Bad news on bird flu

Reuters reports: "The H5N1 avian influenza virus can survive for more than a month in bird droppings in cold weather and for nearly a week even in hot summer temperatures."

This is from the World Health Organization and strikes me as very bad news. It's one thing to get sick handling dead birds -- an activity easily avoided by many, particularly children. It's another threat entirely to have deadly virus hanging out in bird excrement, upping the odds of human exposure.

This article from USA Today puts into perspective fears of bird flu coming here:

There are no regular migratory bird pathways from Asia to the United States, but Pacific flyway birds can occasionally make it across Siberia to Alaska. It is conceivable that H5N1 could show up in Alaska and from there make its way down the West Coast or across Canada, (but) there is much less contact between migratory birds and poultry in the U.S. than in Asia. The chance of a bird flu circulating among our poultry is much less than in Asia.