Is a New Bird Flu the Next Pandemic?

Will the H10N3 bird flu emerging in China, which has now infected and hospitalized a human, lead to the next pandemic? In nature, the answer is almost definitely “no.” But will another pandemic virus originate in China, or somewhere else, where humans and animals have frequent sustained contact conducive to viral species-jumping? The answer is almost definitely “yes.” Could a lab manipulation and/or leak play a role? The answer is, again, “yes.” The culture of fear, deception and cover-up orchestrated by the Chinese government may continue to interfere with knowing the true science before it is too late.

With COVID-19 case numbers dropping across the country, and the numbers of those fully vaccinated or having gained natural immunity from COVID-19 rising, we are not quite out of the woods yet, but we are finally on our way. Naturally, our thoughts turn now back to how this might have happened.