I wasn't aware that there had been any suggestion that birds were involved with the spread of H1N1 (so-called 'swine flu'). Didn't the disease originate from the recombination of flu strains from pigs and humans - why should this infect birds?
The 1918 flu strain is still poorly understood in terms of origin, but again I was not aware of any suggestion that birds were involved with the spread.
The outbreaks in chickens (plus some wild birds and the bird market) in Hong Kong are H5N1. This is a completely different virus, and is the strain which caused some panic a few years ago.
