Definitely Not Good News
Russian authorities are reporting the identification of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in samples from the Novosibirsk region of Siberia. The domesticated fowl have probably been infected by migratory birds from southern Asia.
The Russians believe they have contained the outbreak, but if migratory flocks are carrying the disease, there is no good way of preventing to spread to ever wider regions. Migratory birds were suspected in a recent outbreak in rural China, and the same infected flocks probably continued north into Siberia.
This would indicate that some of the migratory species are carriers of the disease, as they would normally die if infected and be unable to fly north.
It’s a good thing that the US has strengthened its public health system in reaction to 9/11 and the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction…never mind.
