Are we at the edge of another pandemic? H5N1

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On 27 June 2024, 9:49 A.M., I summarized the approach to survive a very deadly disease called H5N1 Avian Flu, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. I have covered a lot of information over the past several weeks on the next potential pandemic called H5N1. I have come to realize this pandemic will primarily be transmitted by insects, primarily Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes infect humans with a blood to blood transfer between infected to uninfected birds/animals/humans.

There’s a saying that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

H5N1 has spread across many types of birds dealing wave after wave of deaths. In the last few years, it has infected over 500 different species of birds, driving some to near extinction. This virus has established its presence in 108 countries, across five continents. It even transitioned to chickens. But it is on the move and has impacted many types of animals, most recently dairy cattle. It has spread to 70 mammal species globally. It is in our homes (cats and mice). During the beginning of 2025, bird flu made the transition to sheep in the U.K. It is on the move and another species is contracting this threat. It is beginning to show up in pigs as a very deadly Swine Flu. -- Pigs are a "mixing vessels" for influenza viruses, specifically those infecting birds, humans, and other pigs. If H5N1 were to become endemic in U.S. pigs, then those viruses could undergo genetic reassortment, creating entirely novel strains, very deadly human strains.

This virus has been evolving over the past few years. It began with birds and spread to animals and humans. The disease is passing across a maze of viruses in recent years including H5N1, H5N2, H5N3, H5N5, H5N6, H5N8 and H5N9. But in my opinion the primary threat is H1N1.

H1N1 decimated the human population during the First World War. It went by many names including the Spanish Flu which killed between 50 and 100 million people during the period from 1918-1919. This plague went by many names. The Americans fell ill with "three-day fever" or "purple death." The French caught "purulent bronchitis." The Italians suffered "sand fly fever." German hospitals filled with victims of Blitzkatarrh or "Flanders fever. Sand fly fever is an arthropod-borne viral disease, also known as “Phlebotomus fever”, “mosquito fever”.

From 1918 to 1919, the Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people globally. This amounted to about 33% of the world's population at the time. In addition, the Spanish flu killed about 50 million people, about 6 percent of the Earth's population. Since the world population has grown around 5 times in the last 100 years. The threat might impact 2.5 billion people should it materialize today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVpBFy_TRtA

How were the victims of H1N1 treated in front line hospitals during 1918/1919? No matter what they called it, the virus attacked everyone similarly. It started like any other influenza case, with a sore throat, chills and fever. Then came the deadly twist: the virus ravaged its victim's lungs. Sometimes within hours, patients succumbed to complete respiratory failure. Autopsies showed hard, red lungs drenched in fluid. A microscopic look at diseased lung tissue revealed that the alveoli, the lungs' normally air-filled cells, were so full of fluid that victims literally drowned. The slow suffocation began when patients presented with a unique symptom: mahogany spots over their cheekbones. Within hours these patients turned a bluish-black hue indicative of cyanosis, or lack of oxygen. When triaging scores of new patients, nurses often looked at the patients' feet first. Those with black feet were considered beyond help and were carted off to die.

In my humble opinion, these diseases are transmitted by insects. An insect bites an infected bird/animal/human and then transmitted the blood directly to another bird/ animal/human. The following is a good approach to limiting the spread in humans.

1. You can protect yourself from mosquito bites in two ways. If you spend a lot of time outdoors you can create protective clothing (boots, clothing and camping gear) that repel mosquitoes by treating them with Permethrin.

2. You can also protect yourself from mosquito bites by applying mosquito repellent on you skin. This will provide short protection (several hours) to drive away mosquitoes. There are a variety of products available. They include DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, Oil of lemon, Para-menthane-diol eucalyptus, and 2-Undecanone.

3. Another product that can help prevent mosquito bites is Metofluthrin. Metofluthrin is a pyrethroid used as an insect repellent. The vapors of metofluthrin are highly effective and capable of repelling up to 97% of mosquitoes in field tests. Metofluthrin is used in a variety of consumer products, called emanators, for indoor and outdoor use. These products produce a vapor that protects an individual or area. Effectiveness is reduced by air movement. Metofluthrin is neurotoxic, and is not meant to be applied directly to human skin.

4. Accidents can happen. What to do immediately after being bitten by a mosquito? Treat the bite with Tecnu Topical Analgesic Anti-Itch Spray (Diphenhydramine HCl 2%). There is another product that can diminish the effects of being bitten by an infected insect. It is called ChiggereX. This product contains 10% Benzocaine.

