Hmmm. That may be true. This could be a weaponized version of influenza. Who would release it though? That would probably be a better question.
There is no conceivable way that influenza could be weaponized, for the reason that it is a better natural weapon than we could improve, and if we did, there would be no way to defend against its variants. It is too dangerous to use as a weapon.
To explain. The respected chief epidemiologist of Vietnam discovered a herd of pigs, each of which had about five unique mutations of the virus in them, vying for the “best strain”. Then the semi-finalists of each pig would compete with those of the other pigs until a “grand champion” emerged as the primary strain of the entire herd.
He realized with some shock, that this process was, in effect, like a giant, if slow computer, composed of thousands of flocks and herds all over Asia, continually developing better strains in a methodical process of elimination and competition.
To make matters worse, viruses can swap techniques with different viruses to expand their territory, and do so in many animals with immune systems similar to humans, who likewise carry other types of influenza virus, like ferrets an pigs.