Avian flu virus appears to be mutating

British researchers say that the Turkish strain of avian flu virus that has killed at least two children has begun to mutate toward a more infectious structure that can be more easily passed among humans. "Research has indicated that the Hong Kong 2003 viruses preferred to bind to human cell receptors more than to avian (bird) receptors, and it is expected that the Turkish virus will also have this characteristic," said Sir John Skehel, director of the MRC's National Institute for Medical Research, and the World Health Organization. Those viruses, he added, appear very close to the Turkish strains as well as the strain found near Qinghai Lake in remote western China, an area where migratory birds routinely flock to and which may prove to be a critical point for the evolution of the virus and its spread around the globe.

Avian flu has infected 150 people and killed a confirmed 78 in various countries. Disease experts fear that it could mutate into a disease that will spread easily among humans, making it more like the 1918 flu virus that killed millions at the end of World War I. The news about avian flu has shaken the long dormant vaccine business, helping drive a consolidation of the business while spurring efforts to find new ways to develop and manufacture vaccines much more efficiently. It has also spurred governments around the world to stockpile any supplies of Tamiflu they can find.

- read this article from The Daily Mail

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