5. If you become infected with H5N1 treat the condition immediately using one of four FDA-approved antivirals for influenza: (1) Baloxavir (Xofluza), (2) Zanamivir (Relenza), (3) Peramivir (Rapivab). These are prescription drugs and will require a doctors prescription. Time is of the essence here. This condition will begin to destroy the human body and make it impossible to treat within a few days. Time is of the essence.

The latest research has shown that another drug called Oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu) is ineffective in treating this disease in recent cases in both humans and chickens.

6. Some people are very vulnerable to mosquito bites. These are people with open wounds. Just covering the wounded area with bandages will not protect you. Mosquitoes can smell your blood and you become a prime target. I suffered a small bleed and was attacked by around 50 mosquitoes in less then two hours outdoors. (Luckily I had protected myself with DEET before I went outside and as a result, NOT ONE MOSQUITO WAS ABLE TO BITE ME.) This may also be a problem for women who are going through their menstrual period.

7. Go on the offensive. Wage a war on mosquitoes. In general, mosquitoes live in a hot humid environment. They most commonly infest Ponds, Marshes, Swamps, and Other wetland habitats. So minimize their breeding grounds. Wage war on mosquitoes.

8. Use our friends. What, you didn't realize we have allies in our war on Mosquitoes? We have many friends. Some are birds like woodpeckers, some are other insects like dragonflies, some are fish like gambusia affinis.

9. Wastewater tracking of H5N1 can identify the specific regions in the U.S. where the outbreak is underway. One of these regions is San Francisco, California. This area could be Ground Zero of the outbreak. But we cannot monitor the threat because the funding for Wastewater tracking has been halted. But time has been wasted and H5N1 is on the move and Central Valley in California is in the epicenter.

10. Vaccinations may provide protection from a very deadly form of H5N1. A neutralizing antibody bnAb called MEDI8852, which was discovered and developed by Medimmune, now part of AstraZeneca. MEDI8852 targets a portion of a key flu protein that is less prone to change than other parts of the virus and thus is capable of conferring protection against a wide range of flu viruses. This vaccination was tested on Macaque, a species (with almost human qualities), and this vaccine provided a remarkable and measurable cure.

In the historic past, migrating birds were the long distance transport agents of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1. Seasonally they would move the infectious disease between the northern and southern hemispheres as the seasons changed from summer to winter. But now as humans have developed means of rapid transport, such as jet aircraft, the speed and distance this virus can spread is rapidly accelerated.

A recent report out of China describes a new variant of H5N1 that has become more deadly to humans.

China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on the dynamics of H5N1 variants and the response measures of primary and secondary schools in Beijing and Shanghai
An internal document titled "National Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports on the dynamics of H5N1 variants and analysis of response measures of primary and secondary schools in Beijing and Shanghai." The data disclosed that "as of 6:36 on March 13, 2025, the H5N1 variant (tentatively named A/H5N1-2025E) has a new mutation in the hemagglutinin (HA) protein gene. Animal experiments have shown that its ability to bind to mammalian cells has increased, and the risk of human-to-human transmission has increased from low to medium."

The data also showed that "detection distribution: As of March 12, a total of 127 positive samples were reported nationwide, of which 68% were samples from live poultry market environments, and 25% were asymptomatic carriers among poultry workers. Sporadic cases were concentrated in the densely populated breeding areas of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta."

The secretive CCP in China is currently tracking the following regions for this exploding outbreak: Xitiangezhuang, Shilibao, Taishitun, Xinchengzi, Shicheng, Xiwengzhuang, Dongshaoqu, Dachengzi, Mujiayu, and Gubeikou.

China is hiding secrets from the world. They are at the epicenter of H5N1 pandemic.
This pandemic is occurring in China but the CCP leadership is keeping it silent.

I wrote about this on 04 Mar 2025, 10:06 am in this thread.

Hiding Secrets in Plain Sight.

Something came to mind about a major pandemic in China near the end of 2023. It was killing hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of children in China at the time. Their bodies were cremated and the deaths were hidden from the world. At the time Chinese people began to seek information as they panicked. I recorded the information here on Wrong Planet.

Is this Round 2 of a new Pandemic?

