India, April 12 -- Bird flu expert Suresh Kuchipudi on the pathogenesis of H5N1 and threats it poses
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H5N1, or bird flu, has been perceived as a potential public health threat for at least 20 years now, since the virus infected some 18 people in China. Much recently, in 2022, the United States recorded its first human infection of avian influenza. Then, this April, a man in the US state of Texas contracted the disease from cows, creating an alarm in the global health community.
Although the virus mainly spreads among birds, its pan-zootic profile is not unknown. But with every transmission to humans from a mammalian species, it becomes certain that H5N1 is growing more adaptive and the possibility of a human-to-human transmi...