The World Heath Organization (WHO) has apologized to the Chinese
government after bird flu samples provided by China were misused by
foreign research institutions, China's chief veterinarian Jia
Youling revealed yesterday.
Henk Bekedam, the WHO's China representative," apologized to me
personally twice. His attitude was very sincere and I was deeply
moved," Jia told a press conference hosted by the Information
Office of the State Council.
Jia, director of the Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary
bureau, said that at the WHO's request, China provided five bird
flu samples to the WHO in June 2005 after a major outbreak in
2004.
"Foreign research institutions improperly used the samples in
two cases, violating the intellectual property rights of Chinese
researchers," he said.
In one research paper, the samples were attributed to countries
other than China, Jia said, adding that co-author Rob Webster, from
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the US, had also
apologized to the Chinese research institution concerned.
In another case, foreign researchers cited the Chinese sample
without giving credit to the Chinese side, which contravenes
international practice, Jia said. He declined to give the
researchers' names.
Previously Bekedam told Reuters that the Chinese samples were
used in research that failed to acknowledge that China's Ministry
of Agriculture had identified the virus, in breach of scientific
protocol.
"That happened twice, and I apologized on behalf of the WHO
collaborating center because that is bad behavior among
scientists," he said.
Jia rejected accusations that China has been reluctant to share
its bird flu samples with the international community.
In addition to the five samples provided in 2005, he said China
has provided WHO with 20 further samples, which will be sent to a
WHO collaborating laboratory with the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We are happy about the development," Bekedam told China
Daily. "I don't know what kind of clearance they'll have to go
through on the other side, and how long it will take, but we expect
the CDC can confirm they have received them some time next
week."
China told the WHO Beijing office on March 1 that it was ready
to provide the 20 samples requested by the UN organization in early
February, according to Jia.
But it took time to arrange the logistics and go through customs
procedures for the Chinese side, the WHO and the recipient of the
shipment of highly pathogenic virus samples, he said.
Jia said the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to work
closely with the international community, including the WHO, to
control bird flu.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily November 11, 2006)
