posted on Oct, 19 2005 @ 05:16 PM
What most people are failing to acknowledge here is that IF H5N1 infects a human that is already infected with another flu virus, the 2 viruses could
exchange DNA and mutate into a new, otherwise unknown form of virus that retains the brutal infection characteristics of the H5N1 strain BUT is easily
transmitted from human to human. That is basically what happened with the 1918 flu virus pandemic. Given the certaintly that H5N1 will eventually
become global, and given the nature of the relationship between birds and mankind there evolves a near certainty that H5N1 will encounter other
viruses under the right conditions for this mutation to take place. In my opinion, this is not an IF scenario as much as it is a WHEN scenario and
under what circumstances.