"excess excess mortality"
The strong correlation of excess deaths with waves of infection suggest that deaths are significantly undercounted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/opinion/covid-pandemic-deaths.html?smid=tw-share
Mammal to mammal transmission is worrisome. Close contact with infected birds has been the main vector so far. If people start getting H5N1 from other people it could get rugged.