EU laboratory accused of holding back bird flu information
13.03.2006 - 11:12 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

Data central for stopping bird flu from spreading are being kept secret by EU-paid researchers to ensure their own copyright, according to experts quoted by a Swedish daily.

The EU reference laboratory for Avian Influenza in Weybridge (UK) is concealing results from tests taken in 15 countries, reports Svenska Dagbladet

Ongoing tests of bird flu found in Sweden show that the virus carries the Z-type gene - the most agressive of the five genotypes of the H5N1 strain.

However, the already complicated mapping of the virus is being made more difficult because other countries' laboratories are not publishing results on the genetic form of the viruses they analyse.

"We will make our results public as soon as they are ready and it would be great if everybody did the same," said Swedish researcher Bernt Klingeborn, also referring to the the EU- and UN-funded bird flu laboratory in Weybridge.