Testing has revealed fresh mutations in H5N1 bird flu that could make it more transmissible in humans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested samples from the first “severe” case of bird flu in the US, a 65-year-old man from Louisiana, and confirmed worrying new mutations.
The mutations affect the virus’s hemagglutinin gene and could make the virus more transmissible in humans.
In particular, the mutations “may result in increased virus binding to α2-6 cell receptors found in the upper respiratory tract of humans.”
Further testing revealed that the mutation was absent from birds on the man’s property, in a clear sign that the mutation developed within the man during his sickness.
A similar case, with mutations that make human transmission easier, was discovered in a teenager in Canada earlier this year.
Experts are now warning that of the potential for widespread human-human transmission of the virus.
“Our No. 1 principle in preventing pandemics is detect, and if you go to the CDC website, you can see that they are monitoring more than 10,000 exposures, but they’ve only tested 530,” said Dr Deborah Birx, who was the White House coordinator for the COVID-19 pandemic under President Donald Trump.
“That means we’re not testing enough. And we know from other viruses that a lot of the spread can be asymptomatic. So we kind of have our head in the sand about how widespread this is from the zoonotic standpoint, from the animal to human standpoint.”
California has now declared a state of emergency in response to the spread of bird flu. The CDC, however, believes the risk to humans still remains low.
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