sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Re: Indonesian researchers: BF could be more easily transmitted
Before they die they re-infect the wild birds which keeps the cycle going.
Researchers seem to find H5N1 in backyard poultry in Indonesia wherever they look for it. I suspect the viral load in the environment is huge. I also wonder about the suggestion people are becoming infected from exposure to fewer diseased birds. Leaving aside the question of whether the virus has become better adapted to infecting humans, if people ARE becoming infected more easily, I wonder whether it's because they're picking up the virus from other vectors and/or contaminated soil/dust as well as infected poultry? I would have thought that once the virus replicates within poultry and reaches a certain threshold of viraemia, infected poultry simply keel over and die, therefore, there is a limit on the amount of virus they can carry. Kenny D.
Before they die they re-infect the wild birds which keeps the cycle going.