COVID emerged suddenly, spread rapidly and killed millions of people around the world. Since then, I think it’s fair to say that most people have been nervous about the emergence of the next big infectious disease – be that a virus, bacterium, fungus or parasite. With COVID in retreat (thanks to highly effective vaccines), the three infectious diseases causing public health officials the greatest concern are malaria (a parasite), HIV (a virus) and tuberculosis (a bacterium).
Between them, they kill around 2 million people each year . And then there are the watchlists of priority pathogens – especially those that have become resistant to the drugs usually used to treat them, such as antibiotics and antivirals . Scientists must also constantly scan the horizon for the next potential problem.
While this could come in any form of pathogen, certain groups are more likely than others to cause swift outbreaks, and that includes influenza viruses. One influenza virus is causing great concern right now and is teetering on the edge of being a serious problem in 2025. This is influenza A subtype H5N1, sometimes referred to as “bird flu”.
This virus is widely spread in both wild and domestic birds, such as poultry. Recently, it has also been infecting dairy cattle in several US states and found in horses in Mongolia . When influenza cases start increasing in animals such as birds, there is always a worry that it could jump to humans.
Indeed, bird flu can infect humans with 61 c.
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