As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, researchers say it is important to track how the coronavirus mutates because it could affect the efficacy of a vaccine. Like all living cells, viruses evolve their ...

At least 58 people in the U.S. have been infected by the H5N1 bird flu virus this year, according to federal statistics. All but two of them had been around cows or chickens, two species in which H5N1 ...

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Bluesky. You can reach Helen on ...

The new updated COVID-19 vaccines for 2025-2026 will be available in the fall. Here are answers to some of the most common ...

Samples from human patients infected with bird flu show the virus has mutated in ways that could make it easier for humans to contract, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The virus ...

A new variant of avian influenza affecting dairy cattle in Nevada has a genetic mutation that could make it easier for the ...

A 13-year-old girl in British Columbia who was hospitalized with bird flu for several weeks late last year harbored a mutated version of the virus, according to a report published this week in the New ...

H5N1 bird flu samples collected from a severely ill patient in Louisiana show signs of mutations that may make the virus more transmissible to humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

A mutation on the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19 could help it infect the brain by forcing it to use a cellular "back door." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn ...

Scientists have discovered that H5N1, the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus currently spreading in U.S. dairy cows, only needs a single mutation to readily latch on to human cells ...