A new study has revealed a potentially dangerous strain of bird flu that infected a farm worker through contact with dairy cows. The virus, which caused mild eye inflammation in the worker, proved deadly in laboratory animals, according to research published in the scientific journal Nature.
The virus, named huTX37-H5N1, was isolated from the worker’s eye and studied by scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and collaborators from Japanese institutions. Their findings revealed the virus can spread through the air between animals and might be able to infect human respiratory cells, according to the study.
The study was announced in a Monday news release from the National Institutes of Health. It noted that the virus isolated from the worker has a mutation often seen in bird flu viruses that can affect mammals, where boosted virus growth and production can pose a risk for humans.
According to their findings, scientists tested the virus on mice and ferrets in a secure laboratory. They found that even a tiny amount of the virus was lethal to mice, infecting all 15 types of tissues they examined. The virus was especially prevalent in the animals’ respiratory system, according to the results.
The virus was also deadly in ferrets, which react to the flu similarly to humans. All infected ferrets died within five days, with high levels of the virus found in their respiratory systems, the study reports.
To test how easily the virus could spread, the researchers placed healthy ferrets near infected ones. They found that between 17 percent and 33 percent of the healthy ferrets became infected through airborne transmission, depending on the amount of virus the sick ferrets had been given. The study suggests the virus can spread between mammals through the air, but not very efficiently.
The scientists also discovered that the virus is vulnerable to some antiviral drugs, including favipiravir and baloxavir marboxil (brand name Xofluza). However, researchers noted it is affected less by the common flu drug oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu.
Despite the virus’s deadly effect on lab animals, the farm worker who was infected did not become seriously ill. Researchers think this might be because the worker only got a small amount of the virus in his eye. They also suggest that exposure to regular flu viruses might increase some people’s immunity against this new strain, but more research is needed to confirm this, according to the study.
In the same news release, the authors of the study emphasized the importance of limiting human exposure to this virus.
“Based on these observations, every effort should be made to contain HPAI H5N1 outbreaks in dairy cattle to limit the possibility of further human infections,” they said.
The study was largely funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, through its Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response program, according to the news release.
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