The University of Hawai'i is seeking state permission to import strains of the potentially lethal avian flu virus to research ways to detect the disease and prevent its spread.

The avian flu circulates through bird populations in Asia and parts of Europe, but has yet to make an appearance in North America.

The virus does not easily spread from human to human. So far, humans have contracted the virus mainly through contact with poultry. However, health officials worry that it could evolve into a strain that would be highly contagious, possibly leading to a worldwide pandemic.

There is no human immunity to the highly pathogenic form of the virus known as H5N1 and no vaccine is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to UH officials, the imported virus would allow researchers working at laboratories in Kaka'ako to develop flu detection techniques and ways to respond to an outbreak. Having a laboratory capable of identifying the avian flu would give officials more time to run tests and implement emergency plans, said Duane Gubler, who would head the project for the university's John A. Burns School of Medicine.

"The obvious benefit to Hawai'i is if there was a lab here that could do those kinds of diagnostic tests, it would save a lot of time," Gubler said.

TIME OF THE ESSENCE

If the tests were conducted at a Mainland lab, results might take a week. "A week could be devastating, because it could probably spread across the state," he said.

Gubler said the state may not be able to prevent the avian flu virus from arriving in Hawai'i carried by migrating birds.

The university is seeking permission from the Board of Agriculture to bring in various forms of the virus. The board is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday. Two advisory committees have recommended the board approve the request with certain restrictions. The state Department of Health also backs the request.

"The Department of Health supports importing strains of avian flu into Hawai'i for academic research to support worldwide scientific efforts to better understand the unusual bird flu virus and to hopefully help prevent a potential pandemic or at least mitigate one when one occurs," said state Health Director Chiyome Fukino in a written statement. "The researchers involved are well established in their field and well experienced in the safe handling of this infectious agent or any others."

Support for UH's proposal, however, was not unanimous, with two advisory committee members voting against the request. Allen Allison, vice president for science at the Bishop Museum, was one of the dissenters. However, Allison said he did not have experience or expertise on viruses.

COMMUNITY OPPOSITION

The other dissenting committee member — John Stimson, a professor in the UH zoology department — was unavailable for comment yesterday.

There is opposition as well among members of Hawai'i's environmentalist community to the importing of the virus.

"That's crazy," said Marjorie Ziegler, executive director for the Conservation Council for Hawaii. "I think you should go study it where you already have it. Why bring it someplace where you don't have it?

"I just think the best intentions can go wrong, and there could be an accident or a natural disaster or terrorism" that could result in a release of the virus into the environment, she said.

The university is seeking access to the virus as part of a research proposal sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. If funded, the project would last for five years. The virus would be contained within a laboratory at the medical school's Kaka'ako campus, Gubler said.

Under the proposed permit conditions, UH would conduct laboratory research and inoculation studies with mice. The permit also places numerous restrictions on the handling and disposal of the virus, which would be obtained from the CDC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and various other laboratories and medical centers worldwide.

267 INFECTED WORLDWIDE

The main source of human infection from the H5N1 virus is close contact with dead or sick birds, according to the World Health Organization. People are especially at risk if they slaughter, defeather, butcher or prepare the infected birds for food. Some 267 people worldwide have been infected by avian flu and 161 have died, WHO reported.

If the current H5N1 virus were introduced into Hawai'i via migratory birds, the impact to humans would be minimal, according to the state Department of Agriculture, since currently the disease does not easily spread between humans. However, the potential impact to Hawai'i's poultry industry could be great. Feral chickens also could be affected, according to the department.

The largest impact of any confirmed appearance of avian flu may fall on Hawai'i's $12 billion tourism trade.

"Just one case of it would definitely be a detriment," said Rex Johnson, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "Now if a whole bunch of people get it, we're out of business. Nobody is coming from a tourism standpoint."

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.