Bats Flu Virus Found

World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning about the threat of an influenza virus that had been lodged in poultry and swine. The research team Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who worked with University of the Valley of Guatemala found that the virus infects the bat. 

New flu virus is found in bats. (Picture from: http://www.nation.com.pk/)

"It's too early mention of the impact bat flu virus to humans," said one researcher, Ruben Donis. The United States and Guatemala research team found bat flu virus after isolating it from the shoulders of small yellow bats in Guatemala. These bats of fruit-eating species. 

According to Donis, distribution, abundance, social behavior, and the ability to fly long distances to make a bat as a suitable host for the spread of the virus. 

Bat flu viruses are named using the letters H and N, such as the H1N1 for swine flu virus and H5N1 for bird flu virus on. Each letter represents a protein on the surface of the virus, the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. 

But the specification flu viruses have proteins that bats are much more unique. This virus has a unique H protein and ensure the new coding, namely H17. Bat flu virus also has the N protein that appears to be more ancient than any type of influenza virus A, influenza B virus than even that only infects humans. 

The researchers were not able to grow the flu virus in the laboratory bats, but they found that virus components can be combined with the common flu virus infect humans. This means the flu virus bat should be able to perform repeated modifications, as a number of different flu viruses both infect a single cell can exchange components and create new viruses with new properties. 

A similar process is proven capable of producing a dangerous virus strain that sparked the 2009 pandemic, the swine flu virus (H1N1). *** [LIVESCIENCE | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 3809]

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