WHO: Last killer flu lab samples seen destroyed soon

	Tweet

All laboratories that received a killer flu bug in test kits have destroyed the virus, except for a few in the United States where the job should be done in a day or two, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.

“We think that it should all be done within the next couple of days,” Maria Cheng, a WHO spokeswoman, told Reuters.

Over 3,700 centers in 18 countries were sent samples of the H2N2 virus, which killed between one and four million people in 1957, as part of routine testing of laboratories’ ability to detect strains.

The decision by the U.S. College of American Pathologists (CAP) to use the “Asian” flu virus was criticized as “unwise” by the WHO, which feared it could trigger a pandemic if it escaped from the laboratories.

Cheng said there were no reports of anybody being infected by the virus, against which few people would have immunity because it has not been in circulation since 1968.

First samples were sent out last October. The order to destroy them went out over a week ago after a laboratory in Canada sounded the alarm.

Samples initially listed as having been sent to laboratories in Lebanon, Mexico and Chile, but which apparently never arrived, causing concern that they might have gone astray, had also been tracked down and destroyed, Cheng said. 

RELATED STORIES:
Investment in water needed to reduce hunger - FAO   Cancer patient who committed suicide may have missed all-clear letter   High salt + low potassium = early death: study   Why Is Wal-Mart Endorsing Employer Mandated Healthcare?   Obama health plan to cost $75 billion -analysis   Ancient body clock keeps all life on time: studies   Polio outbreak could cripple 200 in Yemen - WHO   Despite vaccines, whooping cough creeps back   Music on prescription could help treat emotional and physical pain   Study Identifies that Multiple Risk Factors Existed in 78 Percent of SIDS Cases   Flu vaccines for nursing home workers effective in reducing outbreaks: study   Computer alert stops clots in hospital patients

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]