It seems that bird flu is a big candidate for the next pandemic. Here is an article from Daily Mail:
FDA says it's preparing for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four Americans
The FDA is gearing up for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four of those it infects, the agency's top official has revealed.
Dr Robert Califf told a Senate Committee that officials were drawing up plans to roll out tests, antiviral drugs and vaccines in the event the virus jumps to humans.
But he emphasized the risk of it spreading to people was still low, with only one person infected so far - a farm worker in Texas in March.
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The US already has a stockpile of about 20million bird flu vaccines in its national stockpile, officials say, which are 'well matched' to the H5N1 virus.It also has the capacity to quickly make 100million more if necessary, they add.
There are also supplies of antivirals such as oseltamivir — used to treat the latest US bird flu patient — available, although officials have not provided a number.
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With 25%(one in four) kill rate, it's not going to be a pandemic because the infected will die before spreading the virus to others. I think that mentioning high kill rate is mainly for inciting fear in people.
The real problem of bird flu is that it's also a coronavirus, which means it can be engineered to infect humans easily. Here is an interview of Dr. Robert Redfield, former CDC director:
On 3:48 mark in the video, he talks about bird flu:
We have the risk of natural spill-over, but there is a species barrier.
I'm obviously most worried about bird flu. Right now it takes 5 amino acid to change for it to be effectively infecting humans.
It's a pretty heavy species barrier. But this virus is already now in 26 animal species, as you saw most recently, cattle.
But in the laboratory, I could make it highly infectious for humans in months.
Considering that COVID-19 was so lucrative, I think the next pandemic could unfold similarly.
First, media will raise public awareness(i.e., fear) of high kill rate bird flu, and bio-labs around the world including china will be researching about possible variants of bird flu virus.
Then, a low kill rate flu virus with capability to infect humans will appear and spread rapidly. It can't be leaked from a lab! Anyway, with media hype and exaggerated death numbers, people will panic. Thus, "pandemic" is achieved. Lockdowns, masks, and most of all, vaccines will make an epic come back.
Call me crazy, but in my opinion the only way to prevent the next pandemic is to make it unprofitable. When bird flu hits, make sure you don't give your money to the pandemic industry.