Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The situation is heating up considerably with regard to the three infractions that have occurred in HHS concerning potentially lethal microbes. The first was the finding of the smallpox vials in the FDA building (29A) on the NIH campus. The next was the egregious dysfunction of the teams involved in dealing with selective select agent research down at the CDC and third was the contamination at the CDC of a highly pathogenic influenza virus (H5N1) with a nonpathogenic influence virus (H7N9). This has been all over the media in a very intense way. The White House as well as the Department of Health and Human Services is involved. Francis Collins and I received a letter from Nobel laureates Paul Berg and Richard Roberts to discuss how we might address this escalating issue. They have been consistently against gain-of-function research, especially on influenza. In addition Francis and I together with Peggy Hamburg and Tom Frieden were called to a meeting this evening at HHS with Secretary Sylvia Burwell to discuss the HHS plan as well as the fact that Sylvia will be meeting with the POTUS on Friday, July 18 to discuss the matter and she needed to be briefed by us. I have suggested to Francis and he agrees that we call a temporary moratorium on all gain of function research on influenza and the MERS virus involving increasing pathogenesis and increasing transmissibility by the respiratory route. Also, Francis and I brought up (clearly my idea for some time now) to re-invigorate the NSABB and get them much more in the mix of recommendations and involvement. We had a good meeting with Sylvia Burwell in her office tonight that lasted from 7 PM to 9 PM. Francis and I will be talking over the phone tomorrow with Richard Roberts and Paul Berg about a plan for the future. Also, today Barry Bloom called me from the Harvard School of Public Health to ask whether or not he could help us in addressing this new and emerging political problem. In addition, I received a call from Michael Osterholm to warn me, as he is often doing, that there will be problems “for me” that he wants to help. I get concerned when Michael wants to “help” me. He generally gets hysterical about microbial threats and loves to be in the press.