Sample sharing needed to study H5N1 mutation-expert

JAKARTA, Mar 27 (Reuters) A leading virologist today urged Indonesia to resume sharing its H5N1 bird flu virus samples as scientists need to know if the strain has mutated or even built resistance to anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu.

Indonesia announced in December it would stop sharing virus samples, saying there needed to be legal agreements and guarantees covering any transfer of live specimens.

Without such an agreement, the government fears only pharmaceutical companies and rich countries would benefit from bird flu vaccines that are produced using the specimens while poorer nations could miss out.

''We don't have access to the viruses to know whether these viruses are unique, whether they are developing resistance to the anti-viral drugs and whether there is more ability of these viruses to transmit,'' Robert Webster told journalists on the sidelines of a meeting with health officials from 18 nations.

While Indonesian viruses were no more lethal compared to other virus strains, Webster said more studies were needed.

''Indonesian viruses are among four (H5N1 virus) families in the world. We want you to join the global family. They are very important to understand,'' Webster, director of the World Health Organisation's collaborating centre in Memphis, told the WHO gathering.

Indonesia has the world's highest death toll from bird flu.

The health ministry today said a teenager and a 22-year-old woman were suspected to have died of H5N1. If confirmed, these would bring the toll to 68.

Sharing virus samples is crucial because it allows experts to study their make-up and map the evolution and geographical spread of any particular strain.

Compared to the H5N1 virus that surfaced in Hong Kong in 1997, more recent H5N1 strains have shown they can stay alive longer in the environment.

''This is one of the problems for transmission between poultry farms and possibly to people. Fecal-contaminated water from poultry houses gets into untreated water and lasts for several days. This is one undesirable change of the viruses,'' he said.

While acknowledging inequity in vaccine access for developing countries, Webster said sharing of samples was needed to develop potential new vaccines, and that required expertise from laboratories.

He said it was only fair to share the virus samples and share the reward, but it was unclear how that could be achieved.

The H5N1 avian flu virus has swept through poultry across Asia to Africa and Europe. Experts believe it could mutate into a form that would easily pass from one person to another, possibly killing millions in months.

There are no commercially available vaccines for bird flu, though several companies are working to produce them. Total global capacity to make vaccines against diseases is only about 300 million to 400 million doses a year -- far below what would be needed in a pandemic.

REUTERS DKA HS1503