What leads to the mutation of avian influenza viruses?
Qu Yuan Qu Lai Qu Shaozhong
Qinhuangdao Haigang Hepatitis B Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine （066000）
Abstract
The cause that leads to the mutation of avian influenza viruses is the lack of selenium proteins and the cause of serious lack of selenium in poultrys body is the deficiency of selenium in the fodder plus large consumption of selenium in egg production. The lack of selenium in the fodder is mainly due to the deficiency of selenium in the land. Study shows the outbreak of high causative bird flu in 2005 is closely related with selenium deficiency areas and the deficiency of selenium has something to do with the mutation of avian influenza. The mutation and epidemic (Keshan disease) of another kind of RNA viruses - Coxsackies viruses similar to avian influenza viruses have been controlled with supplementation of selenium, creating a miracle in the history of nutriology, the research method of which can be referred to in the study on avian influenza viruses.
What leads to the mutation of avian influenza viruses? Investigation shows that it is because of the comprehensive nutritional factors including the lack of selenium in the environment, the consumption of selenium in egg production and the scarcity of selenium in viral replication, and the error occurred in viral replication due to the lack of selenium protein has brought about the mutation of low causative avian influenza viruses to high causative ones.
1. Environment factor
Studies indicate that the variation of avian influenza viruses is related with selenium deficiency regions. More than 40 countries and regions in the world are deficient in selenium, mainly in Europe, America, Asia and Southeast Asia and among which, China is seriously deficient in selenium.
In China, there are 45 selenium deficiency bands extending from the Northeast to the Southwest. In addition, parts of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Ningxia, Gansu and Xinjiang are also short of selenium. There is only 1/3 of the territory of the country that can reach the normal critical value of 100μg /kg as published internationally in terms of selenium contents and the rest 2/3 belongs to selenium deficiency area, among which, the area, seriously short of selenium, with selenium contents ≤20μg /kg accounts for 29%. These figures are based on the statistics conducted in 1980 and since then, our country has witnessed a high speed development and the serious industrial pollution and the discharge of large amount sulfur dioxide have make the selenium in soil synthesized into compound that can not be absorbed by plants It is just in these areas that avian influenza has broken out repeatedly, and each time, it can be confirmed on the selenium distribution map of China. (See Fig. 1)
As seen from the history of avian influenza, the disease was first broken out in Italy, a selenium deficiency country in Europe, followed by Spain, Russia and Holland, which are also short of selenium. In the world, avian influenza disease has broken out for 5 times and most of them happened in selenium deficiency areas, and the areas where avian influenza happened in 2004-2005 are also s