The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last night released a detailed analysis of H5N1 avian flu samples taken from a patient in Texas who was exposed to sick cows, which suggests that the infection might involve the eyes but perhaps not the upper respiratory tract.

Also, when CDC scientists compared the human H5N1 samples to viruses from cattle, wild birds, and poultry, they found in the human sample a mutation with known links to host adaptation.