High egg prices? Bird flu outbreak could cause bigger problems

Swans pass behind an avian influenza prevention notice alongside the river Thames. (Image: Getty)

Sat, 11 Feb 2023

By Faye FlamPerhaps we can blame covid fatigue for numbing us to the risks of other viruses. But it should be bigger news that a bird flu has mutated to spread through mammals and is ominously appearing among wild and domesticated animals around the globe. In the past, the inability to spread from one mammal to another was the barrier that prevented bird flu, H5N1 – which has a 50% fatality rate in humans – from becoming a human pandemic. It's not clear this version, which spread through minks, would be easily transmitted i...

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