Greece has become the latest country to report a case of bird flu as the virus appears to spread across Europe.

The country's agriculture ministry said a form of the virus had been found in a turkey on a farm on the Aegean Sea island of Oinouses.

Twelve swans have also tested positive for bird flu in a second cluster in Romania.

And the European Commission has ordered urgent tests on dead birds found in Croatia.

At this stage, neither of the new outbreaks in Greece or Romania have been confirmed as the lethal H5N1 form of the bird flu virus, which has been linked to more than 60 human deaths in Asia.

However, tests are continuing, and the Greek outbreak is known to involve the H5 strain, of which the deadly form is a member.

As a medical researcher, I want to make a gentle but sincere plea to the blogosphere to calm down this flu hysteria just a bit. The main way that flu kills is by predisposing its victims to "superinfection" by bacterial illnesses - in 1918, we had no antibiotics for these superimposed infections, but now we have plenty. Such superinfections, and the transmittal of flu itself, were aided tremendously by the crowded conditions and poor sanitation of the early 20th century - these are currently vastly improved as well. Flu hits the elderly the hardest, but the "elderly" today are healthier, stronger, and better nourished than ever before. Our medical infrastructure is vastly better off, ranging from simple things like oxygen and sterile i.v. fluids, not readily available in 1918, to complex technologies such as respirators and dialysis. Should we be concerned? Sure, better safe than sorry, and concerns about publishing the sequence are worth discussing. Should we panic? No - my apologies to the fearmongers, but we will never see another 1918.

Patrick Cunningham M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Section of Nephrology
University of Chicago