Dr. Richard Webby

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

Yeah, I'm not sure. I must admit, I don't do much catching a flu myself anymore.

Science Vs

I love it a lot, right? What is the risk? Yeah. So I'll tell you why I find that difficult to answer. If we look today, so right now today, even let's look at the virus that's in cows, even the viruses that we get from people that have been infected, they still have all the characteristics of bird viruses. They want to be infecting birds.

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1544.598

Which is good news, except... The problem is, this virus could be two, three, maybe even one mutation away from changing that. Yes.

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1634.977

So some people look at that, you know, even some experts look at that and say H5 can never become a human pathogen. Really?

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1643.24

That's right. That's just not able to do it, right?

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1648.401

That's right. It could. I mean, the argument against that, I'm not in that boat. I think the virus probably can, but the barrier to it making those key changes is relatively high.

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1802.994

So somewhere between sitting back with my feet up on the recliner and, as I tell people, running, you know, heading towards the hills. I'm in the middle. I think I'm square in the middle a little bit.

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1816.65

I think that'll be the key. If my neighbors see me arriving back from Sam's Club with four or five extra packets of toilet paper, then they will know I've changed.

Science Vs

Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?

1865.326

The good answer is we don't know really, right? Because we've never had a pandemic in humans. Yeah, we've never had a pandemic to know how good they are in humans, which is a good thing.