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And yet H5N1 virus has yet to spread between mammals, but an airborne version of H5N1 that can spread between ferrets(and by extension humans) was achieved in a
by baja_blast 4y ago
And yet H5N1 virus has yet to spread between mammals, but an airborne version of H5N1 that can spread between ferrets(and by extension humans) was achieved in a lab: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1213362?cookieSet=1 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1213362?cookieSe....
- bayesian_horse 4y agoYes. It has spread. And was very non-virulent. And they got valuable data on what to do when H5N1 does become transmissible in Humans. However, had this Virus escaped, it would have fizzled. Showing airborne transmission does not mean the Virus would spread among ferrets and Humans under normal conditions. Mammalian H5N1 viruses might have already existed but failed to survive subsequent passage and thus did not evolve to become transmissible enough. Such lab experiments only add a minuscule risk to the much bigger risk of such a Virus occurring naturally.