All the BF News That Fits They Print
Given that Avian Flu is now endemic in 45 countries (that admit to it), and that human cases continue to pop up around the world, you'd think there would be more coverage of this growing threat. But listen to the mainstream media, and you'd hardly know there was a problem. Sure, each American network has devoted a small amount of airtime to the subject, and the cable news outlets occasionally mention the spread, but for the most part, Bird Flu is flying under the radar.
We can speculate as to why this might be, but whatever the reasons, the end result is the almost universal reaction of the populace that, if it were important, they'd tell us about it.
Sadly, journalism has been reduced to repeating press releases, sound bites, and highly coveted photos of carnage. There is almost no followup (a few notable exceptions, such as Helen Braswell's series of articles, and Declan Butler of Nature), and no one looks beyond the latest proclaimation by the WHO or CDC.
The assumption is that, even without providing proof, or scientific evidence for peer review, anything said by the UN, WHO, or the CDC is the unvarnished truth.
To date, few of the genetic sequences from Avian Flu victims, infected poultry, or other animals has been released to the world's scientific community. Our own CDC holds information, and for reasons unexplained, has not released it for peer review.
There are scientists all over the world working on vaccines, anti-viral treatments, and trying to figure out where this virus goes next. They depend upon the depositing of the latest genetic samples into public databases. These sequences are being held back, and not just by China, and Turkey, and Indonesia, but by our own CDC.
There may be legitimate concerns over releasing this data. Perhaps they worry this information could be used by some bio-terrorist somewhere with a laboratory and a dream. But by hiding this information, we are preventing, or at the very least hindering, further research.
Why this isn't a front page scandal mystifies me. I guess it isn't `sexy' enough to warrant coverage. Easier to just accept the assurances of the organizations in charge and pretend that Avian Flu will just go away.
And maybe it will. But we assume that it will at our own peril.
