![Fowl Plague logo featuring a feather](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1ZEViI3RJJx2wrMXbub-zwA-1024x427.gif)
Read the next installment: “Your Pandemics Questions Answered”
Read the previous installment: “The Machine and the Mosquito“
![spacer](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/e16df-1y_qz9hwnftvljw8bpxfywq.png)
![Illustration of Ron Fouchier. Text: "In 2012, a team of virologists led by Ron Fouchier showed how easily H5N1 avian flu could become one of the most dangerous pathogens in human history."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/a2541-1gmygazqnvahdosiaspnzla.png)
![Ferrets in a cage with a bubble illustration of bacteria. Text: "Normally, the virus requires close contact with infected birds for transmission, but Fouchier's team made a version that passed through air between mammals."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/57269-1ebig8ytjigv87mdfvf1mia.png)
![Fouchier in front of a double helix. Text in speech bubble: "Only five genetic mutations are enough to produce an airborne strain of the virus, capable of spreading incredibly fast."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/9fa91-1kgeaies2wgkuljveuwoqzg.png)
![Graves in a cemetery. Text: "About 450 people have died of H5N1 avian flu since 2003–mostly in Indonesia and Egypt. If the virus becomes airborne, that number is likely to rise sharply."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/9f783-1w1l7whyrclicmk35vnscwg.png)
![Two figures arguing. Text in first box: "The research sparked bitter debate in the science community." Text in speech bubble: "It's a recipe for a bioweapon!" Text in second box: "The US National Security Advisory Board for Biotechnology unsuccessfully tried to ban its publication, arguing..."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/7371e-1xkz3qzzeh-ncjbkn_lttyw.png)
![Ron Fouchier. Text in speech bubble: "I removed a few details of the method and they accepted it. Publishing these results gives us the best chance of fighting future flu pandemics."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/fb54e-1bdbk96sl2b-tn8w6emhghq.png)
![Chickens and workers collecting eggs. Text: "What isn't yet known is how easily Fouchier's mutations could happen in the real world. They've all been seen individually in the wild, but never together."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/8a1da-1rkcnhfqyztw5ulc6fnmbjw.png)
![Figure coughing in a crowd. Text: "If they do emerge together naturally, the battle between public safety and scientific progress will be only a footnote in history."](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/5f541-1bj0i9nuf_rep-yhpd0-ig.png)
This comic was drawn by Tom Humberstone and written by Duncan Geere, based on episode four of our new series on avian influenza, Fowl Plague.
![spacer](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/e16df-1y_qz9hwnftvljw8bpxfywq.png)
Read the next installment: “Your Pandemics Questions Answered”
Read the previous installment: “The Machine and the Mosquito“
![Fowl Plague logo featuring a feather](https://howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1ZEViI3RJJx2wrMXbub-zwA-1024x427.gif)
How We Get To Next was a magazine that explored the future of science, technology, and culture from 2014 to 2019. Fowl Plague is a five-part series that explores the history of deadly global pandemics–and asks whether we’re ready to respond to the next one.