A mutation that helped enable airborne transmission of the H5N1 flu virus between ferrets nearly obliterates the ability of the virus to latch onto avian cells. At the same time, the mutation slightly boosts the virus's ability to infect human cells, researchers report April 24 in Nature. The finding follows up on controversial research published last year that transformed the H5N1 virus, a microbe usually restricted to birds, into one that could spread between ferrets through the air (SN: 6/2/12, p. 20; 7/14/12, p. 8). The mammals are commonly used as stand-ins for humans in flu research.
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