Single mutation of bird flu virus could allow it to spread among people, research says
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Source: Scripps News
Posted 2:44 PM, Dec 07, 2024
The bird flu virus strain that is rampant among dairy cows in the U.S. may only need one mutation for it to be able to spread among humans, according to a study published this week.
Scientists said the results of this study reinforce the need for "vigilant surveillance" of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, which has already spread from infected animals to humans at increasing rates.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Scripps Research Institute and published in the journal Science. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the research.
NIH said that the reason bird flu viruses have not regularly spread to people is that the human upper respiratory tract does not have the same type of cell receptors found in birds that are needed to cause an infection.
Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/health/bird-flu/single-mutation-of-bird-flu-virus-could-allow-it-to-spread-among-people-research-says
Link to STUDY - A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin switches specificity to human receptors
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