Media Advisory
Friday, December 6, 2024
NIH-funded research finds threat of human an infection continues to stay low.
What
A single modification within the protein discovered on the floor of the extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 influenza virus at present circulating in U.S. dairy cows might enable for simpler transmission amongst people, in line with new analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and revealed at the moment within the journal Science. The research outcomes reinforce the necessity for continued, vigilant surveillance and monitoring of HPAI H5N1 for potential genetic modifications that would make the virus extra transmissible in people.
Current strains of the bovine (cow) H5N1 virus are usually not recognized to be transmissible amongst individuals; nevertheless, infections have occurred in individuals uncovered to contaminated wild birds, poultry, dairy cows and different mammals. As a part of pandemic preparedness efforts, researchers have monitored the H5N1 virus for years to grasp viral genetic mutations that happen in nature and what affect they might have on transmissibility.
Influenza viruses connect to cells with a floor viral protein referred to as hemagglutinin (HA). The HA latches on to sugar (glycan) molecule receptors on cells to trigger an infection. Avian (chicken) influenza viruses—like H5N1—haven’t contaminated individuals actually because the human higher respiratory tract lacks the avian-type cell receptors present in birds. Scientists are involved that viruses might evolve to acknowledge human-type cell receptors within the higher airways and purchase the power to contaminate individuals and unfold between them.
Scientists at Scripps Research used the H5N1 pressure remoted from the primary U.S. human an infection with the bovine pressure 2.3.4.4b (A/Texas/37/2024) to check how mutations within the HA gene sequence affected the binding of that protein with avian versus human-type cell receptors. The researchers launched a number of mutations into the viral HA protein that had been noticed to happen naturally prior to now and located that one mutation, referred to as Q226L, improved the power of the protein to connect to receptors usually discovered on human cells, particularly when a further mutation was current. Importantly, the researchers launched the genetic mutations solely into the HA floor protein and didn’t create or conduct experiments with an entire, infectious virus.
The experimental discovering with the Q226L mutation alone doesn’t imply HPAI H5N1 is on the verge of inflicting a widespread pandemic, the authors observe. Other genetic mutations would doubtless be required for the virus to transmit amongst individuals. In the setting of a rising variety of H5N1 human circumstances ensuing from direct contact with contaminated animals, the findings stress the significance of continued efforts at outbreak management and continued genomic surveillance to watch for the emergence of HPAI H5N1 genetic modifications and preserve public well being preparedness.
The analysis was funded partially by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), by way of its Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response program.
Article
T H Lin et al. A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 hemagglutinin switches specificity to human receptors. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.adt0180 (2024).
Who
NIAID Director Jeanne M. Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H., and Erik Stemmy, Ph.D., program officer within the Respiratory Diseases Branch of NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, can be found for touch upon the findings.
NIAID conducts and helps analysis—at NIH, all through the United States, and worldwide—to review the causes of infectious and immune-mediated ailments, and to develop higher technique of stopping, diagnosing and treating these diseases. News releases, truth sheets and different NIAID-related supplies can be found on the NIAID website.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation’s medical analysis company, contains 27 Institutes and Centers and is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the first federal company conducting and supporting primary, medical, and translational medical analysis, and is investigating the causes, remedies, and cures for each widespread and uncommon ailments. For extra details about NIH and its packages, go to www.nih.gov.
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