A new study finds tweaking part of the H5N1 virus infecting dairy cows in a single spot could allow it to better attach to human cell receptors, raising concerns it could transmit more easily between people.
Scientists have discovered that H5N1, the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus currently spreading in U.S. dairy cows, only needs a single mutation to readily latch on to human cells found in the upper airway. The findings, published today in Science, illustrate a potential one-step path for the virus to become more effective at human transmission—and could have major implications for a new pandemic if such a mutation were to become widespread in nature.
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