The avian flu, H5N1, has killed tens of millions of birds. It has also caused the price of poultry and eggs to rise. A decade ago, the United States and the Netherlands did "gain of function" research on the avian flu virus. It has now been found that strains of H5N1 have also infected mammals in North America and Europe, including ferrets. Although the US Centers for Disease Control does not yet see this as a major threat to humans, 53% of humans who get it die. Some have reported that strains of H5N1 have the potential to kill up to 1.5 billion human beings! Does the Book of Revelation prophesy that one-quarter of humans will be killed by matters including pestilences during the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Are pandemic pestilences a risk to human mortality? Did Jesus prophesy disease pestilences? Can humans create deadlier pathogens than found in nature? Will a plague deadlier that COVID-19 happen? Could gain of function and biological warfare research end up unleashing anything consistent with the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Is there any hope? Jesus warned about humans causing massive annihilation. Will God's kingdom come? What is the solution? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these and other matters.

A written article of related interest is available titled: ‘A Plague That Could Kill A Billion People Has Been Found To Spread “Efficiently” Among Ferrets’

‘A Plague That Could Kill A Billion People Has Been Found To Spread “Efficiently” Among Ferrets’

COGwriter

There have been various reports about what is consider to be the “avian flu” H5N1, spreading to mammals. The Jerusalem Post reported the following:

Bird flu now appears to be able to spread ‘efficiently’ among ferrets – study
April 27, 2023
A strain of the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza has been found to effectively transmit between ferrets, causing deadly illness in the mammals, according to a new pre-print study by Canadian researchers. …
In the past two years, large outbreaks of the H5N1 subtype have spread across Europe and the Americas, with additional outbreaks reported across the world. In recent months, increasing numbers of mammals have been found to be infected with the virus, with mass die-offs of seals and sea lions reported in Russia and the Americas and dozens of foxes, skunks, dolphins, raccoons and cats found to be infected as well. https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-741346

The H5N1 virus has devastated poultry production in many lands–and that is affecting the food supply (see ‘World’s poultry supply threatened as bird flu spreads’ ‘Will bird flu spark the next pandemic?’).

While the US Centers for Disease Control still considers human infection to be rare (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-in-humans.htm accessed 04/28/23), others think that this could spark massive deaths.

Michael Snyder posted the following:

A Plague That Could Kill A Billion People Has Been Found To Spread “Efficiently” Among Ferrets
April 26, 2023
If you thought that what we have been through the past few years was bad, just wait until you see what happens when a truly deadly virus starts spreading like wildfire all over the planet. For example, scientists have been warning for years that the H5N1 strain of the bird flu has the potential to rapidly kill vast numbers of people. The good news is that H5N1 does not naturally spread easily among mammals, but more than a decade ago scientists in the United States and the Netherlands were conducting “gain of function” research on H5N1 in order to create a version that could spread easily among mammals. …
Even though millions upon millions of chickens, turkeys and other birds are now dead, most people in the general population have not been too alarmed by this outbreak.
But in recent months, H5N1 has started killing mammals such as foxes, minks, raccoons and bears.
And now researchers in Canada have proven that one strain of H5N1 that is currently circulating can spread “efficiently” among ferrets…
Ferrets were used in this research because they have “a similar respiratory makeup to humans”…
Ferrets were chosen for the study as they a similar respiratory makeup to humans, providing experts with an idea of how a virus would interact in people.
They found that ‘direct contact’ with one strain of H5N1 isolated from an infected bird, resulted ‘in lethal outcomes’, the paper added.
So where did this strain of H5N1 come from?
More specifically, did it occur naturally, or was it created in a lab? …
If a version of H5N1 that can spread very easily among humans were to get loose, the consequences could be “100 times worse than Covid”…
Nobody knows for sure how many would die if a full-blown H5N1 pandemic were to erupt among humans, but it has been projected that the death toll could reach as high as 1.5 billion people.
Since 2003, the death rate for humans that have become infected with H5N1 has been 53 percent.
So we better hope that a version of H5N1 that transmits from one person to another easily does not start spreading any time soon.
Unfortunately, there are signs that time is running out. … we have now entered an era of great pestilences. https://endoftheamericandream.com/a-plague-that-could-kill-a-billion-people-has-been-found-to-spread-efficiently-among-ferrets/

Well, biblically we know a worse pandemic than COVID-19 is coming. The avian flu has been contributing to food price inflation. In addition to the price of poultry, the price of eggs has been rising–and quite a lot.

Jesus warned:

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

The H5N1 flu looks to be consistent with Jesus’ words.

And yes, humans may have helped engineer it or otherwise took steps to increase its risk.

