One more bird dies from H5N1 avian flu

A flamingo succumbed to avain flu and was found dead on a Kuwaiti beach.

The H5N1 virus first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997, causing authorities there to destroyed poultry in the territory. It was curbed then, but re-emerged in December 2003 and has recently spread from Asia to Europe.

Among the countries worst hit are Vietnam and China.

One of the economic impact of bird flu is the mass slaughtering of poultry, giving rise to shortages in some instances.

Human fatalities are now about 60, contracted by close proximity to infected poultry, which is currently the only medium of transfer to humans. Authorities fears a pandemic should the H5N1 mutate into a form transmissible among humans.

However, a possible outcome of this latest round of infections would hopefully be a rise in the standards of poultry farming especially in those areas that are currently affected.