Birds come down with flu

Bucharest, Romania

Europe went on a continent-wide alert for avian flu this week, after birds suffered separate outbreaks in Romania and Turkey. Both countries began killing chickens and turkeys suspected of being exposed, while the rest of Europe slapped bans on poultry imports from the two. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the infected birds carried the H5N1 virus, the strain that has killed 65 people and millions of birds in Asia since 2003. Doctors fear that strain could mutate and cause a worldwide human pandemic. The E.U. is woefully unprepared for such a health crisis, the Council of Europe said this week, citing a “flagrant lack” of flu vaccine.