The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that while the risk of human to human transmission remains low, experts and officials must be aware of the risk that mutations in the virus ...

Avian influenza viruses typically require several mutations to adapt and spread among humans, but what happens when just one change can increase the risk of becoming a pandemic virus? A recent study ...

This month’s story comes from the Bloom lab using their signature deep mutational scanning technique to identify mutations in the surface protein of Lassa virus -called glycoprotein- that escape ...

A new study has raised alarm bells about the potential for the H5N1 bird flu virus to evolve into a strain sparking a human pandemic. A single mutation in the virus currently ravaging dairy farms ...

Fallout‘s Forced Evolutionary Virus, or FEV, is an artificial megavirus created by West-Tek’s NBC Division in the mid-2070s. It’s transmissible by injection, direct contact, or an aerosol solution.

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on ...

The avian flu virus isolated from a hospitalized teenager in Vancouver has mutations in key areas that could help the virus spread more easily in humans, scientists say. There is no indication that ...

Viruses closely related to the deadly MERS coronavirus are lurking in bats and one group, known as HKU5, may be just one mutation away from making the jump to humans. A new study reveals how these ...

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that a Louisiana resident had been hospitalized with the first severe case of avian influenza — also known as “bird ...

Scientists have discovered that H5N1, the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus currently spreading in U.S. dairy cows, only needs a single mutation to readily latch on to human cells ...

Receptor binding site of the A/Texas/37/2024 hemagglutinin Leu226 mutant (yellow) in complex with the human receptor analog LSTc (cyan). LA JOLLA, CA—Avian influenza viruses typically require several ...