# 832
After more than a year of delays and excuses, China has finally turned over two H5N1 virus samples to the CDC.
While the CDC `welcomes' these samples, it should be noted that only two were sent, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the other human cases over the past year.
Proper surveillance requires that we track genetic changes the virus undergoes as it spreads. This can provide us with vital clues regarding how it is evolving, and whether it is growing closer to acquiring pandemic capabilities.
Nations such as China, and Indonesia, that withhold such information endanger the world.
China shares first bird flu samples in a year--WHO
Fri 1 Jun 2007, 6:16 GMT
GENEVA, June 1 (Reuters) - China has shared the first human bird flu samples in more than a year, giving a boost to international efforts to track the deadly virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.
The samples, taken from two people, were received on Thursday night at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, one of the WHO's collaborating laboratories, it said.
"They arrived last night at CDC," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told Reuters in Geneva. "We welcome it, it shows China is working with the international system of virus sharing."
