A rooster is seen at a chicken shop in the
southern Indian city of Bangalore August 14, 2006.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
The international science community is not doing enough to track
many avian influenza viruses that might cause the next pandemic, an
expert from University of California, Davis, said in Dec. 6 issue
of the journal Nature.
Global surveillance is critical for identifying and tracking
potential pandemic viruses such as highly pathogenic H5N1. But the
current surveillance strategy in wild birds is piecemeal and risks
missing important virus sources or subtypes, Walter Boyce writes in
a commentary entitled "Vigilance is not enough."
Boyce, a UC Davis professor of veterinary medicine, is
co-director of the Center for Rapid Influenza Surveillance and
Research, which is charged with tracking viruses in wild birds in
the United States and Asia.
Addressing journal Nature's worldwide audience, Boyce said
scientists must take several steps to catch avian influenza viruses
"before they catch us."
He said surveillance has focused too heavily on Europe and North
America, where few wild birds are infected. To really understand
the role of wild birds in spreading H5N1, more surveillance should
be done in places where the virus is endemic, such as Asia and
Africa.
Currently, he said, the narrow focus on H5N1 misses other
viruses that also pose pandemic risks. He advised that all of the
influenza viruses collected be characterized.
He noted that whether caused by regulatory hurdles or
researchers' concerns about intellectual property rights, a
reluctance to share samples hampers health officials' ability to
track and respond to potential pandemic viruses.
He recommended that the scientific community set a standard of
releasing data no more than 45 days after it is generated.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)
