Thursday, March 12, 2009Baxter: Vax products contained bird flu
virusMarch 11, 2009 — 2:28pm ET | By Calisha MyersDeerfield, IL-based
Baxter International has confirmed that vaccine shipments sent to
subcontractors in Czech Republic, Slovenia and Germany were
contaminated with live H5N1 avian flu viruses. The contaminated
product, which Baxter calls "experimental virus material," was a mix of
H3N2 seasonal flu viruses and H5N1 viruses produced at the company's
research facility in Orth-Donau. The problem was discovered when
ferrets inoculated with the experimental mix died. Baxter was notified
on February 6, but has kept quiet about the details surrounding the
mix-up, the Canadian Press reports."At this juncture we are confident
in saying that public health and occupational risk is minimal at
present," medical officer Roberta Andraghetti said. "But what remains
unanswered are the circumstances surrounding the incident in the Baxter
facility in Orth-Donau."According to the Sun, Christopher Bona, said in
an email that the release of the product was a result of a combination
of "just the process itself, (and) technical and human error in this
procedure" and the company has taken steps to make sure it doesn't
happen again. The Canadian Press reports that Bona has said that the
contaminated product was not a vaccine and was developed for testing in
animals only. Austrian authorities have audited operations at the
facility and are satisfied with the corrective actions taken. Baxter
has also worked with the subcontractors to help them destroy the
contaminated products and clean up their facilities. Staff exposed to
the products were offered Tamiflu and assessed by infectious disease
doctors, the company tells the Canadian Press.While H5N1 doesn't easily
infect humans, the H3N2 vaccine can. As the Sun points out, someone
infected with both strains could serve as an incubator for
reassortment, producing a hybrid virus able to transmit easily among
people. But according to Andraghetti, there is no evidence reassortment
occurred. "And we have no evidence of any increased transmissibility of
the viruses that were involved in the experiment with the ferrets in
the Czech Republic," she added.

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Posted By Jeff Sutherland to Dr. Jeff Sutherland's Electronic Medicine
at 3/17/2009 05:08:00 PM