A new study by biologists from the Scripps Research Institute shows that a bird flu virus is just a single mutation away from having human-ready receptors.
If the H5N1 virus does make the switch, it could lead to widespread infection rates in humans. Thus far, the virus has been limited to humans.
According to a new study published in the journal Science by Scripps Research Institute biologists, the avian H5N1 virus has the potential to quickly shift from a bird flu to a human flu. The authors wrote that the pathogen, which first popped up in North America in 2021, is just a “single mutation” away from being able to infect humans with the same efficacy it can currently infect other animals.
“In nature, the occurrence of this single mutation could be an indicator of human pandemic risk,” according to an editorial note attached to the paper. The study showed that just one mutation—the amino acid glutamine transforming into leucine, specifically at “residue 226 of the virus hemagglutinin”—was enough to make the switch from avian to human.
According to the Los Angeles Times, study coauthor James Paulson said that the discovery “really surprised us.” And Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenzas in Animals and Birds, who was not involved in the study, said that this news “will likely cause a stir. I think most of us thought it would probably need more than one change.”
San Miguel Times
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