A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) tell a US cable news program web that a bird influenza pandemic is “ very likely ” . Robert Redfield , a virologist who served as director of the agency from 2018 to 2021 , also noted that bird flu in humans is associate with “ meaning mortality ” , and that a pandemic could have a death rate far in excess of that we ’ve see with COVID-19 .

Many influenza computer virus taint raging snort populations across the world , but most of them personate no serious peril to mankind . The problems go up when a melodic line of bird flu mutates and gains the ability to jump into another host metal money . Allfour major flu pandemicsthat have hit humanity during the 20thand 21stcenturies – include the“Spanish ” flu of 1918andswine fluof 2009 – are think to have begun with an avian grippe virus .

Recently , fears have been heightened that another pandemic form could be total our way , thanks to the almost unprecedented spread of extremely pathogenic H5N1 influenza among wild and domesticated birds and , crucially , many unlike mammal coinage .

Outbreaks in kine on dairy farm farm across several US states have already seen the virus spreading tofarm catsandthree human worker , all of whom gratefully had only mild sickness . Virus particles have also been observe inbeefandmilk , though experts proceed to stress that the food supplying is safe and the risk to the worldwide public is low .

The fact remains , however , that the more we see this computer virus spilling over into mammalian and the human universe , thegreater the chanceit will adapt to be able to spread between people .

This is what Redfield warned about when he speak to NewsNation on Friday , June 14 .

“ I really do think it ’s very potential that we will at some fourth dimension , it ’s not a question of if , it ’s more a question of when we will have a doll flu pandemic , ” Redfield distinguish legion Chris Cuomo .

He tot that there ’s been a firm increase in the number of mammals becoming infected in the US since 2019 , with some of thelatest additionspushing the overall total to around 27 different species .

H5 subtypes of avian flu , including H5N1 , have long been at the forefront of concerns about a future human pandemic . The recent case of ahuman H5N2 infectionin Mexico underscored the peril that any of these viruses could pose to mammals , although the world ’s care is still unwaveringly and understandably focused on H5N1 as it has spread to even theremotest of neighborhood .

“ As [ H5N1 ] goes into more and more dissimilar mammals it ’s changing its consumption of receptor [ … ] , it ’s get a line how to use different receptors fordolphins , and seals , [ and ] bears , andpolar bears , and foxes , and raccoon , and cats , ” Redfield explained . “ So it ’s break through a mess of changes , and as it picks up some of these novel receptors it can get closer and closer to humanity . ”

Surveillance continue key , and health authorities around the world are watching this virus like a hawk . As Redfield sound out , there ’s no loose direction to predict how long it may take for the virus to modernise the necessary mutation that could head to a pandemic , potential with a higher mortality rate than we saw withCOVID-19even before treatments and vaccinum – “ somewhere between 25 and 50 percent , ” was Redfield ’s forecast .

Right now , there ’s no grounds to suggest that the virus has yet developed the ability to spread between world . The small number of human case we ’ve see so far have all been isolate incident associated with very tightlipped contact lens with infected animals . But that has n’t terminate some nation already taking precautions .

Suomi looks set to become the first country to startimmunizing at - risk peopleafter the European Union secure a large order of a vaccine establish on the similar virus H5N8 , with other countriespoisedto make similar move . An exist supply of vaccinum is a major plus , and something we did not have for COVID when the pandemic ramped up in 2020 . Hopefully , other lessons humanity has learned from SARS - CoV-2 will help us well when thenext pandemiccomes .