South Korea’s First Wild Mammal Bird Flu Death Tied to University’s 100% Lethal H5N1 Research?

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Summary:

Pattern emerges: Same country, same viral clade, same type of high-risk enhancements—followed closely by first-ever wild mammal fatality from that clade.

March 18, 2025: South Korea’s first recorded wild mammal death from H5N1—leopard cat found dying, infection confirmed in lungs and brain.

Same university, same scientists: Konkuk University team that detected the leopard infection had already created a brain-targeting H5N1 strain 100% lethal in mammals using gain-of-function methods.

Brain match: Lab strain caused fatal neurological damage in mice; wild leopard cat infection found in the same organ targeted in their experiments.

Second high-risk study: Other South Korean scientists built a chimeric, weaponized H5N1 with heatproofing, altered receptor binding, boosted replication, and record-breaking human cell entry.

Tight timeline: Both gain-of-function projects completed before or around the leopard’s infection and death.

No oversight cited: No public record of gain-of-function review, biosafety audit, or independent investigation.

South Korea’s first recorded wild mammal death from H5N1 bird flu—a leopard cat found dying on March 18, 2025—occurred after scientists at the same university (Konkuk) had already completed gain-of-function experiments making the virus 100% lethal in mammals, raising questions over whether the fatal infection could be linked to the laboratory-enhanced pathogen.

The leopard’s bird flu death was reported in a July 2025 Frontiers in Veterinary Science paper written by Konkuk University researchers, while the risky bird flu experiments carried out by the same university were published in Virology Journal in June 2025.

Both papers were authored by the same researchers, Dong-Yeop Lee and Dong-Hun Lee, linking not only the country’s first recorded wild mammal H5N1 death to the same university that performed risky gain-of-function work, but to the exact same scientists—a connection that raises serious questions about biosafety, containment, and whether a lab-enhanced pathogen may have spilled into the wild.

A separate Virology Journal paper published in May 2025 from other South Korean institutions also detailed the creation of a chimeric, weaponized H5N1 strain with enhanced stability, altered receptor targeting, and increased replication potential in mammalian cells—underscoring how widespread such high-risk bird flu research has become in the country.

Though published in May, the experiments described in this second Virology Journal paper must have been conducted months earlier during the research phase, meaning they occurred either before or around the same time as the leopard cat’s infection and death—further tightening the timeline between South Korea’s lab-based H5N1 enhancements and its first documented mammalian fatality from the same viral clade.

The bird flu-related experiments and leopard death come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this year announced a $500 million “next-generation” pandemic vaccine initiative focused on avian influenza bird flu.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy recently cancelled 22 government-funded mRNA vaccine projects, but allowed a Bill Gates-linked Arcuturs Theraputics’ bird flu project to continue.

The U.S. has also been funding experiments on bird flu pathogens, along with China (here), Japan, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

First Mammal Death from Bird Flu in South Korea

On March 18, 2025, a wild leopard cat was found moribund (at the point of death) near a reservoir in Hwasun County, South Korea, and died within hours at the Jeollanam-do wild animal rescue center.

The Frontiers in Veterinary Science report—led by Konkuk University researchers—confirmed the cause was an H5N1 avian influenza virus infection, marking the first documented case of H5N1 in a wild mammal in South Korea.

The report describes the animal’s rapid deterioration and death as consistent with severe systemic viral disease.

Astoundingly, bird flu was detected in the leopard’s brain, the very organ targeted by the mutated bird flu pathogen created by Konkuk scientists in earlier experiments.

The Frontiers report reads:

“Here, we report the first documented case of H5N1 HPAI in a wild mammal in South Korea, identified in a leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). On March 18, 2025, a wild leopard cat discovered moribund near a freshwater reservoir in Hwasun County of Jeollanam-do Province and submitted to the National Institute of Wildlife Disease Control and Prevention (NIWDC) of Korea. We isolated the H5N1 virus from this leopard cat, sequenced, and assessed its evolutionary history and molecular markers indicative of mammalian adaptation.”

“The brain and trachea from the submitted leopard cat tested positive for influenza A virus…”

The fact that the leopard’s brain infection mirrors the brain-targeting traits engineered by the same researchers at the same university raises the disturbing possibility that a lab-enhanced bird flu strain—whether through a catastrophic accident or intentional release—may have spilled into the wild.

These developments raise fears that another man-made pandemic is on the horizon, as Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, and the CIA have acknowledged that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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