NEW DELHI: Bird flu viruses can replicate at temperatures higher than a typical fever -- one of the body's ways of stopping viruses in their tracks --, increasing the threat to humans, according to new research.
Human flu viruses, which cause seasonal flu, are known as influenza A viruses.
Fever protects against severe infection from human-origin flu viruses, with just a 2 degrees C increase in body temperature enough to turn a lethal infection into a mild disease.
Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Glasgow, UK, showed that while raising body temperature to fever levels is effective at stopping human-origin flu viruses from replicating, it is unlikely to stop avian or bird flu viruses.
Unlike human flu viruses, avian influenza viruses tend to thrive in the lower respiratory tract. In fact, in their natural hosts, which include ducks and seagulls, the virus often infects the gut, where temperatures can be as high as 40 to 42 degrees C.