Subject: PROMED: Flu killing birds – humans next?
Archive Number: 19950210.0054
FLU KILLING BIRDS – HUMANS NEXT?
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An interesting exchange has just appeared on the News – Virology net (but
not on the Virology Gopher).
According to Mike Perdue at a Poultry Research station in Georgia (USA),
avian flu has mutated in Mexico since last summer and is killing large
numbers of birds. There is fear that this might spread north with spring
migrants. There is also the question of reassortment in horses (and pigs?)
leading to a new human flu strain. Eric Nute of Swarthmore writes:
———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: 9 Feb 1995 16:35:56 GMT
From: Eric John Nute <ejnute@raptor.sccs.swarthmore.edu>
Newgroups: bionet.virology
Subject: Re: Avian flu in Mexico
In regard to the [avian] influenza outbreak-
If the HA protein has been modified to permit proliferation in a
wider range of tissues, has there been any isolation of either the new
strain or of recombinant strains in horses (in which H5 HA proteins
circulate) or of a species jump of H5 to humans?
