Bird flu follows avian flyways
Deadly H5N1 influenza travels with migrating wildfowl
Wild geese may fly with the flu on their wings, new research suggests.
Scientists have suspected that wild birds may spread the H5N1 avian influenza virus, but the evidence has been inconclusive. The new study combines GPS tracking data of four species of wildfowl with genetic analysis of the virus and finds that H5N1 spreads along migratory flyways.
Human outbreaks of the disease also coincide with migration time of the birds, Huaiyu Tian of Beijing Normal University and colleagues report December 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Since 2003, 676 people have been infected with the virus and 398 have died.