Human Lungs Resist Avian Flu Infection - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today

Human Lungs Resist Avian Flu Infection - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today: "MADISON, Wis., March 22 - People anxiously watching the skies for the arrival of sick migratory birds can relax, just a bit, if research here pans out on where avian flu resides in the human airway.

The research reported in the March 23 issue of Nature shows that the human airway isn't particularly hospitable to the bird flu virus.

Unlike most human influenza strains, which can infect cells high in the airway, the avian flu prefers cells that are mainly found deep in the lungs, according to Yoshihiro Kawaoka, D.V.M., Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The finding may explain why human-to-human transmission of the virus so far has been rare, said Dr. Kawaoka and colleagues."