Tarkistan missä vaiheessa on lintuinfluenssa.Edelleen Alert

http://www.who.int/influenza/preparedness/pandemic/h5n1phase/en/
SITAATTI

Current WHO global phase of pandemic alert: Avian Influenza A(H5N1)

Current phase of global alert according to criteria described in the WHO Pandemic Influenza Risk Management Interim Guidance

The pandemic influenza phases reflect WHO’s risk assessment of the global situation regarding each influenza virus with pandemic potential that is infecting humans. These assessments are made initially when such viruses are identified and are updated based on evolving virological, epidemiological and clinical data. The phases provide a high-level, global view of the evolving picture.
As pandemic viruses emerge, countries and regions face different risks at different times. For that reason, countries are strongly advised to develop their own national risk assessments based on local circumstances, taking into consideration the information provided by the global assessments produced by WHO. Risk management decisions by countries are therefore expected to be informed by global risk assessments, but based on local risk assessments.

The current WHO phase of pandemic alert for avian influenza A(H5N1) is: ALERT

Alert phase: This is the phase when influenza caused by a new subtype¹ has been identified in humans. Increased vigilance and careful risk assessment, at local, national and global levels, are characteristic of this phase. 
If the risk assessments indicate that the new virus is not developing into a pandemic strain, a de-escalation of activities towards those in the interpandemic phase may occur.
Please consult the interim guidance document for complete information on pandemic phases:

• Pandemic Influenza Risk Management - WHO Interim Guidance

More information on avian influenza H5N1 in humans can be found at the:

• Influenza at the Human-Animal Interface (HAI) page

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¹ The IHR (2005) Annex 2 includes “human influenza caused by a new subtype” among the four specified diseases for which a case is necessarily considered “unusual or unexpected and may have serious public health impact, and thus shall be notified” in all circumstances to WHO.

Eräs hyönteisvirus hankkii DNA-materiaalia hämähäkiltä.

An a very unusual case of genetic theft, a virus has been caught with a gene that codes for the poison of black widow spiders.
The chunks of arachnid DNA were probably stolen by the virus to help it punch through animal cells.
But its target is not the animal itself - the "WO" virus only infects bacteria living within insects and spiders.
It was a surprise because bacterial viruses were generally thought to steal DNA only from bacteria.
Writing in the journal Nature Communications, Sarah and Seth Bordenstein from Vanderbilt University in the US analysed the genome of WO, which belongs to a group of bacteria-infecting viruses known as bacteriophages.
WO targets the bacterium known as Wolbachia, which in turn infects the cells of insects and spiders.
The virus pinched a gene that codes for latrotoxin, the poison used by black widow spiders.
The toxin can break down the cell membranes of eukaryotes (the domain of life including animals, plants and fungi).
The researchers think the virus uses latrotoxin to enter animal cells and reach the bacteria that it targets. It may also enable the virus to exit cells when it needs to.
The finding is unusual because viruses that infect eukaryotes usually assimilate eukaryote genes and viruses that infect bacteria usually steal useful bacterial genes.
But the authors of the study say their result makes sense because WO has to contend with the defence mechanisms of two separate domains of life.
During its life cycle, the WO virus is exposed to the internal environment of insect and spider cells and the scientists found other genes in its DNA that may help the virus evade animals' immune systems.
BBC uutinen 12.10.2016