Pandemic threat to humans from common bird flu virus H9N2 better understood
Posted: 28 April, 2017
Experiments by researchers at The Pirbright Institute have identified the molecular mechanisms that enable H9N2 viruses - the most common type of avian influenza (bird flu) virus - to infect humans, helping improve risk assessments for its potential to cause pandemic.
Although H9N2 viruses are considered less pathogenic than some types of avian influenza virus, they still cause significant losses for the poultry industry in many countries throughout Asia, the Middle East and North Africa – sometimes with death rates as high as 60%.
