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Some people may be genetically disposed to AI
Scientists suspect that some people are genetically
disposed for infection with bird flu, according to the World Health
Organisation.
This line of thought could explain why, given the same level of exposure,
some people get
bird
flu and some people don't - and may also explain why it is still relatively
rare.
Only blood relatives were infected in the Karo district of North Sumatra,
the largest cluster known to date worldwide, in spite of the fact that the virus
had multiple opportunities to spread to non-blood relations or the general
community.
"A genetic predisposition for infection is suspected based on data from
rare instances of human-to-human transmission in genetically-related persons,"
the
WHO said.
"This possibility, if more fully explored, might help explain why human
cases are comparatively rare and why the virus is not spreading easily from
animals to humans or from human to human," it added.
Editor WorldPoultry
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