Bird Flu Mutation
A sample of the virus responsible for avian influenza that was isolated from a Chilean man suffering from the disease shows the pathogen has two genetic mutations that make it more able to reproduce in human cells. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the risk to the public remains low and the collected samples did not contain other genetic changes that would be necessary for the H5N1 strain to spread easily among humans.
Bird flu has been responsible for the deaths or culling of untold millions of wild birds and farmed poultry around the world during the past three years. University of Maryland researchers say the current strain is so highly pathogenic that it is “wiping out” wild bird populations like never observed before.
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