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Biotech Science

Labs Scramble to Destroy Deadly Flu Samples 74

Posted by timothy from the where's-jeff-goldblum-when-you-need-him dept.
An anonymous reader submits "According to this Yahoo! news story, a deadly strain of the Flu virus was mistakenly sent out to thousands of labs, mostly in the U.S., as samples for routine testing. The samples were sent starting last year, but the rush to destroy them began shortly after the WHO raised an alert last Friday following its discovery by the National Microbial Laboratory Canada on March 26. It was not immediately clear why the 1957 pandemic strain, which killed between 1 million and 4 million people -- was in the proficiency test kits routinely sent to labs."
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Labs Scramble to Destroy Deadly Flu Samples More

Labs Scramble to Destroy Deadly Flu Samples

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  • Famous last words (Score:5, Funny)

    by Koiu Lpoi ( 632570 ) <koiulpoi@gma i l .com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:28PM (#12219310)
    "Oops."

  • Well... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ResidntGeek ( 772730 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:30PM (#12219324) Journal
    It was not immediately clear why the 1957 pandemic strain, which killed between 1 million and 4 million people -- was in the proficiency test kits routinely sent to labs.

    You'd have to be pretty freaking proficient to kill it, I guess, so it's a good test.

  • this is the way the world ends (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Leontes ( 653331 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:31PM (#12219336)
    This scares the living shit out of me. I really appreciate all the work that scientists do to protect, understand and appreciate deadly virii in the name of humankind, but for the love of god, people, don't be foolheardy with these biological agents. I think what I dread the most is some alien discovering this world a thousand years from now, a corpse planet, a slow hour long series of flashbacks and a slow fadeout to, "they were destroyed by their own hubris!" I mean, talk about cliche. If you find yourself in possession of a deadly virus, be extra careful and don't send it out to your grandmom by accident, just a tip.
    • Of all the Slashdotters I know, if any of them happened to be in posession of a deadly virus, I would be honestly terrified. The ones that aren't crazy are probably stupid enough to let it free in the wild anyways.
    • The plural of 'virus' is not virii. I can't remember which declension virus is in, but the plural for virus is most likely 'viri' (if masculine), or 'vira' (if neuter). Some third declension nouns end in 'us' but I highly doubt virus is one of them (it would be 'vires' in that case, I believe). Knowing the the genetive singular would solve it all, but I don't know of any decent online latin dictionary.

      I seem to recall the proper latin plural being 'viri,' but honestly in English I think we should all ju

      • You are, of course, correct, and I shall no longer make such silly mistakii.
        • I don't really care. I usually avoid being a grammar nazi (read my sig if you don't believe me), because in most cases people know the proper grammar they're just typing quickly and not double-checking their posts (which is fine).

          In this case, though, most people are just ignorant on the matter.

          • I do speak Latin, and virvs, atleast in my dictionary, is indeclinable, like nil / nihil. Also, when the word is used in english, as a loanword, it is pluralised as viruses, not virii, which is just plain stupid, as for a latin word to end in double i it has to end in -ivs.

            • as for a latin word to end in double i it has to end in -ivs.

              I knew that much :P

              Also, when the word is used in english, as a loanword, it is pluralised as viruses,

              Yeah I said that in my original post.

              Thanks for the info, though :)

              • I like to help you young folks out. Makes my sub 120k user number heart feel young again. Also, I take every opportunity I can to plug Latin. I find it very sad that so many High Schools around the country are no longer offering Latin. My knowledge of Latin enables me to get a great insight into English, and an ever better one into Spanish and Italian. Latin should be everyone's second language, if only so they can know themselves.
                • I've been studying latin via correspondence; really interesting stuff.

                  Makes my sub 120k user number heart feel young again.

                  Honestly, with uids in the high 800ks these days, I'm middle-aged :)

                  I can at least remember the Silver Age of Slashdot. Much like Roman art/literature, this was after the Golden Age. Good articles were still coming out, but the quality of the posts started seriously dropping.

      • Re:this is the way the world ends (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The plural of 'virus' is not virii.

