chicken little update

[Guest guest]

It's been a while since we heard any bird flu news so here's a tidbit I found

tasty.

A South Korean microbiologist has come up with an interesting finding. In a

study of

39 chickens stricken with the avian influenza 22 of 26 given a diluted or

concentrated

solution of Kimchi bacteria culture fluid in place of water showed improvement.

All

13 given just water died. The experiment was repeated months later with similar

results.

Before we get too excited, the birds were still capable of transmitting the flu

to

others, but living is usually better than dying.

The bacteria used to make Kimchi (a classic Korean fermented vegetable dish)

appears to

have some protective characteristics. I wonder if there have been any population

studies of Korea (big Kimchi eaters) wrt to general influenza susceptibility to

see if

this translates to human pathology.

This work is supported by Seoul National University. The microbes in question

are

Lactic bacteria similar to those used to ferment sour cream. I doubt there's

much

milk sugar in Kimchi but haven't researched the recipe. Perhaps this suggests a

benefit mechanism from consuming kefir and yogurt??

JR