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Biosecurity Briefing
Indonesia to Share H5N1 Data with New GISAID Database By Jennifer Nuzzo, May 16, 2008 On May 16, 2008, health officials from Indonesia announced that the republic would begin sharing information about H5N1 cases with a new global database known as the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID). According to an Associated Press (AP) report, GISAID is a free online database that launched on May 15, 2008; it is not affiliated with the World Health Organization’s flu database.1 The new database “calls on users to reach an agreement with data providers before applying, for example, for patents needed for vaccines.” In addition, GISAID has created “an electronic tracking system that enables site users to see who has sent or received virus data—from government laboratories to pharmaceutical companies” in order to preserve transparency.1 The AP article notes that GISAID was developed after a group of more than 70 preeminent scientists published a letter in the journal Nature that calling for avian influenza information be shared “more quickly and openly.”1 Specifically, the scientists rejected the traditional practice in which individual organizations maintained private databases of viral genetic information. According to the article, the WHO’s H5N1 flu information was held in a database based out of Los Alamos, New Mexico, which was accessible to only 15 laboratories. In 2007, the WHO acknowledged an urgent need to address the international skepticism about process for sharing flu data. However, the AP article notes that the WHO does still believe that “some genetic data should be kept behind closed doors.” To that end, the WHO is seeking $10 million to implement “another database and tracking system.”1 The AP article notes that scientists, including members of WHO’s four influenza collaborating centers, have expressed skepticism regarding the WHO’s plans to develop a new database now that GISAID has been launched. These scientists have said that GISAID has been “tailor-made by and for influenza scientists” and they argue that “full transparency will not hinder efforts to carry out their vaccine strain selection process.”1 Reference
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