Over 50 years ago, the old Worldwide Church of God published the following by the late Raymond McNair:

THE DOOMSDAY BUG
There is — this very instant — a feverish international search for the ultimate “dooms-day bug.” The purpose? — to wipe out whole nations overnight by disease germs and chemicals. Will man’s unrestrained scientific search for more horrifying weapons of mass destruction prove to be his undoing?
WHAT I have seen here at Porton Down has convinced me of the awful potential of modern Chemical and Biological Warfare (called CBW for short). Few realize its frightening possibilities! Sensational news headlines from time to time reveal details of CBW development world-wide. …
History of CBW
Chemical and Biological Warfare is not new to mankind. For thousands of years man has used various CBW agents to overcome his enemies. But… it is only recently that he has seriously considered the idea of using CBW on a grand scale — to erase whole populations! Thousands of years ago man discovered the diabolical use of poison. He learned to use poison to dispose of rulers, dignitaries, or large numbers of his enemies by poisoning their food or water supply. Poisoned arrows were also used in warfare. Millenniums ago man learned that he could throw the corpses of plague-infected humans over the walls of besieged cities which he sought to overthrow — thereby causing terrible plague to ravage the entire city. Early American settlers traded plague-infected blankets to American Indians in times of frontier hostilities. There have been virtually no limits to man’s diabolical, inventive genius in the realm of destructive weapons of war.
CBW’s Awful Potential
We can see the awful potential of rampant disease organisms by observing what did happen during the Dark Ages. The BLACK DEATH of 1348-50 was the worst natural disaster to befall man in the last 4000 years. This terrible plague swept over all Europe — killing at least one third of the population! In certain areas nearly three fourths of the population was killed by plague! Three fifths of all Britons succumbed to the Black Death — reducing Britain’s population from 5.1 million in 1348 to 2.1 million in 1374.
Many, believing they would certainly fall victims of the Black Death, gave themselves over to reckless abandon — drunkenness, sexual orgies, violence, crime and general lawlessness. “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die of plague,” they reasoned. But biological warfare is potentially much worse than plague.
Colonel Adam Mikovich of Moscow Institute understands the full potential of Biological Warfare. He said: “It is believed today that Biological War would have the greatest effect of all” (Post, Jan. 30, 1965). …
An Ounce of Doom!
Many scientists right now are searching for new plagues with which to decimate the human population. And they are diligently seeking deadlier strains of old viruses with which to destroy whole populations. Of course, these scientists justify their CBW research by saying it is done for defensive reasons. Just how lethal are these viruses? Do you grasp the deadly potential? “In theory one gram of chicken embryo tissue inoculated with the Q-fever organism would be sufficient to infect more than one million people” (We All Fall Down, Robin Clarke). It has been estimated that one fourth of an ounce would be sufficient to infect every man, woman and child living in the British Isles! That’s about 55 million! Britain is especially vulnerable to chemical or germ warfare. She is thickly crowded and normal weather conditions in Britain are favorable to that type of warfare!
Botulinus, which was developed during World War II, is so deadly that it could wipe out all human life in a given area within six hours — yet leaving the target area habitable immediately after the attack. But some diseases would have a more lingering effect. …
Few realize that far more people have died from pestilence — from sickness and various plagues — through the course of human history, than have died in actual warfare.
It has been estimated that over 20,000,000 perished from influenza in just a few months at the close of World War I — and 50 times that number became ill. In the autumn of 1918, over 12,500,000 died in the flu epidemic which swept the undernourished nation of India. And over one-half million died in the United States. …
Destroying the Economy
Another terrifying aspect of CBW is that an enemy nation could destroy the economy of a nation — before actually attacking its civilians. This could be done by first attacking some of the main crops of the intended victim nation.
In 1942, 90 percent of India’s rice crop was destroyed by a natural strain of rice fungus.
And the highest award ever given to a U.S. civilian was awarded to a woman for developing another very deadly type of rice-blast fungus — which could, of course, be used against rice-eating nations like China or North Vietnam.
A Russian scientist has reportedly discovered a very deadly wheat rust — a type to which America’s wheat would be especially susceptible.
Thus, one can see how an enemy could greatly undermine the economy of a nation by first destroying the main crops through bacteriological warfare.
As a further example of the effects of this type of warfare, consider the terrible economic effects which the Irish potato famine of the mid-1800’s had on Ireland. That particular potato famine was caused by a peculiar potato blight or fungus which completely wiped out Ireland’s potato crop!
Previous to the famine, Ireland was one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. Yet it was a country stricken with the most unbelievable poverty. “There never was,” said the Duke of Wellington, a native of County Meath, “a country in which poverty existed to the extent that exists in Ireland.” “Nearly half of the families of the rural population,” reported the 1841 census, “are living in houses of the lowest state” — windowless mud cabins of a single room. …
CBW weapons are cheap to manufacture, and are comparatively inexpensive to deliver to enemy targets. A small nation could develop a whole arsenal of CBW agents and deliver them with very little strain on its budget. …
Scientists must bear their full share of responsibility for their part in developing more deadly and virulent microbes which could unleash horrifying disease epidemics upon this world.
But where does this leave us? Will scientists cease their horrifying work? Hardly.
It leaves us precisely where the world’s most noted newscaster — Jesus Christ — said it would leave us! Speaking of our very day, he warned: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21, 22).
But how?
The Only Solution
Make no mistake about it — man does not have the solution to his ever-accelerating arms-race problem. But God does!
We can be very thankful that the God of the universe is about to put an end to man’s hellish insanity toward his fellowman. His government will “rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they LEARN WAR any more” (Micah 4:3).
Mercifully, God Almighty will not let man destroy himself! If God didn’t keep His hand firmly on the controls, man would annihilate himself.
We can rejoice that total disarmament is very near. The day is soon coming when the nations will close down all of their chemical and biological establishments — and their munitions factories!
Then all of man’s scientific efforts will be directed toward construction — not Destruction. Toward saving lives — not destroying them! (McNair R. The Doomsday Bug. Plain Truth, August 1969)

Since the above was published, scientists can now also produce genetically-modified pestilential organisms. And COVID, may well have been one of them.

