Bird Flu a Reminder to Put up Safeguards Against ‘Threat of a Future Pandemic’: Professor

‘It is not a matter of ’if‘ but ’when‘ the next pandemic occurs,’ the New Zealand COVID-19 Royal Commission inquiry chair said.

Test tubes labelled "Bird Flu" and eggs are seen in a picture illustration on Jan. 14, 2023. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

The bird flu situation is reminder the “threat of a future pandemic is real,” according to the chair of New Zealand’s COVID-19 Royal Commission.

In an update for the New Zealand COVID-19 inquiry, Professor Tony Blakely said the world is “alert to the risk” that H5N1 could mutate to a variant that is capable of human to human airborne transmission.