Bird Flu Monitor > Small changes stop flu virus spread, study finds

[Philly Pharm Bio Blog] WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two little changes in the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic stopped it from spreading from one animal to another, a finding that may help determine what will cause the next pandemic, scientists reported on Thursday. Researchers who have been studying a reconstructed version of the 1918 virus found it very easy to stop it from spreading from one infected ferret to another -- although the altered viruses still quickly killed the animals.

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Nature.comhttp://www.nature.com [Nature.com] news @ nature.com - Bird flu 2005: the ongoing story - News@nature ...: newRows += getNewSubRow('DarksideoftheUniverse', '/news/infocus/DarksideoftheUniverse.html', 'Dark side of the Universe'); newRows += getNewSubRow('dinosaurs', '/news/infocus/dinosaurs.html', 'Dinosaurs'); newRows += getNewSubRow('climatechange', '/news/infocus/climatechange.html', 'Climate change'); newRows += getNewSubRow('futurecomputing', '/news/infocus/futurecomputing.html', 'Future computing'); newRows += getNewSubRow('antibiotics', '/news/infocus/antibiotics.html', 'Antibiotics'); newRows += getNewSubRow('stemcells', '/news/infocus/stemcells.html', 'Stem cells'); newRows += getNewSubRow('birdflu', '/news/infocus/birdflu.html', 'Bird flu');

Worldchanging.comhttp://www.worldchanging.com [Worldchanging.com] WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green ...: Start where your audience startsInstead of ignoring the fact that people think flu is minor, or berating people for thinking that flu is minor, acknowledge that even some public health authorities use the term "flu" in ways that minimize its seriousness. (A senior U.S. health official recently apologized for his wife's absence at an event by saying she was home with "a stomach flu"—a misnomer.) After making common cause with the public—"we have all ignored influenza for too long"—talk about how horrific the next flu pandemic may be compared with the annual flu.

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