Over the weekend, a large die-off of birds in Turkey and Romania prompted local and European officials into an emergency response on the assumption that avian flu had arrived in Europe. Tests confirmed that some strain of avian flu has reached Turkey, and all poultry imports from Turkey are banned as of today. Test results on the affected birds in Romania have yet to arrive.
See the story here: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/10/10/eu.birdflu.reut/index.html
Has the Kos community reached a consensus about whether this is a real threat or a hyped-up non-event that BushCo is seeking to leverage into greater military control of domestic security? My own feeling is that, like 9-11, it is a real event, but BushCo, acting to type, are treating it as a way to push their agenda, not serve the public interest.