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Alarming Mutation in H5N1 Virus Raises Pandemic Concerns

A recent NIH-funded study has discovered a mutation in the H5N1 avian influenza virus that could potentially make it contagious among humans. The study, published in Science, underscores that the virus should be kept under constant surveillance and genetic assessment since it has been known to circulate among U.S. dairy cows. 

Currently, the H5N1 strain circulating in the cattle population is not transmissible from human to human; however, it has contributed to infections in those with exposure to infected wildlife and poultry, dairy cows, or other mammals. This strain has been of concern for potential pandemics for many years due to its ability to mutate towards increased transmissibility to humans. 

The core of this study revolves around the protein hemagglutinin (HA), through which attachment to host cells is facilitated by the virus. In the case of such avian influenza viruses as H5N1, these viruses tend to have a natural targeting to those receptors found within the birds’ cells. 

Human cells, however, lack such specific receptors, and therefore avian influenza has posed a limited threat to humans throughout history. Scientists are worried that genetic changes might make the virus a threat to human receptors, allowing it to spread between people. 

To investigate this hypothesis, researchers at Scripps Research obtained the H5N1 isolate from the first reported human case of U.S. infection with the bovine virus and conducted experiments to examine mutations in the HA protein that have been observed in previous influenza viruses. The most interesting mutation to appear was Q226L, which greatly increased the ability of the virus to bind to human-type receptors, especially when combined with another mutation. 

Although the Q226L mutation alone may not portend a H5N1 pandemic, this increases an alarm about future mutation which can make the virus transmissible between humans. Indeed, results of the research raise alarm calls for greater vigilance and monitoring of the virus as the number of humans exposed through direct contact with the animals infected grows. These efforts are necessary for any further genetic changes and in public health preparedness.