Aside from the economic implications of culling millions of birds due to avian flu outbreaks, the risk of increasing human infections has been a rising concern.
Now, a study from researchers in China and England has discovered that a subtype of avian flu virus, endemic in poultry farms in China, is undergoing mutational changes, which could increase the risk of the disease being passed on to humans.
Researchers also say that the findings raise concerns of a potential epidemic or pandemic in the making and that concerted research is necessary to monitor such viruses in poultry and humans closely.