        "Virus" itself is plural.
        See the "s" on the end?
        It means that it's plural.
        The singular form is "viru".
        So you should say, "I caught a viru. It's one of the many virus going around.".
        It's like how "data" is singular, and "datas" is plural.
        So you would say, "I have a data.", and your mother would say, "Is she a nice girl?", and you would say, "No, I mean I have a data on my computer. In fact, I have lots of datas on my computer.", and your mother would say, "Well, here's a

    • I know you used the word 'virii' in your post, but I fail to see what the flu has with a discharge from a donkey's penis. That's right, virii means 'donkey semen'. Google it for yourself, or you will look ignorant.
    • I was reminded of this /. discussion [slashdot.org] we had 2003. Back then most /.ers were a-ok with military bioresearch in lethal shit that hadn't even been invented yet.

      Now, this case today concerns medical research, but I wonder if people still think that labs are safe and there's no chance of an outbreak.

    • Oh really? How about putting an ebola-like strain into Anthrax spores and encasing it in plastic so it can travel in air?

      http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bioweapons/biow a r_timeline.html [www.cbc.ca]

      Look near mid 1980s.

      If the flu scares you, this will shit your pants. Now, did US really end its development of bio-weapons or did their program just go underground (like in USSR)?

    • I really appreciate all the work that scientists do to protect, understand and appreciate deadly virii in the name of humankind, but for the love of god, people, don't be foolheardy with these biological agents.

      Your average, garden variety "scientist" is an utter and complete moron.

      I know - I've been working on a big LabVIEW database thing, and, trust me, these people couldn't find their way out of a paper bag if you gave them a flashlight. [And you wouldn't believe the potential safety catastrophes I

      • Re:"Scientists" are morons. (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Whereby it is revealed by shocking first hand research that scientists are, in fact, ordinary people (i.e. morons) who happen to be doing science. Brilliant! Obviously any mistake made by a biologist means all of biology is hogwash. Proven! Which reminds me, I have this recurring multiple-antibiotic resistant strep infection I've been meaning to get checked out but my *(&* auto mechanic is booked solid this week.
      • I guess I am one of the morons you speak of. I spent 5 years in college learning to test blood and body fluids. I have degrees in engineering as well as medical technology. The common graduate of a medical technology has to be well versed in several fields to include hematology, chemistry, immnohematology, microbiology, immunology, optics, hydraulics, electronics, and the list goes on. I spend over 60 hours each year in continuing education that is state mandated. The mistake was made by a corporation out t

    • I think what I dread the most is some alien discovering this world a thousand years from now, a corpse planet, a slow hour long series of flashbacks and a slow fadeout to, "they were destroyed by their own hubris!"

      Now you've gone a bit to far. The 1957 virus strain didn't destroy mankind in 1957, and it's not going to in 2005 either. It's terribly dangerous of course, but no virus is going to destroy humanity. The viruses have been trying to kill us for millions of years. We've been able to survive

  • so a private firm made lots of it to send out (Score:4, Interesting)

    by artifex2004 ( 766107 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:36PM (#12219368) Journal
    when they were asked to pick a strain themselves to test people with, and it took the WHO to tell them they screwed up and shouldn't have done it?

    How many private firms have stockpiles of old virus strains we no longer have immunity to? And are they really that stupid?
    • It would really help to RTFA this time, because, while this is a serious screwup, it's not what a lot of people are thinking after reading the poorly worded summary.

      In response to your misunderstanding, the sample was distributed in a kit intended for testing sample-identification equipment. Not for testing on people, or even for making vaccines.

      PLEASE, people, RTFA this time. The last thing we need is for people to jump to conclusions.

      /me larts "An anonymous reader"...

      • Re:so a private firm made lots of it to send out (Score:4, Insightful)

        by artifex2004 ( 766107 ) on Wednesday April 13, 2005 @02:31AM (#12221228) Journal
        In response to your misunderstanding, the sample was distributed in a kit intended for testing sample-identification equipment. Not for testing on people, or even for making vaccines.


        I did read it... did you miss the following quote?