Their bodies were cremated. As a result of this pandemic, China made significant changes. They went from a draconian mask rule that was very depressive and enforced into an open rule of throw away the masks. They also implemented another change. They had a ONE CHILD RULE. This limited the number of babies a mother could produce. They changed this to a THREE CHILD RULE and began encouraging mothers to have several babies.

So what do I think might be happening? H5N1 is on the move in the U.S. Many people in the past couple years have gotten H5N1 but their conditions have been mild. A very small number have experienced a very severe variant with a very high death rate in humans. But this condition may evolve into an extremely deadly adult version of H1N1.

According to this article:
Severe cases can lead to bronchitis or pneumonia (mycoplasma pneumonia).
Children's hospitals are also facing strain with rising pneumonia and "white lung" cases reported.

Egg prices plunging as bird flu subsides and shortages dissipate

The CCP leadership is hiding the explosion of H5N1 in China from public view. But is it visible in one of their close neighbors, India.

India has reported eight outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu in farms and backyard poultry in Andhra Pradesh.

Source: India reports eight outbreaks of bird flu in Andhra Pradesh

The outbreaks of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, were all detected in the eastern region of Andhra Pradesh, the Paris-based organisation said in a report. They led to the death or culling of a total 602,000 poultry.

Almost immediately Hong Kong reacted to this news.

Source: Hong Kong suspends import of poultry eggs from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana due bird flu outbreak

In response to fresh outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), commonly known as Bird Flu, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in Hong Kong has announced an immediate suspension of poultry egg imports from the affected regions.

The decision follows a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) regarding outbreaks in the Yadadri Bhuvanagiri District of Telangana, as well as the West Godavari, East Godavari, and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh.

One of the more interesting perspectives is Who Controls Hong Kong? And why did they react so quickly, almost at the speed of light.

China pledged to preserve much of what makes Hong Kong unique when the former British colony was handed over in 1997. Beijing said it would give Hong Kong fifty years to keep its capitalist system and enjoy many freedoms not found in mainland Chinese cities.

But China broke its pledge.

But more than halfway through the transition, Beijing has taken increasingly brazen steps to encroach on Hong Kong’s political system and crack down on dissent. In 2020, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Since then, authorities have arrested dozens of pro-democracy activists, lawmakers, and journalists; curbed voting rights; and limited freedoms of the press and speech. In March 2024, Hong Kong lawmakers passed Article 23, an additional security legislation that further cements China’s rule on the city’s rights and freedom.

Source: Hong Kong’s Freedoms: What China Promised and How It’s Cracking Down

I wonder if China is responsible for the H5N1 pandemic that is slowly creeping across the world. In a similar manner to another pandemic COVID, where they hid the source of the outbreak at a research facility in Wuhan, China from the world. Interesting.

Last night, I thought about the Spanish Flu which broke out in World War I and spread throughout the world killing millions and millions. We now know this disease is called H1N1. H1N1 is very similar to H5N1. They are like twin sisters. So the thought came to me to identify those who experienced this pandemic and may still have some natural immunity. Who lived through this plague?

Purple Death: The Great Flu of 1918

Despite its name, researchers believe the Spanish flu most likely originated in the United States. One of the first recorded cases was on March 11, 1918, at Fort Riley in Kansas. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions created a fertile breeding ground for the virus. Within one week, 522 men had been admitted to the camp hospital suffering from the same severe influenza. Soon after, the army reported similar outbreaks in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and California. Navy ships docked at East Coast ports also reported outbreaks of severe influenza and pneumonia among their crews. The flu seemed to target military personnel and not civilians, so the virus was largely overshadowed by hotter current affairs such as Prohibition, the suffragette movement and the bloody battles in Europe.

By May 1918, influenza began to subside in the United States. But the ordeal was by no means over. Soldiers at Fort Riley, now ready for battle, incubated the virus during their long, cramped voyage to France. Once they hit French shores, the virus exploded, striking the Allied forces and Central Powers with equal force. The Americans fell ill with "three-day fever" or "purple death." The French caught "purulent bronchitis." The Italians suffered "sand fly fever." German hospitals filled with victims of Blitzkatarrh or "Flanders fever."

