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Yang
Qing-yao
VIRUSES
OFTHE
"BIRD
INFLUENZA'' AND INFLUENZA
EPIDEMIC
Microbiology
& lmmunology
Re-
search lnstitute, The
Shanghai
Teachers' University
Occurring first in
1878,
the
"bird
influenza"
is
due to the
very minute (100
nm)
avian influenza (Al) virus
of the
Orthomyxoviridae (A, B) group.
Con-
sisting
of
membrane
antigen
(MA), the
outer envelope bears Hemagglutinin
(H)
and Neuraminidase (N)
spikes.The
in-
ner
capsule
consists
of
nucleo-protein
(NP).
Single-stranded
ribonucleic acid
(RNA) forms the genetic components
ol
these
viruses.
Subscripts
of
"H"
and
"N"
subtype the virus. Whilst "antigenic
drift"
mutations are minor, "antigenic
shifts"
may
cause human
pandemics,
e.9.,
in
Guizhou Province by
H2N2
(1957); in Hong Kong by H3N2 (1968).
Unable to
multiply,
viruses must invade
host cells
by
digesting their "sialic acid"
layer with the "N"; RNA
transcription and
rapid
copying
are
assisted
by RNA
poly-
merase and
the
host's
messenger
RNA.
The
Al
devastates susceptible birds
or
fowls, with
occasional spread
to
mammals,
e.9., pigs, horses, sea otters,
minks, whales and humans (e.9., Hong
Kong,
1997).
With duo
infections,
"reassortment" or gene rearrangement
is most feared
-
potential for another
pandemic.
Like
other animal-origin dis-
eases (rabies, mad cow and
AIDS,
etc.),
the
influenza pandemics
of
1918
and
'1976
were
from
pigs
-
imperative
to segregate such
from
humans, espe-
cially children under
12
-
immunity still
immature.
For
the
elderly
or
infirm,
yunzhi has
been documented
to
en-
hance immunity.
^-.^--
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