Team Discovers Key Step In Flu Virus Replication

– The H5N1 Avian Flu Influenza virus is a latent plague just waiting to break out if and when it mutates into a form which can easily jump from human to human. I’ve written about this here: , and . So, any iinsights into how it works and how it can be subverted is great news.
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Science Daily As public health officials around the world keep a nervous eye on the spread of avian influenza, the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has uncovered a key step in how the influenza virus causes infection.

Yan Zhou and her team have discovered how a crucial pathway that supports the influenza A virus’s ability to reproduce itself is activated, a finding that could pave the way for new drugs and vaccines.

The paper will appear in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of General Virology and recently has been given advance on-line publication.

“The work we are doing will be applicable to all influenza viruses, including influenza A virus subtype H5N1,” said VIDO Director Lorne Babiuk.

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