Why is duck flu flu better than other poultry?

An international team of scientists said it was possible to decipher the duck's genome to help its immune system fight off many types of flu viruses.

This work is in the framework of a study of the natural origin of avian influenza.

Ducks and other poultry are hosts that carry many types of influenza viruses. These viruses can invade pigs or humans, then transform into many other dangerous strains. However, there are ducks that are immune to many viruses, as seen in the recent H7N9 flu case in China.

According to the new work published in the June 9 issue of Nature Genetics, the researchers reported that the DNA of a 10-week-old Beijing female duck was decoded and the immune system genome was identified The effect helps animals protect themselves from influenza viruses. Many of these genes were not found in chickens or sparrows, the species were previously studied.

In addition, scientists have found that the chromosome of a duck has several pairs of this type of gene, not just a single gene, which explains why ducks are able to immunity better than chickens Turkey. Since then, they have concluded that ducks are equipped with "optimal immune system" against flu.

However, scientists have yet to explain why this immune system is still disabled by the H5N1 strain, while proving effective for some weaker strains.

H5N1 flu broke out in 1997, starting with poultry markets in Hong Kong (China). Do not spread from person to person but this strain of influenza is especially dangerous if accidentally infected. Statistics show that there are more than 600 cases of people infected with influenza, of which the mortality rate is up to 60%.