Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS

Did flu come from fish? Genetics points to influenza’s aquatic origin

Corals, sturgeon and other aquatic creatures harbour signs of infection by influenza and its distant relatives.
  1. Ewen Callaway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

The influenza virus might have started in fish. Researchers trawling genetic databases have discovered a distant relative of influenza viruses — which are responsible for seasonal flu, not to mention the avian flu roiling the globe — in sturgeon1.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00558-4

References

  1. Petrone, M. E. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.15.528772 (2023).

  2. Shi, M. et al. Nature 556, 197–202 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhang, Y.-Y. et al. Sci. Bull. 66, 2458–2461 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links