H5N1 avian influenza virus particles,coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM). Each virus particle consists of ribonucleic acid (RNA),surrounded by a nucleocapsid and a lipid envelope (blue). The natural hosts of this virus are wild birds,which show few symptoms. However,infected domestic birds suffer a 90-100 per cent mortality rate. Humans that have contact with infected birds can become infected. The first such infection was identified in South-East Asia in 1997,and the virus has steadily spread across the world,with an outbreak in a poultry farm in the UK in 2007. There are fears that the virus may mutate into a human-transmissible form,which could lead to millions of deaths worldwide | |
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Credit: | Science Photo Library / AMI Images |
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