Even as we all become mired in discussions of the Middle East conflict, hope someone over here is paying attention to this. From Reuters:

Multiple mutations in Indonesian bird flu strain

Multiple mutations have been found in the H5N1 bird flu virus that killed seven family members in Indonesia although scientists are unsure of their significance, a leading science journal said on Thursday.

But researchers believe the findings reinforce the need for bird flu data to be more widely available to improve understanding of the deadly virus.

“The functional significance of the mutations isn’t clear — most of them seem unimportant,” the journal Nature said in a report in the latest issue on Thursday.

An analysis of virus samples from six of the eight members of the family showed 32 mutations accumulated as it spread, according to the confidential research obtained by Nature.
(…)
“One of the mutations confers resistance to the antiviral drug amantadine, a fact not mentioned in the WHO statement,” the journal said.
(…)
The mutations found in the virus from the Indonesian cluster were not significant enough for the virus to spread beyond the family.

Virologists contacted by Nature said part of the reason the significance of the mutations is unclear is because withholding the information has hampered the study of the virus.

Nasty little things, viruses. For one as lethal as H5N1 to mutate and become resistant to a major anti-viral drug is more than worrisome, but perhaps this is why that is so:

Recently, amantadine is reported to have been used in China poultry farming in an effort to protect the birds against avian flu. In western countries and according to international livestock regulations, amantadine is approved only for use in humans. Chickens in China have received an estimated 2.6 billion doses of amantadine.

The report goes on to say that in the 2005/2006 flu season, the CDC released a report that Amantadine resistance to the most prevalent human flus at the time was at 92%. Guess we can scratch one anti-viral!

Still, the Indonesian experience “reinforce[s] the need for bird flu data to be more widely available to improve understanding of the deadly virus”, that’s a fact. China is one of the big blockers of avian flu samples and data. That needs to end, soon . . . (db)

Technorati Tags: H5N1, Avian Flu, Avian Flu Virus Mutation, Indonesia, China

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