No matter what they called it, the virus attacked everyone similarly. It started like any other influenza case, with a sore throat, chills and fever. Then came the deadly twist: the virus ravaged its victim's lungs. Sometimes within hours, patients succumbed to complete respiratory failure. Autopsies showed hard, red lungs drenched in fluid. A microscopic look at diseased lung tissue revealed that the alveoli, the lungs' normally air-filled cells, were so full of fluid that victims literally drowned. The slow suffocation began when patients presented with a unique symptom: mahogany spots over their cheekbones. Within hours these patients turned a bluish-black hue indicative of cyanosis, or lack of oxygen. When triaging scores of new patients, nurses often looked at the patients' feet first. Those with black feet were considered beyond help and were carted off to die.

From the battlefields of Europe, the epidemic quickly evolved into a pandemic, as the disease spread north to Norway, east to China, southeast to India and as far south as New Zealand. Even islands weren't safe. Hitching rides on naval ships and carriers, merchant vessels and trains, the virus traveled to the four corners of the earth. By the summer of 1918, it had hit Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Hawaii. The epidemic wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico but surprisingly barely touched the Panama Canal Zone, the crossroads of the world at the time. The steamship Harold Walker is blamed for bringing Spanish flu to Tampico, Mexico. Within four short months, the virus had rounded the globe and returned once more to U.S. shores.

The second and third waves of Spanish flu slammed the United States in the cold-weather months of 1918. This time civilians were not immune. The country's indigenous people, particularly Native Alaskans, suffered disproportionately. The flu completely wiped out some villages in Alaska, and others lost most of their adult population. Big-city dwellers faired poorly too. New York City buried 33,000 victims. Philadelphia lost nearly 13,000 people in a matter of weeks. Overwhelmed with bodies, many cities soon ran out of coffins and some had to convert streetcars into hearses to keep up with demand.

Most of the deaths caused by H1N1 during the Great War (WWI) were in the Allied forces and Central Powers. They were the countries whose soldiers suffered the most during the Spanish Flu (H1N1) pandemic of 1918 and would hold some immunity within their populations. In my humble opinion, their offspring's would hold some immunity to H1N1 and also to H5N1. That might explain why China is currently experiencing a deadly explosion of H5N1 in the past couple years and why other countries such as the U.S. have a greater immunity. More Americans soldiers died of the Spanish Flu during the war then were killed in actual combat.

This article has a lot of good accurate information about what is happening today in China. But it also has too, too many commercials that are inserted in the video. China is under a lot of threats including many diseases happening at the same time and one of which is extremely deadly, Mycoplasma Pneumonia (short form of MPP). China is dealing with an antibiotic resistant form of MPP.

Many view these diseases as separate diseases that happen all at the same time but they are all interlinked. Antibiotic resistant MPP is intertwined with Influenza Virus, Human Metapneumovirus and Adenovirus. They are all interlinked.

The article then goes on to state:
The virus is spreading rapidly, with asymptomatic cases reportedly as high as 30%.
Its ability to mutate raises concerns about a wider outbreak.
Health guidelines show Wuhan's infection index on January 2nd reached 2,148,370, a 529% increase from the previous week and 30% higher than the previous day.
The actual numbers remain uncertain.

Another update from 2 months ago.

So what is a summary of this thread? What is the bottom line?

We are at the verge of a major pandemic, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Pneumonia (MPP). According to Wikipedia - Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a species of very small-cell bacteria that lack a cell wall, in the class Mollicutes. M. pneumoniae is a human pathogen that causes the disease Mycoplasma pneumonia, a form of atypical bacterial pneumonia related to cold agglutinin disease.

It is a bacteria not a virus but very, very close to the size of a virus. As a result this condition is normally treated with antibiotics. But antibiotics cannot treat this condition. This is because this form, the form in China is an antibiotic resistant form of MPP. That is why this drug will no longer work. As a result, millions of people are getting very sick and many dying in China. China is currently in a type of death spiral.

Why China? In the U.S. and many western countries, antibiotics are a prescription drug. The prescription can only be given by medical doctors. This is because this particular drug will not work on viruses such as the common cold. But in China, anyone can get on the internet and purchase this drug without a doctors prescription. And the Chinese have been using this drug on virus infections for years. They have been abusing this prescription drug for years. As a result, China has unleashed an antibiotic resistant form of MPP. Now what?

In my humble opinion, this pandemic will grow and become more deadly. The purpose of this thread was to develop a framework for dealing with this antibiotic resistant form of MPP. It is a 10 step process which attacks the disease from multiple angles. It attacks this disease which caused H5N1 (and H1N1) global pandemics in the past such as the major pandemic of 1918.

