Bird flu warning over new virus risk: "significant public health concern" Public health officials have warned that new mutations of bird flu with human flu could have dangerous consequences. Newsweek

Combined infection with bird flu and human flu could lead to mutations of new viruses that could have dangerous public health consequences, agencies have warned.

This is following the news that mutations of bird flu have occurred within a Louisiana patient and a teenager from Canada who both suffered with severe symptoms, potentially raising the risk of serious human infection among others.

Bird flu update: CDC says it's searching for these pandemic red flags The CDC has revealed the red flags it is monitoring for that suggest that bird flu was about to become the world's next pandemic. Newsweek

The CDC told Newsweek Monday that while bird flu's current risk to the general public remains low, the agency is carefully monitoring for several red flags that could indicate that the virus could be on the verge of becoming a pandemic.

Those red flags include any outbreaks of bird flu that are spread from person-to-person, as well as evidence that the virus has mutated, making it easier for it to spread between humans.