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The author discusses the need to further research on transmissible avian flu viruses in order to prevent future pandemics. He mentions that they generated viruses that combined the H5 haemagglutinin (HA) gene with the remaining genes from a pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. He asserts that results have shown that not all transmissible H5 HA-possessing viruses are lethal.

Abstract: A novel influenza (H1N1) virus caused an influenza pandemic in 2009, while highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have continued to infect humans since 1997. Influenza, therefore, remains a serious health threat. Currently, neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors are the mainstay for influenza therapy; however, drug-resistant mutants of seasonal H1N1 and H5N1 viruses have emerged highlighting the need for alternative therapeutic approaches. One such approach is antibody immunotherapy. Here, we show that the monoclonal antibody C179, which recognizes a neutralizing epitope common among H1, H2, H5, and H6 hemagglutinins (HAs), protected mice from a lethal challenge with various H5N1 and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 viruses when administered either intraperitoneally or intranasally. The protective efficacy of intranasally inoculated C179 was comparable to that of intraperitoneal administration. Our results suggest that direct administration of this anti-influenza antibody to viral replication sites is an effective strategy for prophylaxis and therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]