Scientists defend 'Armageddon virus' secrecy

Top US scientists have defended their bid to stop details of a mutant bird flu virus from being published and called for global co-operation to ward off an uncontrollable pandemic. - Meanwhile, scientists involved in the experiments said they were co-operating with government officials and the editors of the journals Science and Nature to pare down their research for publication in the coming weeks. The controversy arose when two separate research teams — one in the Netherlands and the other in the United States — separately found ways to alter the H5N1 avian influenza so it could pass easily between mammals. Until now, bird flu has been rare in humans, but particularly fatal in those who do become ill. H5N1 first infected humans in 1997 and more than half of those infected died, for a total of 350 deaths. There is concern the virus could mutate and mimic past pandemic flu outbreaks such as the "Spanish flu" of 1918-1919, which killed 50 million people, and outbreaks in 1957 and 1968 that killed three million.

Russia Today: Man-made super-flu formula to be published?

The Independent: Too late to contain killer flu science, say experts - Attempts to censor details of controversial influenza experiments that created a highly infectious form of bird-flu virus are unlikely to stop the information from leaking out, according to scientists familiar with the research. The US Government has asked the editors of two scientific journals to refrain from publishing key parts of research on the H5N1 strain of bird-flu in order to prevent the information falling into the hands of terrorists intent on recreating the same flu strain for use as a bioweapon. However, scientists yesterday condemned the move.