        The risk is relatively low that a lab worker will get sick, but a large number of labs got it and if someone does get infected, the risk of severe illness is high and this virus has shown to be fully transmissible," WHO's influenza chief, Klaus Stohr, told The Associated Press. (emphasis mine)


        He's not talking about the strain in general. He's talking about what was sent out in all those kits to all those labs. And about real people now, not back in the 50s. That indicates people could actually catch this from the test kits if mishandled, etc., does it not? It wasn't a dead virus sample. Now, remember that a lot of these kits were sent overseas. Some people overseas may have an interest in not destroying their kits, but attempting to culture from the live sample they have.

        It would really help to RTFA this time, because, while this is a serious screwup, it's not what a lot of people are thinking after reading the poorly worded summary.


        Please do. I don't know what you think I'm thinking, but I'll bet it wasn't what I really was thinking: they wouldn't be so hastily incinerating something if it was dead, would they?

  • Good morning, Captain (Score:5, Funny)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:37PM (#12219376)
    Captain Trips? So soon? Go back to sleep. Your time is soon enough.

  • This can't be good. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Koiu Lpoi ( 632570 ) <koiulpoi@gma i l .com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:37PM (#12219378)
    but the rush to destroy them

    If it gets in the wild and outside of a controlled lab, all I can say is "Good Luck."
    • We have the new and perhaps ultimate form of virus prevention now though... it's a pretty complicated concept so they created a simple short form, they call it T.V.

    • Re:This can't be good. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jd ( 1658 )
      The biggest problem is that they HAVE been in a rush to destroy them. That's a remarkably efficient way of ensuring accidents happen and that samples get missed.

      A bigger concern is that the shipments went out in November last year, including to countries in the Middle East. A sympathizer in the wrong place could easily have recognized it and produced more by now.

      However, the biggest concern of all is that this is a sample that was caught. Is it possible that other deadly viruses have been sent out, in o

  • All a big misunderstanding.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Ian_Bailey ( 469273 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @08:57PM (#12219511) Homepage Journal
    It was not immediately clear why the 1957 pandemic strain, which killed between 1 million and 4 million people -- was in the proficiency test kits routinely sent to labs.

    Yeah, I'll bet the guy who leaked it is sorry, it was supposed to be the 1918 strain. [sciencesucks.com]
  • So this time South Park got it right huh... Blame Canada might be accurate.
    • You didn't even have to read the article.... the summary said Canada alerted WHO to the mistake. The mistake was caused by a US firm. The Canadian lab detected the virus and traced it back to the sample kit sent from the US.
  • This was less expensive then sending 3,747 ebola laden monkeys around the the world.

  • This is so not cool (Score:3, Funny)

    by Oriumpor ( 446718 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @09:39PM (#12219817) Homepage Journal
    A week after I get over a nasty nasty flu, this article pops up. Thanks slashdot for fueling the little hypochondriac inside us all.

  • Couple of issues raised.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by failedlogic ( 627314 ) on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @10:29PM (#12220195)
    1) Through there are obvious ethical questions, what legal responsibilities are their for scientits domestically and under international law to protect the public from releasing (intentionally or unintentionally) these types of strains.

    My hope is that the scientist(s) responsible for this accident, are at least, fined for this incident. I hope if there is gross incompetence, that they not work as a scientist in a medical facility ever again.

    2) If this is such a dangerous flu virus, and it hasn't been innoculated against since 1957 or 1960, why were the innoculations stopped?

    I think its similar to small pox, where unfortunately, it was supposed to be "destroyed". But like nuclear weapons, its a "Well, if you're keeping it, so are we." mentality.

    3) After seeing problems with SARS evolve internationnaly (particually where I live, in Canada) what measures are being taken to seclude and isolate potential travellers, who move about with flu-like symptoms?

    I raised this with gov't officials at Health Canada about two years ago during the SARS. They said the airplanes were throughly 'cleaned' after each flight. How? When? With what? They really couldn't give me details ... because they didn't have any. What about the U.S., Europe? The problem is international contamination of viruses now because almost any country is witin a 10 to 15 hour flight.
    • My hope is that the scientist(s) responsible for this accident, are at least, fined for this incident. I hope if there is gross incompetence, that they not work as a scientist in a medical facility ever again.

