Ox

China may not enjoy the Lunar New Year which begins on the 26th. A second bird flu death this year was actually recorded at the province of Shandong. The victim fell ill on January 5 and died just last Saturday. It was less than two weeks after a 19-year-old girl died of the same virus (H5N1) in Beijing.

It was said that the H5N1 virus survives longer in the cold. And it's during winter when rural people bring in live poultry into their homes to shield them from the cold.

The year of the earth ox may be another year of bird flu. Hope not.