"Bird flu may mutate to kill more than 50% of humans who catch it, as a result of 'unprecedented' outbreak sweeping mammals, experts fear"

From the Daily Mail [as if you couldn't tell from the 600-word headline], February 14:

• Cases of killer H5N1 strain have already jumped from birds to foxes and mink
• It has sparked concern that pathogen is one step closer to spreading in humans
• Experts warn a new variant could arise that is 'more harmful' to humans

Bird flu could mutate to become even more harmful to humans due to the ongoing unprecedented outbreak, experts fear.

Cases of the killer H5N1 strain, which are at record levels, have already jumped from birds to foxes, otters and mink.

It has sparked huge concern among top virologists that the deadly pathogen is now one step closer to spreading in humans — a hurdle which has so far stopped it from triggering a pandemic.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has now warned mammals could act as 'mixing vessels' for different influenza viruses, potentially unleashing a new variant that could be 'more harmful' to humans.

The H5N1 strain already has a fatality rate of around 50 per cent among people....

....MUCH MORE

Hopefully not related:  

Hey, Remember Those Wacky Dutch Scientists Who Weaponized Bird Flu To Kill Half The World's Population?

I had forgotten about Ron Fouchier until a friend sent an article from the journal Science. But sure enough we had November 2011's "UPDATED--"Dutch Scientists Have Genetically Altered the H5N1 Bird Flu Virus to Make it More Contagious" (could kill half humanity)" and then when they wanted to publish the recipe and the U.S. said no: "Psychotic Dutch Scientists: "Killer flu doctors: US censorship is a danger to science".

Our outro from that long ago post was 

"The U.S. National Institutes of Health funded the research. They own it. If Fouchier doesn't understand the implications of publication the NIH had to step in. This is just nuts." 

And the article from Science?

March 9, 2012

Surprising Twist in Debate Over Lab-Made H5N1....

Also: 

"Bioengineering The Age of Designer Plagues"

And F***ed up:

Ron Fouchier (a sin.) al convegno di Malta dove vantò la sua scoperta: aveva reso l’aviaria trasmissibile per via aerea. Anthony Fauci era presente, come si vede.

Via "L’olandese del Coronavirus. Ed altri scriteriati." 

Oh, and this "Fouchier study reveals changes enabling airborne spread of H5N1":

A study showing that it takes as few as five mutations to turn the H5N1 avian influenza virus into an airborne spreader in mammals—and that launched a historic debate on scientific accountability and transparency—was released today in Science, spilling the full experimental details that many experts had sought to suppress out of concern that publishing them could lead to the unleashing of a dangerous virus....