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US
lab blamed for delay in sharing H5N1 samples |
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THE government on Wednesday blamed the “prolonged delay” in sharing bird flu samples on procedural problems faced by the importer designated by the World Health Organization. “The China National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory has already prepared the 20 samples as required by the WHO-designated lab of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States,” a Ministry of Agriculture spokesman said. But the US lab has not yet completed import procedures, causing an indefinite delay in the shipment of the virus, the spokesman said. For scientific research, those samples have to undergo strict screening by the |
US government before they are allowed in, he said. On Tuesday, Julie Hall, a WHO official in Beijing, said “the logistical arrangements are there to ship those viruses” and questioned the delay. A ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government is committed to sharing bird flu information and virus samples with the international community, and had provided five live poultry viruses to the WHO in 2004. But the WHO made the samples available to foreign researchers who twice published the genetic sequence and other data of four of the five samples without giving credit to Chinese scientists who had made the genetic sequencing and done an analysis. |
In February, the WHO and the ministry reached an agreement under which China would share bird flu samples by transferring them from the ministry’s lab to WHO-linked labs. Hall said determining who was to blame for the delayed shipment was of no help. “What is important is to have the samples shared as soon as possible.” – China Daily / Asia News Network
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