By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-06 12:55:22 | Updated at 2024-12-22 15:58:30
2 weeks ago
Scientists have been slammed for publishing a recipe to create a mutated flu virus, sparking fresh concerns of another pandemic similar to Covid-19.
Experts at the Scripps Research in California took a strain of H5N1, the bird flu virus that infected cows and farm workers in Texas earlier in the year.
H5N1 is a strain of flu that originally was found in birds, but can infect livestock such as cows, as well as humans – and has already killed people.
The experts, who describe their method in a study, added mutations to the Texas H5N1 strain to 'increase the virus's potential for human transmission', reports the Telegraph.
Deliberately adding mutations to the Texas H5N1 strain increased the virus’s ability to bind to human cells to 'near-pandemic levels'.
Dr Fillipa Lentzos, a biological threats researcher at King's College London, warned the study could 'give people ideas' of how to create a 'human-made pandemic'.
It follows a conclusion from the US House of Representatives committee that the Covid-19 virus probably did leak from a Chinese lab.
Wuhan – where the virus was first detected – is home to China's largest SARS research lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
The bird flu virus usually does not infect people, but there have been some rare human cases - some fatal. Scientists are concerned that bird flu will make the jump from a human to another human - greatly increasing chances of a pandemic
Wuhan where the coronavirus SARS‑CoV‑2 was first detected is home to China's largest SARS research lab - the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Pictured, Wuhan, China during the early days of Covid
Dr Lentzos claims that there are 'no major biosafety concerns' with the lab experiment, because it used proteins of the virus, rather than the virus itself.
Therefore, there was no risk that the strain would leak from the lab and potentially create America's answer to the Covid pandemic.
'However, in light of current debates about risky bioresearch, the paper should have addressed biosafety and biosecurity concerns head on,' she told the Telegraph.
'We clearly don't want to accidentally seed a human-made pandemic or give people ideas of how to do so... responsible science needs to engage with these concerns.
'We should of course anyway be preparing for bovine H5N1 to jump to humans so it is not clear the research adds much in terms of actually changing biopreparedness strategies.'
There are lots of different strains of the bird flu virus, which is officially referred to as 'Influenza A virus'.
While most of the strains don't infect humans, H5N1 is one of the strains to have caused concern in recent years and was first detected more than a century ago.
But fresh worries were raised when a human worker at a farm in Texas caught H5N1 from infected cows in March, followed by a second human case on a farm in Michigan.
H5N1 is a strain of flu that was originally found in birds, but can infect livestock, and humans. Pictured, electron micrograph of avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in mammal cells (green)
The US Department of Agriculture said in March that milk from dairy cows in Texas and Kansas has tested positive for bird flu. Pictured, airy cattle feed at a farm on March 31, 2017, near Vado, New Mexico.
It follows a conclusion from the US House of Representatives committee that Covid-19 probably did leak from a Chinese lab. Wuhan – where the virus was first detected - is home to China's largest SARS research lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)
Concerning bird flu strains
Bird flu, or avian flu, is an infectious type of influenza that spreads among birds.
In rare cases, it can affect humans, according to the NHS.
There are lots of different strains of bird flu virus, most of which do not infect humans, but there are four strains that have caused concern in recent years:
- H5N1 (since 1997)
- H7N9 (since 2013)
- H5N6 (since 2014)
- H5N8 (since 2016)
Overall, the US outbreak resulted in 'spillover' infections (from cows to humans) of at least 14 farm workers, a prior study reported in October.
People showed 'mild respiratory symptoms' or conjunctivitis, the contagious infection that makes the eyes pink, blurry and gungy, and one had to be hospitalized.
While it's been shown to spread from animals to humans with deadly effect, the bird flu virus is not known to be transmissible from one human to another.
However, there are concerns that such a virus could quickly mutate and evolve to become more infectious and deadly for humans.
The researchers at Scripps looked at the crucial haemagglutinin protein of the flu virus, which binds to receptors on the outside of cells.
A single mutation could make the virus adept at infecting cells lining the human nose and throat, they found, meaning it would not only cause respiratory problems but be spread by coughing.
It follows revelations from the Centers for Disease Control that H5N1 has mutated to spread more easily among mammals, while adding that the overall risk to the public was low.
It's worth noting that these mutations have not been observed in the wild, although the new study shows how small changes could have disastrous implications.
The above picture of the symptoms suffered by the dairy farmer in Texas who caught bird flu was published in a report online from CDC officials
Like all flus, the virus is spread primarily through droplets in the air which are breathed in or get into a person's mouth, eyes or nose
What's more, this mutation alone would not result in a virus capable of going pandemic, although what exactly is needed for this to happen is still mysterious.
Aris Katzourakis, a genomics researcher at the University of Oxford who was not involved with the study, called the findings 'highly concerning'.
'Each spillover to a human gives the virus a roll of the dice,' he told New Scientist.
However, some scientists welcomed the new study – published in the journal Science – for demonstrating the risks of mutating viruses with the proteins.
'Viruses are highly prone to mutations and this is a very well conducted study looking at the science of this,' said Stuart Elborn, professor of medicine at Queen's University Belfast.
'But is not unexpected that one or two mutations result in the virus having a human specificity.'
'This further highlights the importance of ongoing surveillance particularly of known viruses such as influenza which can jump species.'
What is bird flu and can it kill humans?
What is it?
Avian flu is an infectious type of influenza that spreads among birds.
In rare cases, it can be transmitted to humans through close contact with a dead or alive infected bird.
This includes touching infected birds, their droppings or bedding. People can also catch bird flu if they kill or prepare infected poultry for eating.
Wild birds are carriers, especially through migration.
As they cluster together to breed, the virus spreads rapidly and is then carried to other parts of the globe.
New strains tend to appear first in Asia, from where more than 60 species of shore birds, waders and waterfowl head off to Alaska to breed and mix with migratory birds from the US. Others go west and infect European species.
Which strains are spreading?
There are lots of different strains of bird flu virus. Most of them don't infect humans but there are four strains that have caused concern in recent years - H5N1 (since 1997) H7N9 (since 2013) H5N6 (since 2014) H5N8 (since 2016).
H5N1 is spreading at speed, but killing at an unprecedented level, leading some experts to say this is the deadliest variant so far.
Millions of chickens and turkeys in the UK have been culled or put into lockdown.
On March 27, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) was also informed that a Chinese woman had become the first person to ever die from the H3N8 strain.
The 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third person known to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, according to the WHO.
Although rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds, but it causes little to no sign of disease.
It has also infected other mammals.
Can bird flu kill people?
In rare cases bird flu can infect and kill people, but risk to people has been deemed 'low' because the risk of becoming infected with bird flu is very low.
However, the mortality (death) rate for bird flu in humans is high - over 50 per cent for all known cases worldwide, according to Cleveland Clinic.
As a result, people are strongly urged not to touch sick or dead birds.
