The first serious human case of avian flu, observed in the USA in mid-December, carries a disease virus that has mutated inside its body.
- The CDC has revealed that the US’s first serious human case of bird flu is carrying a virus that may have mutated inside its body.
- Analyzes showed that the virus had increased bindings to certain “cellular receptors in the human upper respiratory tract.”
- No cases of transmission of this virus have been recorded, according to American health authorities.
On December 18, American health authorities reported the first serious human case of avian flu on American soil. Analyzes revealed that the H5N1 virus, responsible for the infection, had mutated inside this man to adapt to human respiratory tract.
Avian flu: the virus has adapted to the human upper respiratory tract
In a press release published on December 26, 2024, the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) indicated that it had examined the virus found in the patient’s throat. Part of the latter shows genetic modifications which allow it to have “increased connections” with some “Cellular receptors of the human upper respiratory tract”.
CDC experts suggest that these genetic modifications appeared “during virus replication in the patient”. In fact, the birds implicated in the contamination of the patient do not present the specific characteristics observed.
The American health authorities also specify that no transmission of this “mutated” virus has been observed to date.
Avian flu: no pandemic
Questioned by AFP, Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada), recognizes that this type of mutation constitutes “a necessary step for a virus to become more contagious”. “But I insist on the fact that it is not the only“, she clarified.
Additional studies on the animal virus are needed to precisely determine its contagiousness and dangerousness. Scientist Thijs Kuiken who works for the Erasmus University Medical Center (Netherlands) is also reassuring. For him, these types of modifications could lead to less serious avian flu infections, because the virus would be “more likely” to infect the “upper respiratory tract” and consequently cause runny noses or sore throats, rather than affecting the lower respiratory tract and causing pneumonia.
Angela Rasmussen assures that the current elements are not signs that a new pandemic is approaching. In addition to the serious case, the USA has recorded 65 mild human cases of avian flu on its soil since the start of 2024.
