As bird flu infections rise in dairy cattle and chickens, human cases are ticking up too, leaving many people to wonder whether they might be at risk from this recently arrived virus.
H5N1, the bird flu virus behind the ongoing outbreak in the US, has really only demonstrated an affinity for the types of sialic acid receptors that are most plentiful in the respiratory tracts of birds.
A study published last week in the journal Science showed that just one key change to the virus' genetic material would allow it to attach to the kinds of sialic acids that are most common in the nose and lungs of people.
The United States' first severe case was announced this week in a person in Louisiana who remains hospitalized in critical condition.
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