Basic virology

Further defense of the Chinese H1N1 – H5N1 study

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Robert Herriman of The Global Dispatch interviewed me this week on the H1N1 – H5N1 reassortant study that has been in the headlines: There was much written concerning the research published earlier this month in Science, where researchers from China’s Harbin Veterinary Research Institute reported creating an  avian H5N1 (highly pathogenic) and pandemic 2009 H1N1 (easily transmissible) hybrid, that according to them, achieved airborne spread between …

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Microbes After Hours: West Nile virus

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This discussion of West Nile virus was recorded at the headquarters of the American Society for Microbiology during a “Microbes After Hours” event on May 6, 2013. The speakers are Dr. Lyle Petersen Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at CDC, and Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, MD, FIDSA, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George …

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Influenza H5N1 x H1N1 reassortants: ignore the headlines, it’s good science

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Those of you with an interest in virology, or perhaps simply sensationalism, have probably seen the recent headlines proclaiming another laboratory-made killer influenza virus. From The Independent: ‘Appalling irresponsibility: Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strains of influenza virus’; and from InSing.com: ‘Made-in-China killer flu virus’. It’s unfortunate that the comments of several …

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Human infections with avian influenza H7N9 virus from wet market poultry

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Results of a study of four patients in Zhejiang, China, who developed influenza H7N9 virus infection suggests sporadic poultry-to-human transmission: We diagnosed avian influenza A H7N9 in all four patients (who were epidemiologically unlinked), two of whom died and two of whom were recovering at the time of writing. All patients had histories of occupational …

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