Health News: Bird Flu Research to Resume
In a few weeks, scientists plan to resume research on the deadly flu virus, which some fear could become more contagious to humans.
Research into the deadly bird flu virus that was halted in January 2011 will likely start up again within the next few weeks, according to a health report by The New York Times. Plans to resume experiments with the virus are in place now that countries have adopted new rules to ensure safety. Research was suspended after two labs in the Netherlands and the U.S. reported they had created easier-to-spread versions of bird flu — by genetically manipulating the virus, researchers created a strain that became airborne and spread between ferrets. According to WebMD, ferrets are commonly used in studies on human flu viruses, as almost all of the viruses spread easily among the animals. Concerns were that terrorists might use the research …
