High mortality rate is typically a negative factor in disease spread, but it's somewhat nuanced. For example, stuff like incubation period plays a role as well. If it's deadly in the end, but it takes a while for a person to get to that point, they can go on infecting a lot of other people before they realize they're sick. The virus will also continue to mutate, so a less deadly variant might emerge that's better at spreading. Very difficult to say what will happen at the moment unfortunately.
I hope this isn't a dumb question, but if the mortality rate of this flu is so aggressive, could it end up burning out before it spreads too widely?
High mortality rate is typically a negative factor in disease spread, but it's somewhat nuanced. For example, stuff like incubation period plays a role as well. If it's deadly in the end, but it takes a while for a person to get to that point, they can go on infecting a lot of other people before they realize they're sick. The virus will also continue to mutate, so a less deadly variant might emerge that's better at spreading. Very difficult to say what will happen at the moment unfortunately.