The pathogen, H5N1, commonly known as bird flu, has had difficulty spreading efficiently between people. Researchers in the U.S. and Holland exposed ferrets with the virus after four mutations (relatively few) and found that they were able to spread the virus between ferrets isolated in separate cages. This occurred by airborne spread, similar to the way humans spread viruses. (Nature, 5/3/12)
Because of the possibility that this virus could spread from human to human, the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) delayed release of the research until they devised ways to protect the information from potentially being used by terrorists. This is an example of what we have called WWIII, or a world of permeable borders, in which an outbreak of H5N1 virus could develop into a pandemic, unable to be readily contained.
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