Deadly bird flu virus mutation discovered (The Japan Times) Japanese and Vietnamese scientists have identified a mutation of an H5N1 avian flu virus that can grow in the human upper respiratory tracts. [News Source]

Bird flu virus mutates into a strain more infectious to humans (Independent) The bird flu virus H5N1 has mutated into a form that makes it more infectious to humans, increasing the risk of a human pandemic, researchers have found. [News Source]

Bird flu likely behind death in Indonesia (UPI) Health officials in the Indonesian province of Riau said they suspect that a man who died there Friday had been infected with the bird flu virus. [News Source]

New mutation of bird flu virus can more easily infect people (Los Angeles Times) The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said Thursday. [News Source]

Researchers identify key step bird flu virus takes to spread readily in humans (PhysOrg) Since it first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, the H5N1 avian flu virus has been slowly evolving into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans. The final form of the virus, biomedical researchers fear, will be a highly pathogenic strain of influenza that spreads easily among humans. [News Source]

Bird flu breakthrough at UW (The Capital Times) Researchers from the UW-Madison have identified a key step that the avian flu virus would have to take to be able to transmit easily from person to person -- which could result in an international pandemic. The researchers, led by internationally known virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, have identified a single change in a viral protein that facilitates the virus' ability to infect the cells of the ... [News Source]

Bird flu virus becoming more dangerous: study (CTV.ca) The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has a way to go to transform into a pandemic strain, U.S. researchers claim. [News Source]

Researchers identify key step bird flu virus takes to spread readily in humans (University of Wisconsin – Madison) Since it first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, the H5N1 avian flu virus has been slowly evolving into a pathogen better equipped to infect humans. The final form of the virus, biomedical researchers fear, will be a highly pathogenic strain of influenza that spreads easily among humans. [News Source]

Bird flu becoming riskier for humans (AAP via Yahoo!7 News) The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers say. [News Source]

Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form. The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said on Thursday. [News Source]

Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form (SABC News) The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said yesterday. [News Source]

Bird flu virus mutating into human-unfriendly form (Reuters via Yahoo! News) The H5N1 bird flu virus has mutated to infect people more easily, although it still has not transformed into a pandemic strain, researchers said on Thursday. [News Source]