Will Falconer, DVM Moderator
Just checked news sites, and it appears there's been a case in Austin. The press is busy fanning the flames, trying to scare people ["On the order of 100 times more contagious previous strains of flu," says a vet].
So, there's contagious (how fast it spreads) and there's mortality rates (extremely low incidence of fatality). Needless to say, the hubbub is all about contagion, less about how it's unlikely to cause death. Still, the call is going out to vaccinate with the brand new Merck vaccine.
Sigh. I'd quietly ignore that.