Labs scramble to destroy deadly flu virus by Mark Oliver
Scientists around the world were scrambling today to prevent the possibility of a pandemic after it emerged that a deadly influenza virus had been sent out to thousands of laboratories.
The scare was prompted after US firm Meridian Bioscience, sent out the H2N2 virus – similar to one associated with the 1957 Asian flu pandemic that killed up to four million people – in routine testing kits to almost 5,000 laboratories in 18 different countries. …
Klaus Stohr, who coordinates the WHO global influenza programme, said sending out the virus had been “unwise”. …
Meridian, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, had decided to use the H2N2 virus in testing kits as one of the blind samples that labs must correctly identify to acquire certain certifications.
Usually the influenza virus included in the kits is one that is currently circulating or has recently circulated. The H2N2 virus has not been included in flu vaccines since 1968, and anyone born after that date will have little or no immunity to it.
A US medical company selects a virus that hasn’t circulated in almost 40 years and ships it to 5000 labs around the world. How many of those labs didn’t figure out what they got in the mail and stuck those samples on a shelf? What are the odds that one person in one lab mishandled the sample — or stole it to sell to the highest bidder (check eBay)? Surely the odds are as high as those for the original mistake. To err is human but in this case it could be fatal for millions. Do you think Meridian Bioscience should stay in business?
By the way, according to the Motley Fool, these fools are also “recombinant DNA manufacturers.” If they decide to sell Cat DNA to allergy suffers, they better hope it doesn’t come with the flu.
President Motto happens to have sold 160,000 shares in February 2005 for about $2.5 million. But it’s not like he was trying to profit before the story got out — cuz the stock went UP after this news broke. Investors ignore incompetence, even when it threatens to kill them. I wonder how many folks born after 1968 have this in their portfolio.
Looks like a great weekend to rent “Twelve Monkeys.” mjh
Funny that this story didn’t make it onto the Meridian Bioscience Rapid Medical Diagnostics Testing and Laboratory Diagnostics website.
“The quality of our products and technologies is assured through our commitment to a Total Quality System. We are dedicated to continuous learning and continuous improvement of our systems, processes and products to maintain our competitive advantage.”