Detection of genetically modified H5N1 virus

Scientists have found genetically modified strains of bird flu in two patients in Egypt. They are able to resist drugs commonly used to treat bird flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced.

However, WHO officials confirmed that the genetic changes in H5N1 were not breakthrough, so they could not cause a pandemic.

Specimens taken from two bird flu patients in Egypt - a 16-year-old girl and her 26-year-old uncle - do not react to Tamiflu, the drug used to treat bird flu, officials said. said.

In the first case of H5N1 flu detected in Egypt in March 2006 (photo: middle-east-online)

The girl and uncle died at the end of December last year. Earlier, her 35-year-old doctor also died despite not being identified as infected with the H5N1 virus. All three people - living together in the Gharbiyah province of Egypt - in turn fell ill just a few days after contacting sick ducks.

"Based on the information we have, we cannot rule out the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus , " said Dr. Fred Hayden, WHO's avian influenza expert.

Viral transmission from human to human is very rare. Most bird flu patients are infected with the virus due to direct contact with poultry. However, scientists fear that H5N1 could be transformed into a virus that can easily spread from person to person, causing a global pandemic.

The strains of Tamiflu-resistant viruses in Egypt may have changed after patients were treated with the drug, which is a direct response to the drug, Hayden conjectured. But this is just an unproven hypothesis. The more worrisome scenario is the resistant strains of virus that are raging in birds.

So far, Tamiflu is still the only medicine used to fight H5N1. But experts will have to consider other options if they continue to detect resistant strains of the virus.

Because avian influenza viruses evolve continuously, the changes are only worrisome if they help to enhance the virus's ability to infect or develop resistance.

Hayden said the virus changes in Egypt are completely different from the Tamiflu resistant strains found in Vietnam two years ago. The H5N1 strains in Vietnam exhibit very strong resistance, and Tamiflu resistance levels in Egypt strains are only moderate.

Viet Linh