United States health officials, seeking to be an example for other countries and trying to grow flu research, have placed the genetic information of more than 650 flu viruses into a public database.  According to deseretnews.com in the article entitled "Poor countries may patent bird virus strains",

Poorer countries where bird flu is spreading may patent individual strains of the virus as a way to help them negotiate lower prices for vaccines and treatments.  The plan is being advanced by a new program, announced today, that urges participating countries to place genetic information about their individual bird flu strains into central databases in return for rights that will allow the countries to control who uses the data.