# Good news about he Asian Flu: It has apparently escaped a Canadian lab **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126 "2005-04-13T14:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/1 "2005-04-13T14:16:00Z")
[www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7261](http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7261) Fun! Fun! Fun! ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/2 "2005-04-13T14:33:55Z")
That going to cause some serious downgrading in someone’s performance review, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/3 "2005-04-13T14:44:08Z")
Repeat after me: The Morons will KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! …KILL US ALL! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/4 "2005-04-13T15:03:24Z")
Well, it’s not as if the bug is actually out of the bottle now is it? There’s just 3,700 bottles. I’m sure all will be handled properly and everything will be just fine. Except of course in Asia, a massive pandemic in which constitutes Part II of Inigo Montoya’s [paranoid scheme.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5448783) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/5 "2005-04-13T17:55:22Z")
Oh, #()\*$#!. The rest of Canada apologizes on behalf of our morons… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/6 "2005-04-13T20:55:08Z")
As long as it’s not Capt. Trips. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/7 "2005-04-13T21:24:39Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Oh, #()\*$#!. > > The rest of Canada apologizes on behalf of our morons… Actually, the morons that made up the test kits were in Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/8 "2005-04-13T21:32:41Z")
> [@New Scientist](#): > > A similar event happened in 1977, with the sudden reappearance of an H1 flu identical to one that had been isolated in 1950. It is believed that the virus escaped from a faulty batch of live flu vaccine prepared in Russia. But fortunately that strain had evolved into a much tamer creature than its 1918 predecessor. Unfortunately, the 1957 H2 virus is the most lethal variant of its kind. [But you tell me over, and over, and over again my friend Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction](http://www.faraway-soclose.org/eod.html) ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/9 "2005-04-13T21:54:07Z")
Great…I survive 30 some odd years of poor diet and a lack of exercise, only to be killed by the asian flu…Just my luck. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/10 "2005-04-13T22:11:15Z")
As **FatBaldGuy** noted, the Canadians aren’t the bad guys in this scenario. [On the contrary:](http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1113399064613_108808264/?hub=TopStories) > [@](#): > > "There was some potential for considerable trouble,’’ Dr. Klaus Stohr, head of the World Health Organization’s global pandemic program, told The Canadian Press in an interview from Geneva. > > “Fortunately it was found fast by the Canadians after there was initial suspicion.” > > An investigation revealed that the College of American Pathologists had sent the virus sample to 3,747 laboratories in 18 countries. Most of the labs are located in Canada and the U.S. but more than 60 labs are located outside North America. Credit [where credit is due](http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=mb_flu-lab-20050413): > [@](#): > > A U.S. company mistakenly sent mislabelled samples of the H2N2 influenza – the virus that triggered a pandemic in 1957 – to thousands of labs worldwide. Since the strain hasn’t infected humans since 1969 and it is not included in flu shots, people under the age of 37 have no immunity to H2N2. On March 26, the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg detected the mislabelled samples, potentially averting a global problem by notifying the World Health Organization. […] > > All 20 Canadian laboratories that received the mislabelled material have destroyed it, the Public Health Agency of Canada said Tuesday. Almost 99 per cent of the labs that received the kits are in the U.S. Don’t make me throw down the [gauntlet](http://www.2playhockey.com/pics/ccm_hg652.jpg). Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/11 "2005-04-13T22:16:48Z")
Speaking as a lab tech who’s handled many CAP specimens in the past, I wouldn’t worry excessively about it. It’s a dumb mistake no doubt, but these specimens are treated as any other potentially pathogen-laden materials would be in the clinical lab. No decent tech who’s been in the field any length of time would do otherwise. This excludes the occasional doofus, found in all professions, but as the labs are being graded on the CAP surveys said doofi are not allowed to do them. In my experience anyway. But I’d sure want to know what idjit picked that strain. Might want to go find a different career. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/12 "2005-04-13T22:25:08Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > Speaking as a lab tech who’s handled many CAP specimens in the past, I wouldn’t worry excessively about it. It’s a dumb mistake no doubt, but these specimens are treated as any other potentially pathogen-laden materials would be in the clinical lab. No decent tech who’s been in the field any length of time would do otherwise. This excludes the occasional doofus, found in all professions, but as the labs are being graded on the CAP surveys said doofi are not allowed to do them. In my experience anyway. > > But I’d sure want to know what idjit picked that strain. Might want to go find a different career. Did you miss this part of the article? > [@](#): > > A few of the CAP kits were sent to labs in Asia, the Middle East and South America, as well as Europe and North America. The kits’ originators had to know what they contained, in order to evaluate the test results. However, when Canada’s National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg identified the strain on 26 March, it alerted the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Worryingly, it initially found the potentially deadly virus in a sample unrelated to the test kit - **meaning it had already escaped within the lab.** > > Test kits for flu are not handled at a high level of biological containment as it is generally assumed they do not carry unusually dangerous viruses. But its escape in the Winnipeg lab is worrying, as the lab contains facilities with the highest level of containment and its staff is expected to maintain high levels of lab hygiene. Its most probable route of escape into the outside world would be if a lab worker catches the Asian flu, then passes it on. (emphasis mine) ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/13 "2005-04-13T22:50:16Z")
Well, yes, obviously I did. But I’m still not ready to run around shrieking doom yet. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/14 "2005-04-13T22:58:42Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > Well, yes, obviously I did. > > But I’m still not ready to run around shrieking doom yet. You’re no fun at, you realize that, don’t you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/15 "2005-04-13T23:39:49Z")
I’m not gonna shrieking, I’m gonna SING! I’m going to sing the doom song! > [@Gir](#): > > Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, DOOOOOM…"::Gir continues for six months:: [This is a link to a highly annoying animated gif homepage semi-explaing the joke.](http://www.siberkat.com/thedoomsong.html) If you are here, you have missed the highly annoying, off-topic link. Congradulations! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/16 "2005-04-14T00:26:50Z")
**Don’t Panic! There’s absolutely nothing to worry about!** I know this thanks to asking **Papa Doug** , who was actually around (in Iowa) in 1957. His response: “Asian flu? What Asian flu? Nobody got sick. They weren’t hauling bodies in sheets out of the Iowa State Armory. We didn’t even give two shits what was going on in Asia. That’s how far away we were from all that.” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/17 "2005-04-14T00:38:01Z")
[Oh, this is brilliant.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7491398/) > [@](#): > > Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the agency has already recommended that change — a step not previously taken because flu virus has never been considered a possible bioterrorism weapon. ::tap:: ::tap:: ::tap:: _Hello? McFly? Ever heard of the flu epidemic of 1918?_ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/18 "2005-04-14T03:33:44Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > You’re no fun at, you realize that, don’t you? 😉 Oh, sure. That’s my unofficial title at work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/19 "2005-04-16T02:16:02Z")
[Houston, we have a problem.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7515802/) > [@](#): > > WHO influenza chief Klaus Stohr said 10 of the countries which had received samples had confirmed their labs had destroyed the virus. Labs in Lebanon and Mexico, however, “never received the specimen even though they were on the distribution list,” Stohr said. Uh, oh. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126/20 "2025-07-27T04:53:00Z")
Ye gods! This was before SARS and COVID. But at least this didn’t lead to an anti-vaxxer being put in charge of HHS after the next Presidential election. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-about-he-asian-flu-it-has-apparently-escaped-a-canadian-lab/299126.md?page=2)