Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit
Vincent, Alan, and Rich review concern over an influenza H5N1 transmission experiment, and a new host defense protein against RNA viruses.
Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV 159 (48 MB .mp3, 80 minutes).
Subscribe (free): iTunes, RSS, email
Links for this episode:
- Concern over H5N1 transmission experiment (CIDRAP)
- Information on NSABB
- Enserink’s overstated story (Science)
- New cell defense protein against RNA viruses (Nature Chem Biol)
- Uta Schwedler obituary (jpg)
- TWiV on Facebook
- Letters read on TWiV 159
Weekly Science Picks
Rich – Livescribe Smartpen
Alan – Royal Society journal archive
Vincent – Chronic fatigue syndrome and the CDC by Dave Tuller
Listener Pick of the Week
Judi – Top 7 in Microbiology
Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv.
See: Probable Person-to-Person Transmission of Avian Influenza A (H5N1) in the NEJM 352:4, January 27, 2005; pp. 333-340. The paper is authored by a group from Thailand (very good medicine there) and CDC here –led by Kumnuan Ungchusak.
Apparently there has been at least two cases of direct transmission of this virus, although I suspect it isn’t easy to accomplish.
Marcia Stone
Carl Zimmer has now written a piece on this story; even-handed, non-sensationalist and reliable as ever.