June 29, 2014

TWIV291 from 33rd annual meeting of the American Society for Virology (ASV) in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Ron Fouchier was a guest.

June 26, 2014

Nature Editorial - Biosafety in the balance. An accident with anthrax demonstrates that pathogen research always carries a risk of release — and highlights the need for rigorous scrutiny of gain-of-function flu studies.
Nature. 2014 Jun 26;510(7506):443.

“The fewer the labs that perform experiments, the smaller is the risk of an accidental release. But as the CDC accident reminds us, should gain-of-function flu research proliferate, in particular at facilities with less than exemplary biosafety standards, the risks of an accidental release of a potentially pandemic flu virus will be multiplied.”

June 11, 2014

Circulating avian influenza viruses closely related to the 1918 virus have pandemic potential.
Watanabe T, Zhong G, Russell CA, Nakajima N, Hatta M, Hanson A, McBride R, Burke DF, Takahashi K, Fukuyama S, Tomita Y, Maher EA, Watanabe S, Imai M, Neumann G, Hasegawa H, Paulson JC, Smith DJ, Kawaoka Y.
Cell Host Microbe. 2014 Jun 11;15(6):692-705. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2014.05.006.

Comment to be posted.

June 2014

Airborne transmission of highly pathogenic H7N1 influenza virus in ferrets.
Sutton TC, Finch C, Shao H, Angel M, Chen H, Capua I, Cattoli G, Monne I, Perez DR.
J Virol. 2014 Jun;88(12):6623-35. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02765-13. Epub 2014 Apr 2.

Sequence changes associated with respiratory transmission of H7N1 influenza virus in mammals.
Dermody TS, Sandri-Goldin RM, Shenk T.
J Virol. 2014 Jun;88(12):6533-4. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00886-14. Epub 2014 Apr 2.