Thursday, July 31, 2014

VDU Blog: A Deeper Look At The MacIntyre MERS-CoV Paper

Photo: ©FAO/Ami Vitale
Credit FAO

 

 

# 8898

 

 

Yesterday, in  Debating A Controversial MERS Paper, we looked at a rebuttal in the online academic forum The Conversation - by researchers @influenza_bio, @MackayIM, @maiamajumder, @neva925, @stgoldst & @kat_ardenof a controversial paper by Professor Raina MacIntyre  that suggested that the  `human release’  of MERS-CoV could be behind the erratic outbreaks we’ve seen in the Middle East.


At just over a thousand words, this rebuttal was geared for the general reader, and so a lot of details were glossed over.

 

Today Dr. Mackay and company have posted a much longer analysis of the MacIntyre paper – one that runs well over 3,000 words – which dissects the MacIntyre paper more thoroughly. 

 

While acknowledging that bioterrorism is always `possible’, they argue that – based on the evidence – it  is an extremely unlikely scenario for MERS.

 

Follow the link below to read:

 

Virus variability, dopey data and insufficient infection control do not support the theory that bioterrorism is behind the ongoing MERS-CoV outbreak.

A collaborative note from (alphabetically): @influenza_bio, @MackayIM, @maiamajumder, @neva925, @stgoldst, @kat_arden