How UW scientists tried to avoid reporting a virus research accident

The story of how the H5N1 viruses came to be created and how the University of Wisconsin and the Kawaoka lab would later respond to the 2019 safety breach during the ferret experiment raises uncomfortable questions about the tremendous trust the world places in these kinds of labs.

We are trusting that every hour of every day their layers of laboratory containment equipment are working properly, that all of their employees are sufficiently trained, qualified and attentive, and that their written safety and incident response protocols are followed in real-life practice.

When something goes wrong, we are trusting that the labs will immediately notify local public health officials who are responsible for preventing outbreaks and the federal authorities who oversee the safety of experiments with genetically engineered organisms.

Given that so much about this work is shrouded in secrecy, what happened in Wisconsin raises the question: Should the public give this trust blindly?

via www.usatoday.com

Uh, no. That’s a negativo. Absolutely not. Good grief.