Rural community vigilant for signs of virus

BIRD watchers, farmers, hill walkers and other followers of countryside pursuits are on high alert for signs of the H5N1 flu virus.

Some migratory birds are suspected of being carriers of the disease, which has been spreading in countries worldwide for the past three years.

It has killed at least 165 people worldwide, most of them in Asia, and more than 200 million birds have died from it, or have been culled to prevent its spread.