Public at Last, H5N1 Study Offers Insight Into Virus's Possible Path to Pandemic.

The article cites a report within the issue regarding the publication of research from a laboratory led by virologist Ron Fouchier of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The study describes how mutations might give the H5N1 avian influenza (flu) virus the potential to move easily between mammals, which could spark a human flu pandemic. Topics include an international debate over whether the results of the study should be made public, the differences between Fouchier's study and similar research conducted by a U.S. team led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the University of Tokyo, Japan, and insights into how the virus's evolution could cause a pandemic.