Academic rivalry has delayed China from disclosing samples of bird-flu virus to health officials, according to World Health Organization officials.
Global health officials have wanted to study the samples for signs of mutation that might signal a human pandemic in the making, reported the Wall Street Journal Friday.
WHO and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization officials said senior health officials in the Chinese government are reluctant to share virus samples that might help propel Chinese scientists to acclaim.
"They want to get the international scientific recognition that they think they deserve," said Juan Lubroth, a senior official with the FAO.
China has been more cooperative with sharing information since it was criticized for covering up an outbreak of SARS in 2002. Bird flu in Southeast Asia has killed more than 60 people since 2003.
The Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China has taken the lead in studying samples isolated from outbreaks among migratory and domestic fowl in China's remote western provinces of Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet.