This is China from 2 months ago. It is recording the outbreak that is occurring in China. Notice almost everyone in the video are wearing masks. Masks in my humble opinion will not protect you from the antibiotic resistant MPP. The threat is very different then COVID, very different from a virus. It is an extremely small bacteria. It's size lies half way between that of a typical virus and typical bacteria.

China is dealing with an antibiotic resistant form of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Pneumonia (MPP) in my humble opinion. They do not know how to deal with this condition and it is creating great pain and suffering. But they fail to understand that it is related to birds, birds that fly north during the late fall and south during the early spring. So these waves of outbreaks come and go, come and go, come and go. Birds are a transmission agent. There is a pattern and they fail to recognize that pattern.



In general MPP can be treated with antibiotics but this is an antibiotic resistant form of the disease. It is exploding in China because the country has abused the use of antibiotics to such an extent that an antibiotic resistant form has taken hold in the country. (Antibiotics are used to treat or prevent some types of bacterial infections. They're not effective against viral infections, such as the common cold or flu.) So drilling down a little deeper. On the outside layer is infected birds that carry the plague. But one level deeper is the insects that are infecting the birds. They are a variety of insects. In the case of humans, they are primarily mosquitoes.

Cases of bird flu continue to rise in the U.S. But what is of more concern is a deadly variant of the disease. Another case has shown up in Wyoming.

The Wyoming patient was an older woman with multiple underlying health conditions that heightened her complications from the disease, according to a Wyoming Department of Health news release. She started experiencing symptoms after coming into contact with an infected bird in her backyard. As of 3 April 2025, she remains hospitalized.

Source: Bird Flu Hospitalizes 2 More Patients as Outbreaks Increase

I dug a little deeper into this case.

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) announced on Friday, Feb. 14, that the state’s first case of H5N1 avian influenza in a human has been confirmed in Platte County, in the southeastern part of the state.

Dr. Alexia Harrist said on February 14, 2025 the woman is hospitalized in another state, has health conditions that can make people more vulnerable to illness, and was likely exposed to the virus through direct contact with an infected poultry flock at her home. The woman had a backyard flock of chickens that got sick and died. H5N1 has been known to be infecting wild birds in Wyoming for some time now with the currently circulating virus spreading nationally since 2022. Infections among poultry and dairy cattle have also occurred previously in Wyoming.

Most confirmed human cases of bird flu across the U.S. came with mild symptoms. “Unfortunately, this patient’s experience has been much more serious,” Harrist said in the news release.

It is also interesting that Cat Food containing Chickens are being recalled in Wyoming.

Cat food is being recalled in Wyoming, due to potentially containing H5N1, also known as “bird flu.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recalled Savage Cat Food Large Chicken Boxes 84 oz. and Small Chicken Boxes 21 oz. due to possible contamination of H5N1.

“People who fed cats the product should watch for possible symptoms of bird flu. Symptoms can include fever, sluggishness, low appetite, reddened or inflamed eyes, discharge from eyes and nose, difficulty breathing, and neurological signs, such as stiff body movements, seizure, lack of coordination, and blindness.”

Source: Cat food distributed in Wyoming has been recalled due to bird flu contamination

According to a recent article from Canada, bird flu has been hitting Canada very hard, especially British Columbia.

Source: With 8.7M birds dead, B.C. farmers assess avian flu toll, and worry about what's next

More than 8.7 million commercial and backyard birds have been culled in the province (British Columbia), more than half the national toll of 14.5 million.

Since the pandemic began in April 2022, the most affected areas of Canada were:
British Columbia - 8,735,000 domestic birds impacted.
Alberta 2,019,000
Quebec 1,465,500
Ontario 1,175,000

These outbreaks are occurring in the spring and fall during migration seasons. (Wild birds flying south for the winter and returning back in the spring.) B.C. Chief Veterinarian Teresa Burns said preliminary research suggests fall migration periods are worse than spring because birds land and spend more time in the Fraser Valley. They seem to bypass the region in the spring, she said.

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A very deadly form of bird flu is on the move - this time in Mexico.

Source: Mexico reports first human case of H5N1 bird flu

Mexico has detected its first human case of H5N1 avian influenza, also known as bird flu, the health ministry said on Friday. The infection was confirmed on Tuesday in a three-year-old girl living in the northern state of Durango, who remains hospitalized in serious condition.

