Bird flu mixed with human flu lacks punch 18:04 01 August 2006 NewScientist.com news service Peter Aldhous Combining genes from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus with those from a common human flu virus does not seem to create strains with instant pandemic potential, researchers have found. H5N1 meets two of three requirements for a pandemic strain: it is highly pathogenic and unfamiliar to most people’s immune systems. If it also acquired the ability to transmit easily from person to person, H5N1 would threaten millions of lives. One way this could happen is if the virus swapped genes with human...