Duck Genome Takes Aim at Avian Influenza

As part of an investigation into a natural source for avian influenza, an international team of scientists had sequenced the genome of the duck.

Ducks and other fowl are carriers of bird flu virus, which can mix among pigs and humans in close proximity, mutating into more dangerous forms.

Source of H7N9 Avian Influenza Identified
Researchers have ascribed H7N9 source to genetic reassortment of wild birds from east Asia and chickens from east China.

But, intriguingly, these birds are often immune to the virus they carry, as appears to be the case with the newly emerged H7N9 strain in China.

Publishing in the journal Nature Genetics, researchers said they had unravelled the DNA code of a 10-week-old female Beijing duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and identified immune-system genes that defend the bird against flu infection.

Many of these genes are not found in chicken and the zebra finch, whose genomes have previously been transcribed, the scientists found.

Experts Believe That Migratory Birds Might Have Carried Avian Influenza into China
An expert with the country's agricultural ministry has said that migratory birds may have carried the H7N9 avian influenza virus into China.

In addition, the duck's chromosomes show that it has pairs of some of these genes, rather than a single gene -- and this could explain why it appears to have a better shield against flu than chickens and turkeys.

Overall, ducks have an "optimised immune system" against flu, says the study.

New Experimental Vaccine Against Avian Influenza
A newly developed experimental vaccine was found to block the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus, say researchers.

For reasons that are unclear, though, the system can be sidestepped by the highly pathogenic form of H5N1 bird flu but not by the weaker type, it says.

H5N1 bird flu first erupted as a health scare among poultry in live markets in Hong Kong in 1997.

Novel Inhaled Drug Found Effective Against H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus
Researchers have found a novel compound highly effective against the pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, including some drug-resistant strains.

It is not very contagious among humans but is extremely dangerous if infection does occur. Out of more than 600 recorded cases of H5N1 among humans, almost 60 percent have been fatal.

Source-AFP