H5N1 Avian Flu Virus Is Mutating, Inching Closer to Human Transmission

Recent news coming out of Asia regarding the H5N1 virus is not good. As many scientists have predicted, H5N1 is not a static entity, and is most definitely on the move. I'm not just talking about global spread, but rather specifically about the virus itself and its pattern of mutation.

Scientists have now confirmed that the H5N1 virus is continuing to mutate and these mutations are indeed inching the virus closer to becoming a human transmittable virus ie, pandemic form.

The primary barrier that has prevented the current form of H5N1 from becoming human transmittable has to do with 'body temperature'. The H5N1 avian flu virus has typically required warm body temperatures to grow well and trasmit. Birds, with an average body temperature of approx. 106 degrees, have a much higher body temperature than humans. In fact, where the H5N1 needs to grow in humans is in the nose and throat area, and this part of our body is actually quite cool at 91.4 degrees fahrenheit. For a virus such as H5N1, the difference between 106 degrees, and 91 is significant. If H5N1 is going to become a human transmittable pandemic-inducing virus, it must mutate to the point where it will grow well in cooler temperatures ie, our nose and throat.

Unfortunately, it now looks like the H5N1 virus is beginning to mutate in this direction.

Led by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the team has identified a single change in a protein on the surface of the virus that enables it to get a foothold in the cells of the upper respiratory system of mammals. The upper respiratory system is the nose and throat.

This step is important because it gives the virus the ability to infect a wider range of cell types and also to spread via coughs and sneezes. However, it is not enough to make it fully contagious from mammal to mammal; other, as yet unknown, mutations would be necessary for that to happen. But Kawaoka and his team suspect that too is just a matter of time.

Kawaoka, an internationally recognized expert on influenza, said in a prepared statement that the viruses that are in circulation today are more mammalian-like than the ones that were circulating in 1997.

"The viruses that are circulating in Africa and Europe are the ones closest to becoming a human virus," he explained....

How long it will be before the virus mutates again and takes these other steps is anybody's guess, but the researchers confirmed their view that it will happen and it is just a matter of time.

Medical News Today

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H5N1 Avian Flu Virus Is Mutating, Inching Closer to Human Transmission

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