Russian Ebola fatality...
This is spooky -- from the
NY Times:
bq.
Russian Scientist Dies in Ebola Accident at Former Weapons Lab
A Russian scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory in Siberia has died after accidentally sticking herself with a needle laced with ebola, the deadly virus for which there is no vaccine or treatment, the lab's parent Russian center announced over the weekend.
bq. Scientists and officials said the accident had raised concerns about safety and secrecy at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, known as Vector, which in Soviet times specialized in turning deadly viruses into biological weapons. Vector has been a leading recipient of aid in an American program to help former Soviet scientists and labs convert to peaceful research.
And more:
bq. While officials at Vector said the scientist, Antonina Presnyakova, was working on an ebola vaccine, they have declined to identify who was financing the research or discuss its specific nature.
bq. Terry Fredeking, the president and founder of Antibody Systems, a Texas-based company, said that while his company had spent more than $150,000 in the last five years on joint research on ebola at Vector, the accident did not involve research he was financing.
If it wasn't being bankrolled by any company we know about, then who was behind this work and why did the Russians keep it a secret for so long... Ebola is nasty nasty stuff - high fatality rate, no vaccine, no known cure.
Posted by DaveH at May 25, 2004 10:07 AM