riddler 0 #1 March 23, 2009 Baxter International, a U.S. pharm, which makes flu vaccines, accidently distributed a live avian flu virus to a handful of European countries (primarily Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovenia). It has since been proven that not only were the human and bird flu viruses mixed, but the bird flu virus was live. Theoretically, this should never happen at a bio-safety level 3 facility. Thankfully no one has been infected, the bird flu was not released into the country, and the problem was identified at a Czech facility before any spreading occurred. Mixing viruses can result in a pandemic scenario, through a reassortment of the two viruses, and this was an extremely dangerous scenario for humans. The fact that one virus was a human flu virus and the other was bird flu meant that if any reassortment happened, it would have resulted in a "bird flu for humans". Baxter has been tight-lipped about the entire affair. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iV_RT6oBK3tOhtsWf5pnu5OIby9wTrapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #2 March 23, 2009 They're coming ..."That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #3 March 24, 2009 The corrupted virus samples had been earmarked to be used in a human flu vaccine. In other words, if the error had not been discovered (by independent research), the virus combination would have ended up in flu shots, and distributed world-wide. The company that made the error (Baxter International) is a maker of flu vaccinations. Their error would have resulted in the injection of avian bird flu, and potentially a recombined bird-human flu virus, into many thousands of people getting a flu shot.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #4 March 24, 2009 The story I heard was that they had 2 containers down at the shipping & receiving dock: 1 marked "bird seed", and the other marked "bird flu". The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #5 March 25, 2009 QuoteThe story I heard was that they had 2 containers down at the shipping & receiving dock: 1 marked "bird seed", and the other marked "bird flu". The rest, as the saying goes, is history. I read their statement that they thought it was shipping error as well, but I don't believe it was an accident at the dock. After adhering to Bio-Safety level 3 procedures during culture, they put both samples in leaky cardboard boxes on the shipping dock, one on top of the other, like lettuce? The BSL-3 procedures for shipping are somwehat specific: QuoteCultures, tissues, specimens of body fluids, or wastes are placed in a container that prevents leakage during collection, handling, processing, storage, transport, or shipping. Followed by this: QuoteSpills and accidents that result in overt or potential exposures to infectious materials are immediately reported to the laboratory director. Appropriate medical evaluation, surveillance, and treatment are provided and written records are maintained. There are several checkpoints in the BSL specifications to ensure this doesn't happen. Were they all ignored? More importantly, would a manufacturer of flu vaccines have anything to gain by introducing a flu pandemic to the world?Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
434 2 #6 May 2, 2009 What happend to this story? No news? No connections? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
