Every time H5N1 infects a mammal, it has a chance to develop mutations that make it more transmissible
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It’s been detected in birds on every continent except Australia, seals in South America, foxes in Canada, as well as poultry, dairy cows and dozens of farm workers who have had contact with them in the US – and now the highly infectious H5N1 bird flu virus has jumped to a pig in the US for the first time.
This development is, without a doubt, troubling. It affords the virus one of its best opportunities to date to evolve…