US Government Seeks Censorship on Dutch Man-Made Killer Flu

The journals Science and Nature are as we type and you read, mulling over whether to publish details of a man-made mutant flu virus with the potential to kill millions. A US government science advisory committee has urged key details be withheld so people seeking to do widespread harm would not be able to replicate the virus. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) reviewed two scientific papers relating to the findings and recommended the journals considering them “make changes in the manuscripts”, a statement said. The virus in question is an H5N1 avian influenza strain that was genetically altered in a Dutch lab so it can pass easily between ferrets. The Dutch research team was led by Ron Fouchier at Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre. The team said in September it had created a mutant version of the H5N1 bird flu virus that could for the first time be spread among mammals. M★C