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The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is expected to be carried by migrating birds into east Africa within weeks; US doctors have launched a clinical trial to assess the effects of allowing couples to choose the sex of their unborn children

www.nature.com/news This press release is copyright Nature News. VOL.437 NO.7063 DATED 27 OCTOBER 2005 When covering this news story please mention Nature. The form of words used in the article is covered by copyright, if you are interested in reproducing the article in full, please contact one of the New York Times Syndicate representatives below: U.S. and CANADA DEBRA WEYDERT in New Jersey at Tel: +1 732 390 4480, E-mail: weyded@nytimes.com EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA and INDIA: ALEX SEUR in PARIS Tel: +33 1 53 05 76 50, E-mail: seur@nytimes.com ASIA and PACIFIC RIM: ALVIN CH'NG in Singapore Tel: +65 6735 0535, E-mail: chng@nytimes.com LATIN AMERICA: ISABEL AMORIM SICHERLE in Brazil Tel: +55 11 3812 5588, E-mail: isicherle@uol.com.br or isicherle@nytimes.com This release and the related news articles can be found on the Nature and news@nature.com sections of the Nature journals press site: <http://press.nature.com> Each week we post the full news section on the Nature press site. This can be downloaded as a PDF and is found above the first article on the press release. News: Bird flu set to hit Africa The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is expected to be carried by migrating birds into east Africa within weeks. If it reaches the area, the health and economic consequences of the disease could be even worse than in southeast Asia - and could increase the risk of a worldwide pandemic, according to a news story in Nature this week. Rural communities around the lakes of the Rift Valley region in east Africa depend heavily on poultry to survive, so the consequences if large numbers of poultry succumb to the disease or have to be culled would be severe. "Losing poultry would have a devastating effect on livelihoods in the area," says Lea Borkenhagen, sustainable-living development manager at the charity Oxfam, UK. People in the region also live in close contact with both domestic and migratory birds, meaning that there would be a high risk of the virus spreading to humans - increasing the chances that it might mutate and trigger a worldwide pandemic. In contrast to southeast Asian countries affected by the disease, most countries in east Africa have no system in place to monitor birds or test for H5N1. Literacy and income levels are also lower than in Asia, making it difficult for officials to spread warnings about the disease. "The situation in Africa could be worse," a poultry researcher from Addis Ababa, Ethopia, told Nature. Contact for background information Tom Simonite (Journalist, Nature) Tel: +44 20 7843 4524; E-mail: t.simonite@nature.com Media contact Ruth Francis, Nature London Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail r.francis@nature.com News: Sex selection trial launched US doctors have launched a clinical trial to assess the effects of allowing couples to choose the sex of their unborn children, according to a news story in this week's Nature. Doctors can use a technology called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to examine the sex of embryos that they create by assisted reproduction. Couples then select male or female embryos to implant in the mother's uterus. But doing this for non-medical reasons is controversial, and is banned in many countries including Britain and Canada, due to public concerns that it would cause sex discrimination, or undermine that principle that parents should love their children unconditionally. It took researchers in Houston nine years to get permission to carry out their trial, which began last month and will look at the babies' health as well as social factors in the families as the children grow up. The doctors have a waiting list of at least 50 couples, but they will only enrol those who already have a child, and want to have a child of the opposite sex - an approach referred to as 'family balancing'. The United States has not regulated social sex selection, but two professional societies have issued statements opposing it. The researchers hope their study will persuade them, and countries that have banned the practice, to revise their position. "Those statements are based on public opinions, not outcomes," says the lead researcher. "Public opinion is important, but it shouldn't be used to ban something." Contact for background information Erika Check (Journalist, Nature) Tel: +1 202 626 0692; +1 202 257 4310 E-mail: e.check@nature.com Media contact Ruth Francis, Nature London Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail r.francis@nature.com Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd, dedicated to serving the academic and professional scientific community. NPG's flagship title, Nature, is the world's most highly-cited weekly multidisciplinary journal and was first published in 1869. Other publications include Nature research journals, Nature Reviews, Nature Clinical Practice, and a range of prestigious academic journals, including society-owned publications. NPG is a global company, with headquarters in London and offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Tokyo, Paris, Munich and Basingstoke. For more information, please go to www.nature.com

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