A new strain of bird flu is unlikely to pose a major threat to human health, British researchers revealed last night.
The H10N8 virus was first detected in humans in December when a patient in China died from pneumonia.
One other person has since died from the disease and a third was also diagnosed with it.
The study of the new virus by scientists from the UK Medical Research Council suggests it is much better able to infect birds than humans – by a factor of 150 times.
In contrast those kinds of flu which cause human epidemics tend to be much more attracted to human cells than those of birds – by factors of up to 100 times, the researchers say.
The findings were published in Nature.
Dr John McCauley, director of the World Health Organisation Influenza Centre in London, UK, said: "We pay special attention to viruses that show changes in receptor binding preference because it is likely to be a requirement for more efficient transmission to humans. A change in receptor binding is the essential first step in generating a pandemic virus."
And Professor Paul Moss, from the Medical Research Council, said: "Their work here shows exactly how the latest influenza virus identified from birds is able to bind to human cells.
"The work will be very important in allowing us to monitor for mutations that could lead to the virus gaining the ability to spread between humans."
Receptor binding by H10 influenza viruses. Nature 29 May 2014; doi:10.1038/nature13443
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