BIRD flu continues to wing its way around the planet. As New Scientist went to press, H5N1 looked to have reached the Greek island of Oinousa. It is hard now to imagine that wild birds aren’t spreading the virus, and alarming to consider that the same migration, maybe the same birds, are now headed for vulnerable people and poultry in Africa. If this virus evolves the ability to go pandemic in humans, the whole world will be just as vulnerable.
Our defences are deplorably weak. As New Scientist reported last week (15 October, p 6), we have probably had…
