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A new peer-reviewed study exploring the pathogenicity and transmissibility of cattle-derived H5N1 bird flu virus has ignited fresh concerns about the virus’s potential to spark a human pandemic.
The research, conducted by a team led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, DVM, Ph.D., at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that the bovine H5N1 virus can spread systemically in mice and ferrets, bind to human-type receptors and shows limited respiratory droplet transmission in ferrets.
Kawaoka has been involved in bird flu gain-of-function research since 1990, funded by former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
He holds several bird flu-related patents, including for vaccine development.
Experts who spoke with The Defender said they worry the study was being used to foment unreasonable fear of the virus jumping to humans, expand risky gain-of-function research, push for the irresponsible development of bird flu vaccines and set the public up for new pandemic countermeasures that will further restrict human rights.
The study, published July 8 in Nature, marks the first comprehensive analysis of the H5N1 strain infecting dairy cattle in the U.S. since early 2024.
While the virus has not yet shown efficient mammal-to-mammal transmission, its ability to infect and spread in mammalian models raises questions about its pandemic potential and the effectiveness of current containment strategies.
The bovine “H5N1 virus thus possesses features that may facilitate infection and transmission in mammals,” Kawaoka and his colleagues wrote.
The finding comes as public health officials grapple with a continuing outbreak of H5N1 in U.S. dairy herds and other animals and as five farm workers in Colorado reportedly tested positive for bird flu this past weekend (all with mild symptoms), bringing the total number of human infections in the U.S. to eight.
Key findings of the study
The study examined the pathogenicity and transmissibility of an H5N1 virus isolated from infected cow milk in New Mexico. In mice, the virus spread systemically, including to the mammary glands, after both oral ingestion and intranasal infection.
Ferrets infected with the bovine H5N1 virus also showed systemic spread to multiple organs, including the mammary glands and teats. This finding aligns with reports of the virus in mammary glands and muscle tissues of infected cows.
Notably, the bovine H5N1 virus demonstrated an ability to bind to both bird-like and human-like receptors on cells. This dual binding capability is unusual for H5N1 viruses and could make it easier for the virus to infect human cells, particularly in the upper respiratory tract.
However, in a respiratory droplet transmission experiment, ferrets exposed to the bovine H5N1 virus did not show signs of clinical disease and no virus was detected in their nasal swabs. Only 1 of 4 ferrets exposed developed antibodies against the virus, suggesting limited potential for airborne spread.
Study ‘being used to stoke fear’
Children’s Health Defense Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker, Ph.D., told The Defender that the Kawaoka study “is being used to stoke fear for H5N1 as the latest pandemic.”
In particular, Hooker noted that Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has been “lighting up Twitter” (now X) with bird flu fear-mongering.
Before leaving BARDA in 2021, Bright oversaw its gain-of-function research on H5N1 and holds patents on bird flu vaccines, according to Hooker.
Vaccine researcher and biomathematics specialist Jessica Rose, Ph.D., made a similar observation, telling The Defender that the study is part of an intentional preparation for a new pandemic.
Rose alleged that the paper, accepted for publication just 27 days after initial submission, is part of “the same playbook [as] four years ago with the SARS-2 ‘pandemic preparedness’ set-up” of Event 201.
Rose pointed out what appears to be the next Event 201: the International Bird Flu Summit scheduled for October in Washington, D.C. The summit has a brochure featuring breakout sessions addressing “Mass Fatality Management,” “Strategies for Operating with 50% or More Absenteeism,” “Enforcing Quarantine Measures Effectively” and other plans that Rose contended will be like the COVID-19 pandemic “but amped up on steroids.”
Hooker confirmed that Kawaoka’s latest research qualifies as gain-of-function and that any release of the lab-created H5N1 virus — intentional or otherwise — could result in a “public health catastrophe.”
“Kawaoka claims he has proper measures in place but he’s already had two lab accidents that could have led to release into the populace,” Hooker said.
Hooker said that implying the virus could naturally and easily mutate to become highly virulent and transmissible in humans could give a “pass” to labs willing to do gain-of-function research on the virus, thereby multiplying the dangers of lab leaks.
He also warned that genetic sequence information for the virus — especially the version passaged through ferrets — “could be misused to make ‘weaponized’ H5N1.”
Both Hooker and Rose warned about the pretext of a new pandemic being used to push vaccines.
“The bird flu scare is already being used to recommend inferior H5N1 vaccines for farmworkers,’ Hooker said. “Three have been approved by FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] but the [vaccine-targeted] viruses are hopelessly outdated. The profit-taking motive behind this is insidious.”
“Imagine a hero who manifests the latest magic bullet gene therapy posing as a ‘vaccine’ to cure everyone overnight!” Rose said. “And all you have to do is give up your basic human rights — your rights to travel, to convene, to eat meat, to move, to oppose, to protest, to live.”
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Geert Vanden Bossche’s novel theory
In a May 23 TrialSite News article, virologist Geert Vanden Bossche addressed the mainstream scientific concern about H5N1’s potential to adapt its surface proteins for better interaction with mammalian cells.
However, he proposed an alternative theory linking COVID-19 vaccination to the spread of H5N1.
Vanden Bossche suggested that highly vaccinated human populations, acting as reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2 (SC-2) variants, might indirectly influence the avian immune system. He hypothesized that when birds are exposed to SC-2 from humans, it could trigger a strong immune response in the birds, particularly activating cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which are immune cells that kill virus-infected cells.
“I don’t have conclusive evidence to prove this, but I don’t rule out the possibility that highly C-19 vaccinated human populations … could be the cause of a strong activation of CTLs in SC-2 exposed birds,” Vanden Bossche wrote.
This activated bird immune system, Vanden Bossche theorized, might react differently when exposed to H5N1. Instead of the typical immune response that would limit viral spread, this “primed” immune system might inadvertently facilitate H5N1 infection and transmission.
Vanden Bossche further proposed that this immune system interaction could enable H5N1 to infect mammals, including humans, more easily. Normally, a virus needs to mutate significantly to jump between species. However, Vanden Bossche suggested that this altered immune response could allow H5N1 to spread across different species without requiring the usual adaptive mutations.
Hooker called Vanden Bossche’s theories around bird physiology “speculative,” but said that “mRNA vaccination specifically causes innate immune suppression that would make humans more susceptible” to infection by bird flu viruses.
Vanden Bossche also proposed a surprising potential outcome of this interplay between H5N1 and SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that the bird flu panzootic might actually be accelerating the end of what he calls the “SARS-CoV-2 immune escape pandemic.”
According to his theory, the widespread presence of H5N1 could lead to increased activation of cross-reactive immune responses in humans. This enhanced immune activity might put additional pressure on SARS-CoV-2, potentially forcing it to evolve in ways that could ultimately lead to its decline.
“Enhanced reduction of SC-2 transmission in highly C-19 vaccinated populations would expedite the end of the SC-2 immune escape pandemic,” Vanden Bossche wrote.
He further hypothesized that the end of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic could, in turn, lead to a reduction in H5N1 transmission among birds, potentially bringing the bird flu panzootic to an end.
Vanden Bossche strongly advised against vaccination for both bird flu and seasonal flu. He argued that in the current context of the bird flu panzootic vaccination could have counterproductive effects and potentially expedite what he termed “the disastrous evolutionary dynamics of the SC-2 immune escape pandemic.”
“People at higher risk of severe illness due to seasonal flu are better served by antiviral medications,” Vanden Bossche suggested.
