FLICKR, LIVING OFF GRID
The H5N1 Type A influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is mutating faster in countries that have been implementing wide-scale, but incomplete, vaccinations of poultry, according to a report published online in Vaccine (October 12). The genetic changes accrued by the viruses rendered the vaccinations ineffective, and increased the risk that the virus could jump to humans.
That spotty vaccination campaigns seem "to favor viral mutation, has been suspected for a long time, but this is the first study which is providing hard evidence for it," Marisa Peyre, a researcher with the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development who was not involved in the research, said in an email.
Bird flu has plagued poultry farmers for years, wiping out entire stocks, and occasionally jumping ...
