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Figure 6. Variants of the NS1 protein may help the influenza
virus escape the host's immune system. Nonvirulent forms of the influenza
virus produce a "weak" NS1 protein, which doesn't appear to protect the virus
against immune-system molecules, such as cytokines, produced by the host
(top).
However, the H5N1 (1997) avian virus that killed six people in Hong Kong
appears to have been especially lethal because a point mutation in the NS
gene produced a "strong" version of the NS1 protein (bottom) that helped the virus elude the antiviral effects of cytokines.
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