.

But the clusters — in Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Vietnam — paint a grimmer picture of the virus's potential to pass from human to human than is normally described by public health officials, who usually say such cases are "rare."
snip
Dr. David Nabarro, chief pandemic flu coordinator for the United Nations, said that even if some unexplained cases were human-to-human, it does not yet mean that the pandemic alert system, now at Level 3, "No or very limited human-human transmission," should be raised to Level 4, "Increased human-human transmission."

Level 4 means the virus has mutated until it moves between some people who have been only in brief contact, as a cold does. Right now, Dr. Nabarro said, any human transmission is "very inefficient."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/world/asia/04flu.html?_r=1&oref=login
Heck if you can get it easily like a cold then you are at level 6!