"Bird flu experts meeting in Geneva ruled that controversial research on a mutant form of the virus potentially capable of being spread among humans should be made public."
"Security assessments must however be carried out first before the two studies can be published and the research can continue, scientists agreed at a two-day meeting at the World Health Organization.
'The consensus was that in the interest of public health the full papers should be published,' said Professor Ron Fouchier from the Institute of Virology in the Netherlands, the scientist behind one of the studies.
US bio-security chiefs urged in November that key details of the papers remain unpublished, citing fears of a pandemic should a mutated H5N1 virus escape the laboratory."
AFP had the story February 19, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"Experts Delay Call on Releasing Controversial H5N1 Work" (BBC News)
"Avian Flu Experts Agree ‘Pauses’ on Publication, Research Should Continue" (Wall St. Journal)
"Deadly Bird Flu Studies To Stay Secret for Now: WHO" (Reuters)
"Despite Safety Worries, Work on Deadly Flu to Be Released" (New York Times)
"Controversy Brews Over Scientists' Creation of Killer Viruses" (Der Spiegel)
"UPDATED: Avian Flu Controversy Comes To Roost At WHO" (Nature)
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