Originally published on February 12, 2014
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Chinese scientists released a report in the medical journal Lancet detailing the genetic composition of a new kind of H10N8 bird flu virus, a novel reassortant of previously reported H10N8 viruses.
To date, two human cases of the new kind of H10N8 virus have been discovered in Nanchang, China. A 73-year-old woman died nine days after exhibiting influenza symptoms in December last year. The other patient, a woman aged 55, is now in stable condition.
H10N8, just like other influenza viruses, consists of hemagglutinin protein, neuraminidase protein and internal genes.
In the report published in Lancet", the research team discovered that the haemagglutinin gene of H10N8 virus, which allows the virus to latch onto a host cell, is most closely related to H10N3 virus, which was found in ducks in Hunan Province, China.
H10N8's neuraminidase proteins, which enables the virus to leave the host cell and attack other cells, are highly similar to those of an H10N8 virus isolated from a mallard in Korea, and an H3N8 virus, which was detected among birds in Japan.
The research showed that all six internal genes of the H10N8 virus closely resemble the H9N2 viruses that are circulating in poultry in China. The genes also carry PB2 proteins, which make adaptation to mammalian hosts easier.
Though no evidence of human-to-human transmission has been found so far, scientists warn that its pandemic potential should not be underestimated.
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