Single mutation in H5N1 bird flu virus may make it more infectious to humans, study finds

A study published Thursday contains a sobering piece of news about the H5N1 bird flu viruses circulating in cows in the United States: A single mutation in the hemagglutinin, the main protein on H5N1’s exterior, could turn a virus that is currently not well equipped to infect people into one that is much more capable of doing so.

Scientists from Scripps Research, in La Jolla, Calif., reported in the journal Science that one mutation in the hemagglutinin changed the type of cell receptors that the virus is best suited to attach to, switching its preference from those found in birds to those that abound in the human upper respiratory tract. 

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