Tropism of avian influenza A (H5N1) in the upper and lower respiratory tract

J M Nicholls., etc.,al. Tropism of avian influenza A (H5N1) in the upper and lower respiratory tract. Nature Brief Communication
submited by kickingbird at Jan, 24, 2007 9:14 AM from Nature Brief Communication

Poor human-to-human transmission of influenza A H5N1 virus has been attributed to the paucity of putative sialic acid 2-3 virus receptors in the epithelium of the human upper respiratory tract, and thus to the presumed inability of the virus to replicate efficiently at this site. We now demonstrate that ex vivo cultures of human nasopharyngeal, adenoid and tonsillar tissues can be infected with H5N1 viruses in spite of an apparent lack of these receptors.