December 21st, 2009 
Press C.A. Nidom, head of the Avian Influenza Laboratorium at the University of Airlangga, in Indonesia, has found the H5N1 Bird Flu virus in dozens of cats in various cities from Java to Sumatra.
Some 500 cats were tested and about 20 per cent were found to carry the virus.
This shows that it is evolving and that there is a possibility that the virus might be able to affect humans not only through poultry but also through cats.
Cats, Nidom clarified, are much closer to humans than birds, but further studies are needed before one can be sure whether they can pass on the disease or not.
Tested cats were eventually released.
Either of two simple bird flu virus mutations could trigger a deadly pandemic, Japanese scientists warn.
Both mutations already have popped up in humans infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus.
These mutants seem capable of replicating in humans — “an essential indicator of pandemic potential,” the researchers report.
Flu viruses attach to receptor molecules on the outside of cells that line the airway.
Yamada and colleagues manipulated H5N1 viruses in the laboratory to see what it would take to make a bird flu virus do this.
They found that either of two mutations — single amino-acid changes at specific places in the viral DNA — did the trick.
Yamada and colleagues report their findings in the Nov. 16 issue of the journal Nature.
To make sure you are fully prepared for the crisis check out : Bird Flu Preparations
Tom Cruse writes health articles for Only-Health
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