U of Maryland – A new study by University of Maryland researchers suggests that the potential for an avian influenza virus to cause a human flu pandemic is greater than previously thought. Results also illustrate how the current swine flu outbreak likely came about. This graphic shows why the Type A virus can't be eradicated. (U of Maryland) READ ALSO: Herbal soup fights flu A, perhaps useful to guard off swine flu too? Common herb has flavonoids that fight flu virus New tech licensed to combat deadly swine flu virus Ginger does ward off flu: study As of now, avian flu viruses can infect humans who have contact with birds, but these viruses tend not to transmit easily between humans. However, in research recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor Daniel Perez from the University of Maryland showed that after reassortment with a human influenza virus, a process that usually takes place in intermediary species like pigs, an avian flu virus requires relatively few mutations to spread rapidly between mammals by respiratory droplets. “This is similar to the method by which the current swine influenza strain likely formed,” said Perez, program director of the University of Maryland-based Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project, AICAP.

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