Dai Aixiu, 41, leans against her doorpost and watches as a dozen chickens and ducks peck at small bugs beside a broken urn in the garbage-littered yard. Her front door is open, and the birds sometimes enter the house, leaving behind droppings and feathers before she shoos them out.
As the world grows increasingly concerned about the prospect of a global avian influenza pandemic, China remains a huge question mark. The Asian giant has long been seen as a disease incubator, given its dense population, unsanitary conditions, exotic animal diet and thousands of years of people and poultry living in close proximity.
See also ESWN’s translations of Chinese media reports about the recent flu cases.
