Writer Elizabeth Vecsi lives in the Hudson Valley with her five cats. Over the past two decades, she has been an editor and writer for various pet publications, including Cornell's Dogwatch.
The “bird flu”, or avian influenza, has been around for a long time; it’s circulated in wild birds since the late 1990s. But like all viruses, it mutates over time—and influenza viruses are known to mutate very quickly. What’s more, some emerging strains are deadlier than others.