Editorial: The Truth About the Doomsday Virus?
International Herald Tribune Saturday 3rd March, 2012
Two months ago we warned that a new bird flu virus - modified in a laboratory to make it transmissible through the air among mammals - could kill millions of people if it escaped confinement or was stolen by terrorists. Now Ron Fouchier, the Dutch scientist who led the key research team, is saying that his findings, which remain confidential, were misconstrued by the press.
He says that the virus did not spread easily and was not lethal when transmitted from one ferret to another by coughing or sneezing, and that it became highly lethal only when big doses were injected into the animals' windpipes.
That is hard to square with his original assertions.
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