New York - Bird Flu Has Authorities, On High Alert

New York - Eight EU countries have confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic bird flu H5N1 strain: Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia. The United States so far has been spared.
Still, the Big Apple, hit hard by the "Spanish flu" that killed 40,000 here in 1918, for months has been gearing up, increasing inspections, while New York state unveiled a plan to respond to a pandemic.
Authorities have their eye on live poultry markets in this culturally diverse city of 8.2 million, where shoppers have a choice of more than 90 markets from the Bronx to Chinatown and Spanish Harlem.
The spread of the disease is worrying scientists and governments because of fears the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

On the Lower East Side, under the Williamsburg bridge the market boasts. An elderly Chinese lady selects her bird which is weighed on an old scale before it is slaughtered in the back room.

City health officials in any event are planning a potential quarantine, hospital coordination and public information strategy just in case the virus hits and mutates, becoming communicable between humans.