Feeding Birds, Not Fears

Another week, another spate of avian-flu outbreaks. In Asia, where the virus has jumped to humans and killed at least 60 people, China reported its third major infection in two weeks. In Europe, Croatia announced that at least 11 swans had caught the h5n1 virus, while Romania recorded its fourth infected area. The European Union banned imports of captive birds for 30 days after a parrot imported to Britain from South America was confirmed to have died from h5n1.

But anxiety about bird flu hasn't yet reached fever pitch. Sales of chicken were reported to have dropped in several European countries, and chef Alexis Gauthier of London's Michelin one-star Roussillon restaurant removed chicken, foie gras and pigeon from his menu after demand fell, but most people seem unperturbed. A Time/CNN poll in Britain, France and Germany found that 88% of respondents said they hadn't stopped eating poultry or reduced the amount they ate.

In Britain last weekend, thousands of people took part in the annual Feed the Birds Day, organized by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). As winter approaches, wild birds face a greater risk of starvation than of dying from flu, or transmitting it to people, says Cath Harris, spokeswoman for the RSPB: "The birds that you're likely to have in your garden are fairly unlikely to have avian flu."

Still, drug giant GlaxoSmithKline said it would begin clinical trials of an h5n1 pandemic flu vaccine early next year, and is preparing a plan to convert manufacturing facilities to produce a pandemic vaccine in case it is needed.