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H5N1 (“bird flu”) influenza virus has rapidly spread among millions of wild birds and farm poultry globally. However, only about 600 human cases have been reported, all in people who were in very close contact with birds. The human mortality rate has been nearly 60%. If this lethal virus mutated in such a way that it could spread easily among humans, the result could be a calamitous pandemic.
Although H5N1 is not yet readily transmissible between humans, two new studies indicate that it might indeed become capable of causing a pandemic. These studies generated considerable controversy recently: Some experts argued against their publication, on grounds that the methods could be copied by terrorists.
A Dutch team introduced specific mutations i…