Faculty Bibliography

Meanwhile, scientists have passed the first major hurdle in the complex process of developing an experimental bird flu vaccine for humans in case it is needed, an official of the World Health Organization said. The scientists are also working to develop a safer and easier test to detect the A(H5N1) strain of avian influenza now spreading across Asia, a mutation of the strain that caused outbreaks in Hong Kong in 1997 and 2003. The technique involves substituting harmless influenza genes for the ones that make the strain lethal to birds. In a conference call on Tuesday, two of the laboratories said that they had completed the first step in the reverse genetics technique and expected to begin testing the resulting virus in chickens and ferrets by next week, Dr. [Klaus Stohr] said in a telephone interview

Last week, WHO said it hoped to develop a seed virus that the UN agency in Geneva can provide in two months at no cost to drug companies so they can make a human vaccine. With the possible exception of two cases in Vietnam, there has been no person-to- person transmission of the A(H5N1) strain that is now spreading in Asia. The new strain has mutated from one that caused outbreaks in Hong Kong in 1997 and 2003, and experts fear that the new strain could cause a worldwide epidemic if it ever combines with a human influenza virus. The chance that such a recombination will occur is low, but WHO is pushing ahead to develop a human vaccine as a precautionary measure, said Dr. Klaus Stohr, leader of the agency's influenza program. Things are evolving according to schedule, he said Tuesday

The other two groups are the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, which held a meeting in Rome on Tuesday. The organizations and virologists there said that no measure could be ruled out because of the ''unprecedented'' nature of the current epidemic. It is caused by a strain of the A(H5N1) avian influenza virus that mutated from one that caused smaller outbreaks in Hong Kong in 1997 and 2003. The mutant A(H5N1) strain has killed birds in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. As of yesterday, the W.H.O. said there were 20 known human cases, 16 of them fatal, in Thailand and Vietnam. The virus is grown in live eggs and then killed before it is used as a vaccine. But because the avian influenza virus can kill chicken eggs, manufacturers have had to compromise by using a different and weaker strain, A(H5N2) and not A(H5N1), to make the vaccines, Dr. [Klaus Stohr] said

The technique involves substituting harmless influenza genes for the ones that make the strain lethal to birds. In a conference call on Tuesday, two of the laboratories said that they had completed the first step in the reverse genetics technique and expected to begin testing the resulting virus in chickens and ferrets by next week. The scientists must make sure that the manufactured virus is harmless to chickens because it must be grown in live eggs. Any vaccine produced from such research will have to be tested in people before it is marketed

Dr. [Jordi Casals-Ariet] first felt ill in June 1969, shortly after he began working with the virus. But he said he did not think he had Lassa fever because his severe thigh-muscle aching was a symptom the nurses had escaped. A friend persuaded him to go to Columbia- Presbyterian. As Dr. Casals' illness became increasingly severe, his doctors grew to suspect the virus he was investigating. Jordi Casals-Ariet was born in Spain and served with the Spanish Army before earning his medical degree from the University of Barcelona in 1934. After interning there, Dr. Casals moved to Manhattan and worked at Cornell University Medical College from 1936 to 1938, when he joined the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research. In 1952, Dr. Casals joined the Rockefeller Foundation. It supported field stations around the world where scientists collected samples from people and animals and sent them to Dr. Casals, asking his team to identify them

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers will begin going from house to house next week to give polio immunizations to 63 million children in 10 countries in the World Health Organization's latest effort to eliminate the disease. The program is to begin Monday in Nigeria and Niger, where polio is endemic

Lassa fever is one of the hemorrhagic fever viruses, and its discovery was as striking as any in the history of virology. Yale halted research into it because infections acquired in the laboratory there killed one worker, in addition to making Dr. Casals deathly ill. Dr. Casals's team found the Lassa fever virus in the blood of three missionary nurses from the United States who had become ill in northern Nigeria. Two of the nurses died there. The third was Lily Pinneo, who had cared for her two nursing colleagues in Nigeria. She flew to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, where she recovered after a nine-week stay. Dr. Casals first felt ill in June 1969, shortly after he began working with the virus. But he said he did not think he had Lassa fever because his severe thigh-muscle aching was a symptom the nurses had escaped. A friend persuaded him to go to Columbia-Presbyterian. As Dr. Casals's illness became increasingly severe, his doctors grew to suspect the virus he was investigating

Lassa fever is one of the hemorrhagic fever viruses, and its discovery was as striking as any in the history of virology. Yale halted research into it because infections acquired in the laboratory there killed one worker, in addition to making [Jordi Casals-Ariet] deathly ill. Casals' team found the Lassa fever virus in the blood of three missionary nurses from the United States who had become ill in northern Nigeria. Two of the nurses died there. The third was Lily Pinneo, who had cared for her two nursing colleagues in Nigeria. She flew to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, where she recovered after a nine-week stay

When the W.H.O. and the F.D.A. held their influenza vaccine meetings last year, experts knew that the Fujian strain had begun infecting people. But committee members said there was not enough information or time to include the Fujian strain in the vaccines given this season in the Northern Hemisphere. Influenza outbreaks tend to occur in the colder months of the year, which are reversed in the two hemispheres

Jordi Casals-Ariet, the epidemiologist who was nearly killed in 1969 by Lassa fever while his team at Yale was discovering the virus that causes it, died in Manhattan on Feb. 10, his wife, Ellen, said on Friday. He was 92. Casals's team found the Lassa fever virus in the blood of three missionary nurses from the United States who had become ill in northern Nigeria. Two of the nurses died there. The third was Lily Pinneo, who had cared for her two colleagues in Nigeria. She flew a hospital in Manhattan, where she recovered. Casals first felt ill in June 1969, shortly after he began working with the virus. But he said he did not think he had Lassa fever because his severe thigh-muscle aching was a symptom the nurses had escaped. A friend persuaded him to go to Columbia- Presbyterian. As his illness grew more severe, Casals's doctors began suspecting the virus