Human noses too cold for bird flu

Human flu viruses thrive in the conditions in the nose
BBC News

Bird flu may not have become the threat to humans that some predicted because our noses are too cold for the virus to thrive, UK researchers say.

An Imperial College London recreation of the nose's environment found that at 32 degrees Celsius, avian flu viruses lose function and cannot spread.

It is likely that the viruses have adapted to suit the warmer 40 degree environments in the guts of birds.

A mutation would be needed before bird flu became a human problem, they said.

Published in the journal PLoS Pathogens, the study also found that human viruses are affected by the colder temperatures found in the nose but to nowhere near the same extent.

In effect, human viruses are still able to replicate and spread under those conditions, the researchers said.

Both viruses were able to grow well at 37 degrees - human core body temperature and equivalent to the environment in the lungs. Read more...