Bird flu capable of airborne transmission: Dutch researchers

Experiments have found that the H5N1 avian influenza virus can be transmitted to humans through air, upsetting existing theories that the highly pathogenic virus infects humans through contact with infected birds.

A research team led by Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said in a thesis published in Thursday`s edition of the journal Science that they found the lethal virus is capable of airborne transmission. They mutated five genes of the H5N1 virus and infected weasels with it.

The researchers mutated genes of the H5N1 virus and injected it into a weasel, then later extracted the virus. By repeating the process 10 times, they generated a mutated virus.

Fouchier said in the thesis, “We have confirmed that while undergoing mutation, the H5N1 is transmitted through air.”

According to the World Health Organization, the bird flu virus infected 606 people in 15 countries from 2003 through June 7 this year. Among them, 357 people died, or 58.9 percent.

Yoo Cheon-kwon, in charge of biosafety assessment at the Korea National Institute of Health, said, “It remains to be seen if the study results will help cut the H5N1 infection rate or be abused to raise the rate.”

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