As far as pestilences go, more and more people are dying from antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Back on November 16, 2019, before the coronavirus was considered an issue outside of China, we put up a video on YouTube with the following description:

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report in November 2019 that stated that an American died every 15 minutes from an antibiotic-resistant infection. It reported that an additional one dies about every 45 minutes from Clostridioides difficile. Another CDC report warned of the superbug Candida auris. In China, two recently died of the pneumonic plague, whereas in May 2019, to Mongolians died from the bubonic plague after eating a rodent kidney. Dr. Thiel explained that the flu is often associated with pigs and the Ebola virus from eating fruit bats. He also cited scriptures about which animals God said could be eaten and some of which should be avoided. Dr. Thiel also went over an NPR report which stated that more who get the live polio vaccine are paralyzed from that type of polio than the ‘wild’ kind. Dr. Thiel explains some scriptures about preventing disease as well as those that show that humans will not sufficiently repent and solve infectious disease problems before Jesus returns.

Even though I cited appropriate sources, it was unceremoniously removed by YouTube sometime in 2022.

However, because we do not trust Big Tech in general, nor Youtube in particular, we already had it up on other platforms, so it is still available. Here is a link to it from our BitChute platform: Superbugs, antibiotics, and vaccines. Many do not want people to hear the truth.

In January 2020, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video for our Bible News Prophecy program:

17:01
Biological Warfare and Prophecy
Is biological warfare possible? Was it prophesied? Scientists have long warned that pathogenic organisms like the coronavirus could be weaponized. Furthermore, back in 2017, there were concerns that the biological research facility being constructed in Wuhan, China was risky and that a coronavirus from it could be released. On January 25, 2020, China’s President Xi Jinping publicly stated that the situation with the Wuhan-related strain of the coronavirus was grave. Did Church of God writers like the late evangelist Raymond McNair warn that engineered viruses (the “Doomsday bug”) were consistent with prophecies from Jesus? Did a warning from CCOG leader Bob Thiel warn about risks of genetically-modified (GMO) mosquitoes come to pass? Could human research and/or the consumption of biblically-unclean animals such as bats and snakes be a factor in current outbreaks or coming future pestilences? What about famines? How devastating have pestilences been? How devastating are the prophesied ones going to be? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our video: Biological Warfare and Prophecy.

As regular readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware, a much worse pandemic than COVID-19 is coming.

More deaths from pestilences are prophesied.

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

Notice that the “beasts of the earth” will be responsible for massive amounts of deaths related to the ride of the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse (here is a link to our sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation).

And this looks to be not the claimed 6.9 million deaths the WHO blamed on COVID-19 but hundreds of millions and perhaps 1-2 billion (which is closer to a quarter of humans now on the planet).

Yes, worse pandemics than COVID-19 are coming.

That said, the New Testament warns of a time of food shortages, food price inflation, and and increased deaths from diseases (Revelation 6:5-8) and we continue to see events consistent with that.

But the good news is, that later, God’s Kingdom will come.

But we will see massive deaths around the world before then.

So, remember to heed Jesus’ words:

36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)

Update 04/30/23: We just uploaded the following video:

14:33
H5N1 and the 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse?
The avian flu, H5N1, has killed tens of millions of birds. It has also caused the price of poultry and eggs to rise. A decade ago, the United States and the Netherlands did “gain of function” research on the avian flu virus. It has now been found that strains of H5N1 have also infected mammals in North America and Europe, including ferrets. Although the US Centers for Disease Control does not yet see this as a major threat to humans, 53% of humans who get it die. Some have reported that strains of H5N1 have the potential to kill up to 1.5 billion human beings! Does the Book of Revelation prophesy that one-quarter of humans will be killed by matters including pestilences during the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Are pandemic pestilences a risk to human mortality? Did Jesus prophesy disease pestilences? Can humans create deadlier pathogens than found in nature? Will a plague deadlier that COVID-19 happen? Could gain of function and biological warfare research end up unleashing anything consistent with the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Is there any hope? Jesus warned about humans causing massive annihilation. Will God’s kingdom come? What is the solution? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these and other matters.

Here is a link to our video: H5N1 and the 4th Horseman of the Apocalypse?

Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation

These Signs of the 4 Horsemen Have Begun

COVID 19 is NOT the End, but could it be TEOTWAWKI?

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans?

Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming?

6000 Years: When will God's Kingdom Come?

Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027?

When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025?

Can Jesus Return In 2023 Or 2024?

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God