Japanese Raccons found with Bird Flu

What this shows is that the h5n1 virus is present in many different species. It breaks out in a form that is deadly to both animals and people when the host animal is gathered together in large numbers. When chickens, ducks, or geese are factory farmed (thousands raised at same time and housed for egg laying or held for delivery to live markets), the natural system "thinks" the species's population is too large and is exhibitig stress that calls for a "system" response to bring the flock back into balance. The system response to re-create balance is influenza which kills weaker or stressed birds and reestablishes balance. Repeated human intervention causes greater system responses until it may reach pandemic levels.

clipped from www.yomiuri.co.jp This is the first time mammals in this country have been found with bird flu virus antibodies, which develop as a result of infection. Before the discovery, only birds had been found with bird flu antibodies. The research team, which presented a paper on its findings at a conference of the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science in Utsunomiya on Saturday, warned that infected raccoons could introduce the virus into chicken farms and noted that countermeasures were needed. It is believed that the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus is highly likely to mutate into a new type of influenza. In Japan, there have previously been reports of domestic chickens, wild whooper swans, jungle crows and mountain hawk-eagles infected with the virus.