CDC Creates New Bird Flu Virus With Enhanced Immune System Evasion in Georgia Lab: Journal 'npj Viruses'
U.S. gov't makes pandemic-grade H5N1 avian influenza pathogen invisible to the immune system's defenses—in just six days.
A new study published last month in npj Viruses describes how the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) engineered a brand-new strain of bird flu in its Atlanta, Georgia laboratories.
The current head of the CDC is Jim O’Neil.
The risky research involved scientists from the CDC in Atlanta, the J. Craig Venter Institute (Rockville, MD, and La Jolla, CA), and the University of California San Diego.
Authors included Li Wang, Masato Hatta, Chenchen Feng, Paul Carney, Benjamin Rambo-Martin, Vivien G. Dugan, C. Todd Davis, James Stevens, Bin Zhou, and others—a team that directly manipulated the H5N1 virus using genetic engineering.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the result of lab-engineered pathogen creation, according to Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, and the CIA—raising grave questions about why U.S. government scientists are once again creating novel, immune-evading strains of dangerous viruses inside federal laboratories.
The new study was published the same month U.S. President Donald Trump stood before the United Nations and called for an end to the creation of biological weapons, even as U.S. government labs like the CDC continue engineering deadly new pathogens under the banner of pandemic preparedness.
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Why the CDC Says It Built a New Virus
In 2024, a Missouri patient was reported to be infected with an H5N1 virus carrying two unusual mutations in its surface protein (hemagglutinin).
Oddly, the CDC said it was unable to isolate a live virus from the sample.
To study it, the authors said they had to engineer a synthetic version of the Missouri virus by inserting the mutations into the backbone of a cattle-outbreak strain.
The paper itself says:
“Because virus isolation was unsuccessful, the generation of a recombinant virus carrying these substitutions was necessary…”
In other words, the CDC built this new H5N1 in the lab.
The government engineered a man-made disease-causing construct that had never been seen in nature before.
Where the Work Took Place
The study makes clear this was CDC-led work inside federal labs in Georgia:
“All experiments involving highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses were conducted in Biosafety Level 3 enhanced (BSL-3E) or Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL-3) laboratories at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including enhancements required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Federal Select Agent Program.”
This confirms the location (Atlanta, Georgia) and the agency (CDC) responsible.
What the Mutations Did
Two mutations were introduced: P136S and A156T.
The most important one is A156T, which changed how the virus interacts with the immune system.
The study admits:
“The HA P136S/A156T substitutions altered the antigenicity of the 2.3.4.4b A(H5N1) virus, most likely through the introduction of an N-linked glycosylation site at residue 154 enabled by the A156T substitution. This glycosylation likely shields antigenic site B from antibody recognition, resulting in reduced HI and neutralization titers…”
This means the virus was said to have gained a new sugar coating at residue 154, which acted like a shield, hiding it from antibodies that would normally detect it.
Immune Evasion Results
The effect was dramatic and alarming.
Antibodies that normally neutralize H5N1 were far less effective against the engineered virus.
The study shows:
“Introduction of the A156T substitution led to at least a 4-fold reduction in HI titers for all antisera… In the neutralization assay, antisera to TX37 and MI90 showed significantly reduced neutralizing activity against viruses carrying the A156T substitution.”
That means antibodies were four times less effective at minimum, and in some tests, over 99% less effective at neutralizing the new virus.
Put plainly: CDC gave H5N1 a mutation that made it invisible to the immune system’s defenses.
Speed of Engineering
One of the most startling admissions is how quickly the CDC created this recombinant bird flu:
“From the time the partial HA sequence was obtained on September 13, 2024, to the completion of plasmid construction, virus rescue, and the first HI results on September 23, only 10 calendar days (6 business days) had elapsed.”
In other words, within 10 days, the CDC had gone from partial genetic data to a fully functional, lab-built H5N1 virus.
This shows just how rapidly government labs can create new pandemic-grade pathogens.
Bottom Line
The CDC admits in its own paper that it engineered a new strain of H5N1 bird flu in its Georgia labs—a strain that had never existed in nature.
The stated purpose was to study two mutations (P136S and A156T) found in a human patient.
One of those mutations, A156T, created a sugar shield that dramatically reduced antibody recognition, in some cases by more than 99%.
Federal scientists demonstrated, and published, that they can build new, immune-evading strains of one of the world’s deadliest viruses in a matter of days.
That is the very description of gain-of-function experimentation—and it was funded and carried out by the CDC itself.
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Why in God’s name would anyone think that this is a good thing to do ?
Is the intent to develop an antidote or a “vaccine” to counter the mutation of the virus ??? What happens when like Wuhan, the lab allows the virus to escspe and get into the population ??
Let's not forget our Govt. wrote a paper about this 17 years ago!
Thank you, Jon!