Human error behind H1N1? WHO probes

The World Health Organization is investigating a claim by an Australian researcher that the swine flu virus circling the globe may have been
created as a result of human error.

Adrian Gibbs, 75, who collaborated on research that led to the development of Tamiflu drug
, said that he intends to publish a report suggesting the new strain may have accidentally evolved in eggs scientists use to grow viruses and drugmakers use to make vaccines. Gibbs said he came to his conclusion as part of an effort to trace the virus’s origins by analyzing its genetic blueprint
.

“One of the simplest explanations is that it’s a laboratory escape,” Gibbs said on Wednesday. “But there are lots of others.”

The World Health Organization received the study last weekend and is reviewing it, Keiji Fukuda, the agency’s assistant director-general of health security and environment, said in an interview on May 11.

Gibbs, who has studied germ evolution for four decades, is one of the first scientists to analyze the genetic makeup of the virus that was identified three weeks ago in Mexico and threatens to touch off the first flu pandemic since 1968.