Plagues have always haunted humanity, but for the first time we have the technology to watch the next one emerging – and maybe even stop it. We can, but this week it’s looking unlikely that we will, as our ability to track bird flu is held hostage to the fears and ideologies of a divided planet.
As we have reported before (New Scientist, 17 February, p 8), Indonesia, the country where H5N1 flu is now most prevalent, is refusing to send samples of the virus from human cases to the World ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ Organization. Scientists need these samples to track the…
