A study conducted by a team of researchers from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and the U.S. National Institute of Infectious Diseases NIAID, has found that a forthcoming genetic mutation of the H5N1 avian influenza virus could evolve in its ability to bind to human cell receptors, increasing the risk of person-to-person transmission and consequently triggering a new pandemic.
As shown in the study published in the journal Science, in the past, this type of virus needed several genetic mutations to adapt to humans and become infectious and transmissible through person-to-person contact. However, the researchers explain, the current situation could be dangerously faster for the H5N1 2.3.4.4b (A/Texas/37/2024) strain, isolated from the first human infection with a bovine H5N1 virus in the United States this year.
The first author of the study, Ting-Hui Lin pointed out, “The results show how easily this virus could evolve to recognize human-like receptors. Our study, however, does not suggest that such evolution has already occurred.”
The researchers therefore emphasize that it is not the case to create any kind of alarmism in this regard but, considering the increasing number of human cases that have contracted the H5N1 virus through direct contact with infected animals, it is of paramount importance to maintain constant surveillance of the evolution of the H5N1 virus and similar avian influenza strains.
