A simple answer is that the virus may just need more time to find the right combination of mutations. For the H5N1 avian influenza virus to become pandemic, it would not only need to improve its ...

Scientists have discovered that H5N1, the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus currently spreading in U.S. dairy cows, only needs a single mutation to readily latch on to human cells ...

This work is published in Science in the paper, “A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin switches specificity to human receptors.. Influenza viruses attach to cells using ...

As the seasonal flu picks up, there are even more opportunities for the bird flu to acquire mutations as the different influenza viruses mix. A 13-year-old girl in British Columbia who was ...

Purdue University researchers now have developed an innovative, paper-based diagnostic test for rapidly detecting avian ...

A colorized electron microscope image shows avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles in yellow. Inset: a person putting on a mask. A single mutation of a strain infecting dairy workers increases the ...

Influenza hemagglutinin subunit vaccines are more effective and offer better cross protection against various influenza virus ...

New research uses bird droppings to track avian flu in remote regions, revealing hidden hotspots and potential for early ...

Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study ...

The mutations in the bird flu, or H5N1, viruses that caused severe infections in British Columbia and Louisiana both occurred in a protein on the surface of the virus that allows it to attach to ...