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_arden - of 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
