VANCOUVER - There is a window of relief for British Columbia farmers from the devastating waves of avian flu, leaving them to assess the toll of outbreaks spanning more than
Burns said all influenzas mutate and the H5N1 strain that emerged in 2021 is “significantly worse than other strains that we’ve had historically.”
She said the hope is that wild birds develop more immunity and the virus mutates into a less damaging strain.
Pandemic researchers worry that avian flu could mutate into a widespread human illness, and Bourque noted human transmission is “always a concern because these viruses can infect mammals, including humans, which is another reason why we don’t want it in our domestic bird population — because it is a threat to humans.”
Is avian flu selective about what birds it targets? I’ve been seeing more wild birds than usual this year, and fewer dead ones.
So wild birds mutating H5N1 is currently our best defense against another pandemic….
Oh boy i can’t wait when it turns into a human flu because chickens are so delicious that they have to mass lroduce them.