“A mutation cannot drastically affect virus behavior. The virus cannot change the tissues it infects or its mode of transmission through a mutation. If a mutation affects virus behavior at all, it usually makes the virus unable to propagate.”
You have a source for that or at least some key words for a
search. I seem I have read something quite different when I was
reading an article about the bird flue a while back.
First of all, a "flue" is the opening in a chimney that lets smoke out. I think what you mean is "flu."
The influenza virus is a special case, because there are many influenza viruses, and they swap genes with each other. When they swap genes, they make new influenza viruses that never existed before, and sometimes the new viruses are more deadly than either of the original viruses.
Even in influenza, no amount of mutation or gene trading has made influenza change the way it infects people. Influenza is a respiratory virus, and infects people through the eyes and nose.
Nevermind. I found the CDC report that pretty much says what you are saying.
I’ll put it up there as being about as accurate as the administrations, quarterly jobs report, unemployment figures, global warming predictions, NOAA and the Obama himself.
I had no idea that the administration, Obama, economists, etc., were qualified as infectious disease experts.
In any case, my information comes from the scientists who actually do the research. You can look for their research yourself at www.pubmed.org. That is the database that catalogs medical research, and it is what researchers use to share their findings with each other.