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Poor nutrition leads to mutations that create more dangerous forms of the influenza virus and may contribute to newly virulent outbreaks of viral epidemics ranging from the common cold to AIDS and Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

In a study conducted on mice, groups of the rodents with normal and selenium-deficient diets were exposed to Influenza A Bangkok, a mild strain of human influenza virus. Although investigators had expected the malnourished mice to be sicker than the well-fed ones, they confirmed that the virus also mutated to a greater degree in these mice.

Deficiencies of selenium allowed the human influenza virus to mutate into more virulent forms in mice, and a similar mutation is likely to occur in people. Once the mutations have occurred, even mice with normal nutrition are more susceptible to the newly virulent strain.

Selenium, which is found in meat, is a component of an antioxidant enzyme that helps the body fight off infections. Most people in developed countries would not need to supplement their diet to maintain adequate levels of the mineral.

The study focused on the flu virus, which hospitalizes more than 100,000 people each year in the United States alone, according to the FASEB Journal (June 2001).