Release date: 2014-05-09
Antarctic penguins are embarrassing and lovable, but a recent study has linked it to the smell of avian flu. A new study shows Australian researchers at Adelie Penguin On the body, a new type of bird flu virus that has never been seen before was discovered for the first time. Although avian influenza virus antibodies have been tested on penguins in the past, it is the first time that a virus has survived.
The findings were published in the American Society of Microbiology mBio journal titled "Detection of Evolutionarily Distinct Avian Influenza A Viruses in Antarctica."
Previously, researchers have always suspected that the Antarctic penguin carries the bird flu virus because the blood samples of the animal showed flu antibodies, but the scientists did not find the real virus. The study first discovered an unprecedented new avian influenza virus carried by penguins, but the penguin itself did not cause disease due to the virus. Preliminary studies have shown that the virus is associated with avian influenza in North America.
“We found the virus to be completely different from the virus found elsewhere in the world,†said Aeron Hurt, a senior scientist at the WHO Collaborating Centre in Melbourne, Australia. “We sketched the evolutionary tree and hoped to understand the evolution of the virus, but The results show that all genes are different from modern (avian flu) in the southern hemisphere or the northern hemisphere."
The Hurt team collected blood samples from hundreds of penguins and samples of throat, cloacal swabs, and found eight positive for avian influenza virus.
The researchers conducted an in-depth genetic analysis and compared the existing human and animal virus databases. Four of the samples were found to be the first to be detected. The closest virus "relative" was the bird flu that appeared in the 1960s. H3N8, "We estimate that each gene fragment has a branch with its closest genetic relationship in 49-80 years, indicating that our understanding of the avian flu virus has a huge gap in this part," the authors are in them. The report wrote.
In addition, the study also showed that the other two segments of the new virus's genetic map indicate that the new virus and the South American avian flu virus may be distant relatives.
The team also pointed out that the infected penguins did not show symptoms. When the researchers let the ferrets contact the virus, the ferrets were not infected with the flu, indicating that the virus would not be transmitted to mammals.
However, there are still many doubts about this discovery, such as when the avian flu virus is transmitted to the Antarctic and whether the ecological environment of the Antarctic can allow the avian flu virus to grow and mutate.
Source: ebiotrade
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