Avian Flu Reaches Europe

Two days ago, it was Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. Today:

VIENNA (AFP) - Lethal bird flu spread westwards across Europe, with experts fearing a spring epidemic among poultry as wild migrating birds return from Africa.

In Africa itself, where illegal poultry trade was also blamed in part for spreading the virus, there were fears bird flu had crossed Nigeria to Niger.

The latest apparent outbreaks of the H5N1 virus, which can be fatal in humans, were announced in Austria and Germany.

So far, there are no reports of human infections, but experts fear that the virus would eventually mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans.

Now that the disease has spread to Asia, Africa and Europe will the Americas be next?

Considering the incompetence and ineffectiveness that the Bush Administration has shown in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, how ready are we to face this potential plague?

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