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Cluster case AI virus: 21 mutations
The bird flu virus isolated from the last Indonesian man who died in
the Sumatran AI cluster case had accumulated 21 genetic mutations, according to
the journal Nature.
The magazine (Volume 442 Number 7099) published details of a report on the
cluster outbreak compiled for the Indonesian government.
Analysis of
the viruses recovered from the cluster showed that the viruses changed as they
moved through three generations of the affected family.
When the
man's death from bird
flu - and the related virus mutation - was confirmed
last month, the World Health Organisation stressed that the mutation, which
they described as slight, does not mean the virus can pass more easily among
people.
Since the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of the virus in Asia in
2003, scientists have feared that it may mutate into a strain that passes easily
between humans. The cluster case in Sumatra is still the only case where
human-to-human transmission has been confirmed.
More news and information on avian
influenza
.
Editor WorldPoultry
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