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India is experiencing an outbreak.

Source: Bird Flu in India: Tigers, leopards, and even pet cats infected by H5N1 virus

As of 4 April, H5N1 has infected wild and domestic non-poultry species in several states, including tigers, leopards, vultures, crows, egrets and cats in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Goa.

After the recent death of a child from H5N1 in Andhra Pradesh and a series of avian flu outbreaks reported across multiple states, the bird flu crisis in India has entered a worrisome new phase.

Another article reports:

A two-year-old girl from Narasaraopet town in Palnadu district succumbed to the virus while receiving treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Mangalagiri, according to officials.

A little bit of a history lesson.

A few decades ago, scientists thought they had a handle on what would happen if some bird influenza A virus spilled over into other species. In domestic poultry, it could turn nasty, but it was generally a “one-and-done” situation, says Bryan Richards, emerging disease coordinator at the US Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin. What happened in past instances was that all the farm birds would die, the virus would run out of hosts — the end.

And the leap from birds to humans is not easily made. Scientists had long assumed that to infect people, an avian influenza A virus would have to trade genes with another virus in an intermediate species, like a pig, to adapt to mammalian biology.

So back in 1996, when domestic geese in Guangdong province, China, came down with H5N1, it was hardly cause for worldwide alarm.

But a year later, in Hong Kong, a 3-year-old boy died after suffering high fever and pneumonia. It took experts from around the world three months to identify the virus. At first, no one believed it was H5N1, says Robert Webster, a virologist and emeritus professor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, who led one of the teams that made the ID. A virus with an H5 was supposed to be a chicken virus. But this H5N1 infected 18 people and killed six of them.

“This was a nasty bastard,” says Webster.

Webster and other experts descended on Hong Kong, where they protected themselves by inhaling inactivated H5N1 virus obtained from that first case, as Webster recounts in the Annual Review of Virology. They learned that the boy’s family had visited a live bird market, and testing identified more H5N1-infected birds in those markets and on farms. It had apparently arrived in ducks from China.

“What blew everyone’s mind, in 1997, was that humans clearly got infected with the avian virus, skipping the pig step,” says Friedrich.

Hong Kong killed all the poultry. That particular viral lineage was snuffed out.

But its parent, back in mainland China, remained. And the vast viral lineage it spawned would continue to defy scientists’ expectations. “This wasn’t the one-and-done,” says Richards. “The virus keeps throwing curveballs.”

H5N1 spread from farm to farm. It continued to infect people, usually those in very close contact with their domestic birds. Then, in 2005, the virus lobbed another curveball: It spilled back into wild birds, by now in a form altered enough to be deadly to them — killing thousands of bar-headed geese, gulls and great cormorants in China’s Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. “That,” says Richards, “set the stage for where we are today.”

More birds, likely both wild and domestic, brought H5N1 into Europe and Africa. Through genetic mixing and matching, H5 hooked up with other partners, like N8, for a time. In late 2014, migratory birds brought H5N8 from Asia to the Pacific Coast of North America, where H5 also hooked up with an N2, and the outbreak spread across several states before fizzling out.

The virus continued to spread in Asia, Europe and Africa, usually as H5N8, with a bit of H5N6. In 2020, reports of H5-containing virus infections in wild and domestic birds started to rise. A new variant of the H5 gene, called 2.3.4.4b, was first spotted in the Netherlands. Viruses carrying this H5 seem to have a particular ability to cross over and infect mammals, says Friedrich.

By 2021, the 2.3.4.4b variety of H5 was back with a form of N1. “From there, we started seeing this mass spread event,” says Wille. The virus arrived in North America in late 2021, this time to stay.

The panzootic had begun.

Source: Everything you need to know about bird flu

So what are they missing? In my humble opinion, it is the way this pandemic is transmitted. They have left out the role of various insects that spread this plague. One of the main ones is the role of mosquitoes. Infected blood is transmitted directly by insects to birds, animals, and humans. It is a blood to blood transfer. That is why it is so spotty, why it comes and goes, why it produces local regional outbreaks. It can manifest itself as a very deadly form of H5N1 in young children or adults with weakened immune systems and later as H1N1 (the Spanish Flu of 1918) in healthy strong older children and adults.