      Doctors kill over 100,000 patients a year through negligence or incompetence. Health professionals (including doctors) kill around 250,000 people a year through negligence, incompetence, or malice. They aren't held accountable. Why should we hold a scientist more accountable?
  • It was not immediately clear why the 1957 pandemic strain, which killed between 1 million and 4 million people -- was in the proficiency test kits routinely sent to labs.

    Because now, through the magic of natural selection, we will have only the BEST biotech engineers and doctors. In college it's often called the "weeding out" process.

    <snicker>Intro to Biology is a real killer this year.</snicker>

  • All I have to say is... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Baloo Ursidae ( 29355 ) <dead@address.com> on Tuesday April 12, 2005 @11:21PM (#12220457) Journal
    And the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize [wikipedia.org] in the field of medicine goes to...
  • I guess it wasn't those 12 monkeys after all!
  • Think of this as nature's way of saying that there's too many humans. A good pandemic is just what we need.

    If it does get out, what better way to ensure that the majority of survivors will have antibodies for this particular strain? We're not going to fall for it twice!
  • In that case they would get prison and half a million fine.

    Luckily, they only sent deadly virus to thousands of labs. Virus that once killed 1 to 4 million people, but at least nobody got distracted while flying a plane.
  • i couldnt find any bid on ebay yet.
  • If you want to test the proficiency of pathologists, you are going to have to send them live samples of real diseases. The trick is to not select samples of diseases that have an excessively high risk of starting a deadly epidemic if accidentally released.
  • Captain Trips?
  • FTA:

    The test kits are used for internal quality control checks to demonstrate that a lab is able to correctly identify viruses or as a way for labs to get certified by the College of American Pathologists.

    The kits involve blind samples. The lab then has to correctly identify the pathogen in the vial in order to pass the test. Usually, the influenza virus included in these kits is one that is currently circulating, or at least one that has recently been in circulation.

    I bet the test designer is piss

  • Alarmist and inaccurate story (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hung_himself ( 774451 ) on Wednesday April 13, 2005 @10:15AM (#12223412)
    At first I thought it was an April fool's joke when I saw "National Microbial Laboratory Canada" which does not exist - "Health Canada National Microbiology Laboratory" does exist though. But, unfortunately, it's just another example of poor reporting and maybe some CYA politics.

    The article implies that because this is an old virus, people born after 1968, the last time it was in a vaccine, have no immunity to it. What she was probably told was that it was unlikely that anyone born after 1968 would be immune to it which is quite different. Influenza vaccines are (somewhat) effective because although the viruses mutate rapidly, they are related and exposure to a related virus can confer resistance. If the reporter had done a Google like I did http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/pandemics/flu3.htm [hhs.gov], she would have found that the same family of flu resurfaced in 1978 and a member of this family was included in vaccines after that.

    Finally, according to the article, this kit has been floating around for a year with that sample and most countries only require level 2 facilities to handle it. Scientists value their lives as much as the next guy - so it's apparent that noone thought much of the risk. Makes me wonder whether the viruses were even infective. The recommendation for the virus in the kit to be destroyed only came about when the Canadian lab found it in another sample - meaning someone got sloppy and everyone went into CYA mode. Anyway, it probably is a good idea not to have that virus in the kit, if only to avoid articles like this - which was probably the thinking at WHO, rather than this being a real risk.

  • Lab Worker Comments (Score:2, Insightful)

    by sdstowell ( 875682 )
    I work in a hospital lab as a med tech. We were sent this sample for testing. We get blind samples every 6 months from CAP to check our methodology. We only test for type A and B but don't serotype the sample of virus. I have treated these samples as capable of transmitting disease. I must admit some of my peers are not quite as careful. I had seen the info on the news but didn't think we had received this test kit. I came in to work and asked if we had received a notice from CAP and was told yes. Scared th
  • Okay I know people probably aren't still following this thread but I found an interesting followup to this discussion on CBC [www.cbc.ca].

    Apparently two countries: Lebanon and Mexico were likely sent this sample kit but their labs did not recieve it. Intercepted or lost in transit? Fishy...

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