DNA points to poultry markets as H7N9 transmission route
HKU flu virologist who helped crack genetic code of H7N9 says evidence suggests wild birds do not play a role in transmission of the virus
A Hong Kong professor who was among the first to crack the DNA code of the H7N9 virus suspects poultry farms are the direct transmission route of the current outbreak and it has little to do with wild birds.
In order to trace the route of infection and control the virus, the next step would be to investigate poultry markets and then farms - a difficult task that would require extensive sampling, said Malik Peiris, a flu virologist at the University of Hong Kong.
It is unlikely wild birds are involved in the transmission route, as this particular H7N9 gene pattern has not been found in them so far.
However, wild birds may have been part of the gene reassortment process that occurred earlier. The virus most likely originated from wild birds in Europe and Asia.
There is no evidence of human to human transmission at the moment, but that risk would rise if people are infected.
More cases would make mutations more likely, increasing the chance it will become transmittable between humans.