Influenza scientists, WHO face off in virus data row

David Heymann, the global body’s top flu official, said the reason was simple.

For the first time in decades, developing countries are looking at the global body with mistrust, and officials cannot afford to be partial to any group, he said, adding this was a direct order from WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.

Heymann supports keeping viruses in the public domain — something that effectively strips countries of ownership rights — and, until recently, other top officials in Geneva maintained it was important some genetic data remained behind closed doors.

In the most recent dispute over GISAID’s free database, the WHO has refused to hand over US$450,000 provided by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control for the database’s development well over a year ago.

That is a lot of money for the feisty group of influenza scientists, given that their director, Peter Bogner, a former television broadcaster who rallied to their cause two years ago, has largely financed the initiative on his own.

“We are working with WHO to get these funds mobilized for their intended purposes,” said Bill Hall, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also frustrated after receiving conflicting reasons for the delay.

The WHO’s Heymann said CDC money had been earmarked for a specific project — a database — but not a particular organization.

“We have to go through a competitive bidding process,” he told AP — a process in which GISAID would be ineligible to compete because it is a nonprofit organization.

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