Dreams of Flu Data

According to this article, the lack of an accessible database of information is undermining the fight against avian influenza. The author is critical of the current reporting practices by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health, where the quality of information is poor and biological samples insufficient. S/he also cites the withholding of key information by scientists who want to be the first to publish, as a set-back in the battle against the disease.

The author points to the use of online blogs and media reports as the most up to date way to get information and track avian flu. What is needed, s/he says, is a “publicly available, searchable Internet database, updated in real time, with full clinical and sequence data on each human case, and accurate and complete poultry data.” Such a database would enable researchers to establish and track the global pattern of the evolution of the bird flu virus.