More than 100 people have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus, mostly from close contact with infected poultry. But, the virus does not seem to spread easily from its pioneering human hosts to other humans. This phenomenon has been a biomedical puzzle.
That a simple anatomical difference in the cells of the system makes it difficult for the virus to jump from human to human is revealed by a study of cells in the human respiratory tract.
The finding demonstrates a requisite characteristic for the virus to equip itself to easily infect humans. It is the key development required for the virus to assume pandemic proportions. The journal Nature reported these findings in the March 22 issue.
Via: Science Daily