New H5N1 Photos Available

From The Age:


The first high-resolution close-up photographs of the H5N1 avian flu virus, taken by science photographer Lennart Nilsson, appeared in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyeter (DN) today, in what the newspaper said was a world exclusive. The photos show the virus as a string of blue balls attacking and destroying healthy pink cells.

Scientists fear that avian flu could cause a world pandemic if it cross with human strains and mutates into a form easily passed between people.

The H5N1 strain, which has killed over 60 people in southeast Asia since 2003, has spread as far west as Croatia, apparently carried by migratory birds. DN's science correspondent Karin Bojs said the 83-year-old photographer initially approached US laboratories for a sample of the virus but was turned down.

In the end he obtained samples from the World Health Organisation which were then cultivated at Stockholm's Institut Karolinska in Stockholm, which awards the annual Nobel science prize.