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Monday, January 30, 2006Maybe not. They probably make their Elsewhere, an infected bird has been found in Cyprus. No people cases, though. Meanwhile, things seem to be improving in Turkey. And very exciting news, researchers have identified a protein made by the bird flu virus that may explain why it's so lethal in humans: The researchers showed that one key viral protein known as NS1, which is manufactured inside infected cells and blocks their anti-viral response, could explain why some viruses are so damaging to humans. This NS1 protein tends to have a specific form in bird flu viruses, and a different form in most human flu viruses. The team showed that samples of the H5N1 virus that killed humans in Asia between 1997 and 2004 had the 'bird' form of NS1. And the strain that caused the terrible 1918 pandemic had a similar, but unique, bird form of the protein. By contrast, the viruses that triggered milder human pandemics in 1957 and 1968 possessed a more 'human' form. The group additionally showed that the bird form of NS1 can bind to 30 human proteins, whereas the human form could bind very few of those they tested. The researchers propose that this helps the virus interfere with these proteins and harm the cells. posted by Sydney on 1/30/2006 07:50:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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