I CALL IT UNETHICAL, IMMORAL AND SCARY

For quite a few years we have been hearing about the bird flu virus called H5N1.  It has caused much havoc in countries around the world.  Not only has it caused some 300+ deaths it has also caused many poor farmers who rely on the poultry industry for their living to find themselves without income. When the virus appears, then hundreds and thousands of birds are culled and the unfortunate farmer is left with nothing even though all of his birds might have been free of the virus.  Here in Cambodia we have also been affected and this year alone at least one child has died as a result of it and Vietnam is currently dealing with an outbreak there.

It has been suggested that the spread of the flu to so many various and different areas of the world is partly due to climate change, which in turn has caused a change in the migration habits and destinations of many birds some of whom may carry the virus.  There can be little control over that situation.  Birds will fly where they will.  You can't erect a notice saying "Attention Birds!.  You need a Visa to fly here".  It is just a situation with which we have to deal as and when it arises.

But it is the following that I find troubling and that I would deign to call at the same time unethical, immoral and scary.

Watching the CNN News two evenings ago, I saw a report about a hurriedly convened meeting of the World Health Organization in Geneva, I believe it was, though I am open to correction on that.  The meeting was called urgently to discuss a report of a deadly mutated version of the H5N1 virus that had been created by a laboratory  at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.  The WHO is to have a further emergency meeting on the matter next month.

My interest having been peaked, I started to do some research on the subject and I was quite shocked with what I found.  I discovered that on November 25th 2011, the online news site - "DutchNews.nl" reported that Dutch scientists had created a flu virus which is so deadly there is doubt about whether the research report should be published.  The report on "DutchNews.nl" upset American experts who were worried detailed information about the virus could fall into the wrong hands.  They thought terrorists could recreate the virus as a weapon.  Well, of course they could.  Nothing stays a secret for long these days and something like this is a big money-maker.  The right amount of dollars will unlock almost any secret these days.

The interesting and completely shocking thing about this is that the research was carried out on behalf of and funded by the National Institute of Health in the United States!!  The very people who are upset and now also scared, it seems!!!!

Professor Ron Fouchier, Professor of Virology at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam lead the research team which was able to create a highly infectious variant of the bird flu virus H5N1.  Professor Fouchier had been asked to see if H5N1 could lead to a pandemic.  He and his team were able to show that a couple of mutations of the virus DNA changed it into an extremely virulent form.

The Professor - who himself said it was the most dangerous virus ever created - later offered to give to the scientific journal "Science" an article on his findings.   However the journal in turn apparently asked a scientific institute in the United States for bio-security to examine the result.  That institute in turn told the U.S Government that the research could be threatening to both public health and security.  Did this not occur to them before the research began?  Seems to me a very obvious thing but then I am not a scientist and our brains probably work differently.

However, for me there are some serious questions that arise from all of this.

In the first place why has the United States kept so quiet about this even though it has been "out" since last November?  The Department of Health has made no comment that I have been able to find.

Why did the National Institute of Health in the United States fund such research if it was likely to cause a security problem and a health problem?  It seems like some of the "powers-that-be" there do not do much thinking.

Why did the Institute "out-source" the research to Rotterdam in the first place and not have the work done in the United States that so often boasts about its scientists? Is it because they decided that if there should be a leak of the information or the virus managed to escape, then they could blame the Dutch and get away with no blame on themselves?  The mind boggles.

Is such research either ethical or moral?  In my opinion it is neither, and it is certainly scary.

I have no idea how many people saw that CNN report the other day but I hope many will speak out.  Certainly the politicians ought to - unless they hope to make money by it somehow and then of course they will keep very quiet.  Definitely the Church leaders of all faiths should speak out against it but I am not sure they will.   

I believe there are limits to which scientists should be allowed to go when it comes to research, and that limit should not allow them to develop something that has the possibility of leading to the eradication of an entire community.  Questions should also be asked of the Institute of National Health exactly why they fund such programmes and especially in foreign countries.

Maybe you will not agree with me and that is alright.  Everyone to his/her own opinion, but I have to ask is there much difference between the U.S. and Dutch scientists developing this extremely dangerous virus, and Iran or North Korea developing a nuclear weapon.   Both are dangerous to society the world over and can kill a lot of people.   Is it not a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?