07 May 2014 (01:47 UTC-07 Tango)/07 Rajab 1435/15 Ordibehesht 1393/09 Ji-Si 4712

“We found that this virus was unlike anything else detected in the world!”-Aeron Hurt, UN World Health Organization

Researchers are reporting they’ve found a new type of bird flu in Antarctic Penguins, known as H11N2.

However, I did some quick research and discovered H11N2 was also found in chickens in Nanjing, China, in 2009.

A/chicken/Nanjing/908/2009(H11N2) consists of genes from H9N2, H7N7, H5N2, H11N8, H3N6, H6N2, H1N1, and H5N1.

Research published in 2012 concluded that H11 influenzas are very likely to cross species, and called for “enhanced surveillance”.

So what’s the big deal about the H11N2 in the Penguins?  UN researches say this is the first time ever that “live influenza” was found in birds of the Antarctic.  Interesting, how did a flu first found in China end up at the bottom of the world?  Apparently the Penguins are not showing any signs of being sick.