Images in The eyes have it: influenza virus infection beyond the respiratory tract
Avian and human influenza A viruses alike have shown a capacity to use the eye as
a portal of entry and cause ocular disease in human beings. However, whereas influenza
viruses generally represent a respiratory pathogen and only occasionally cause ocular
complications, the H7 virus subtype stands alone in possessing an ocular tropism.
Clarifying what confers such non-respiratory tropism to a respiratory virus will permit
a greater ability to identify, treat, and prevent zoonotic human infection following
ocular exposure to influenza viruses; especially those within the H7 subtype, which
continue to cause avian epidemics on many continents.
Images in The eyes have it: influenza virus infection beyond the respiratory tract
Source: Virology News
