H1N1 swine flu virus possibly a man-made product, claims scientist

WHO has begun probing the claim that H1N1 may have evolved while growing virus in labs for making vaccines.

The swine flu causing H1N1 virus that is threatening to wreak havoc in the world through unleashing a pandemic may have been created in a lab as a result of a human error.

H1N1 virus could have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drug makers while making vaccines, said Adrian Gibbs, an Australian researcher.

Adrian Gibbs, who worked with the Swiss drug maker Roche research to develop the high profile flu drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), said he came across this while working to trace the H1N1’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint.

Bloomberg interview with Dr Adrian Gibbs

“It could be a mistake” that occurred at a vaccine production facility or the virus could have jumped from a pig to another mammal or a bird before reaching humans, Gibbs stated in an interview report by Bloomberg.

Adrian Gibbs is well-versed in germ evolution as he has more than 40 years of exposure in this area. Gibbs authored more than 250 scientific publications on viruses during his career at the Australian National University in Canberra, according to biographical information on the university’s Web site.

Gibbs is among the first scientists to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus that was identified three weeks ago in Mexico.

Gibbs and two colleagues analyzed the publicly available sequences of hundreds of amino acids coded by each of the flu virus’s eight genes.

Gibbs is planning to publish his findings in a in a medical journal.

According to Gibbs, by pinpointing the source of the virus, scientists also may better understand the microbe’s potential for spreading and causing illness.

Meanwhile, WHO is reviewing Gibb’s report that was submitted last week.

If the virus has originated from lab experimentation or vaccine production it could turn out to be more lethal and warrant indicate a greater need for security, Fukuda said Keiji Fukuda, the agency’s assistant director-general of health security and environment.

The WHO’s collaborative influenza research centers and sites in Memphis, Melbourne, London and Tokyo, were asked by the international health agency to review the study over the weekend, Fukuda said.

WHO also made requests to scientists at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, as well as the WHO’s influenza network.

However, Gibbs arguments have not gone down very well among the scientific community.“We are interested in the origins of this new influenza virus,” said Nancy Cox, director of the agency’s influenza division, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which received the report.

“But contrary to what the author has found, when we do the comparisons that are most relevant, there is no evidence that this virus was derived by passage in eggs,”  she was quoted as saying.

Swine flu has already spread to 30 countries and infected 5,251 people, so far. Sixty-one people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica. The US confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Research is underway to determine whether the virus will mutate and become more deadly if it spreads to the Southern Hemisphere. Flu pandemics occur when a strain of the disease to which few people have immunity evolves and spreads.

The H1N1 virus strain causing the current outbreaks is a new virus that has not been seen previously in either humans or animals. Although firm conclusions cannot be reached at present, scientists anticipate that pre-existing immunity to the virus will be low or non-existent, or largely confined to older population groups.

H1N1 appears to be more contagious than seasonal influenza. The secondary attack rate of seasonal influenza ranges from 5% to 15%. Current estimates of the secondary attack rate of H1N1 range from 22% to 33%, according to a statement on the WHO’s Web site.