This is truly worrying news. The Spanish flu killed millions of people in 1918, and it is possible that another pandemic could come our way. Scientists have discovered that the flu strain H5N1 needs just five mutations to become transmissible to humans. What this means is that presently, H5N1 is not a threat to humans, but if the virus acquires the necessary gene mutations, it will make the jump to humans and could spread like wildfire.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-bird-flu-five-mutations-20140410,0,6818032.story
