Mutations Seen In Bird Flu Virus In First Severe Human Case In US, CDC Says

Reuters (12/26, Singh) reports that the CDC “said on Thursday its analysis of samples from the first severe case of bird flu in the country last week showed mutations not seen in samples from an infected backyard flock on the patient’s property.” The agency “said the patient’s sample showed mutations in the hemagglutinin...gene, the part of the virus that plays a key role in it attaching to host cells.”