In severe bird flu cases, the virus can mutate as it lingers in the body. As the seasonal flu picks up, there are even more opportunities for the bird flu to acquire mutations as the different influenza viruses mix, experts say to NBC News. - ThreadSky

hmpxvt.bsky.social • 88 days ago

In severe bird flu cases, the virus can mutate as it lingers in the body.

As the seasonal flu picks up, there are even more opportunities for the bird flu to acquire mutations as the different influenza viruses mix, experts say to NBC News.

Comments

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

Viruses replicate in any body they infect, but have more chances to do so in people who are immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions that make it more difficult for their immune system to fight off a virus.

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

As the virus lingers, it replicates again and again, occasionally creating mutations that can make the virus more adept at spreading.

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

“RNA viruses like influenza have these enzymes that basically can’t spell-check themselves, so they make a lot of mistakes and mutations inevitably emerge,” said Angie Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

“If you get infected with H5N1 and at the same time get infected with seasonal flu, it’s like shuffling two decks of cards together when they replicate, that can be extremely dangerous,” she said.

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

This phenomenon is called reassortment. The 2009 swine flu outbreak is thought to have been the result of reassortment between avian, swine and human influenza viruses.

hmpxvt.bsky.social•88 days ago

“We already know that reassortment sometimes is really beneficial for the virus and it allows it to make a big evolutionary leap forward much more quickly than random mutations."

jennofark.bsky.social•88 days ago

This will become a human pandemic in less than 6 months.

thirdzenith.bsky.social•88 days ago

Not to mention when it lingers in people who are co-infected with a variety of long-term viruses from Covid to HIV to herpes to RSV and HPV. We are rolling the dice to grow a super virus, and nobody cares.

collapsewatch3.bsky.social•88 days ago

If there had been fewer alarms issued by the medical community and the media about this, that or the other virus becoming a PANdemic, we might take serious threats seriously.

Ebola, Zika, mpox West Nile, Marburg, MERS etc

A PANDEMIC is exceedingly rare. No hysteria please. Just the facts.