The highly virulent B3.13 form of the H5N1 virus has already led to the culling of 90 million domestic birds in the US alone since 2022. The CDC says the risk to the general public from the H5N1 strain is currently low, with the 11 infected so far in the US reporting mild symptoms.
Yet a single confirmed death of a vulnerable person from the related H5N2 virus in Mexico serves as a stark reminder of the risks involved, should the pathogen evolve.
Of note, the H5N2 virus is a completely different strain of influenza from what this article is about, and this guy, who had severe comorbidities, is the only known person in the entire world to have contracted it. This case is completely unrelated to the H5N1 outbreak, but I guess it “serves as a stark reminder.”