Dear Editor: Melissa Tedrowe’s letter regarding the work of Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka contains serious inaccuracies. It misrepresents not only a very important line of research intended to mitigate the effects of potential future flu pandemics, but also the processes and mechanisms in place to oversee work involving serious pathogens such as influenza.
The most serious inaccuracy is the assertion that Dr. Kawaoka’s group has been conducting work on campus with live 1918 or Spanish flu virus. Dr. Kawaoka’s group has indeed reconstituted the virus, but work with the live, infectious agent has not taken place on the Madison campus. That work was conducted in Canada, in high-level biosafety facilities that do not exist in Wisconsin.