Experts have issued a warning that a bird flu pandemic with a potentially catastrophic impact, surpassing the severity of COVID-19, may be imminent following the discovery of a rare human case in Texas. According to Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi, a bird flu researcher, “This virus has been on the top of the pandemic list for many, many years and probably decades… we’re getting dangerously close to this virus potentially causing a pandemic.”

The H5N1 avian flu has spread rapidly since the emergence of a new strain in 2020, affecting wild birds across the country and commercial poultry and backyard flocks. Its detection in mammals, including cattle herds in four states and a dairy worker in Texas, has raised concerns about its potential mutation and increased transmissibility to humans.

The virus has shown the ability to infect a range of mammalian hosts, including humans, which poses a significant pandemic threat. The mortality rate of H5N1 in humans is approximately 52% since 2003, significantly higher than COVID-19’s current fatality rate of less than 0.1%.

Symptoms of bird flu are similar to those of other flus, including cough, body aches, and fever, but can develop into severe and life-threatening pneumonia.

The dairy worker in Texas who got ill with bird flu has reported mild symptoms and is being treated with antiviral medication. Doctors do not believe the virus can yet jump from one human to another.

While the CDC maintains that the current risk to the public remains low, the fact that the virus has been found in cattle could indicate the start of a mutation process. The US government is taking the situation seriously, and measures are being taken to prevent potential spread, including proactive vaccine development and testing.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)