How far can dead birds fly?
Wild birds are particularly well suited to take this virus global — and fast.
“If the natural reservoir for this virus was any other animal species than birds, we might expect to see it only located on a certain continent because animals don’t swim across oceans. They don’t climb over mountain ranges. The one animal species that does is birds,” says Osterholm.
Traveling in infected wild birds, the virus took off and jumped over to North America in late 2021. From there, it went to South America leaving, destruction in its wake.
“In South America, it traveled the 6,000 kilometer spine in about…