This just in from the Wall Street Journal:

A Kuwaiti flamingo has been diagnosed with the H5N1 bird flu strain, marking not only the first appearance of the infamous flu in the Persian Gulf, but also the first known flamingo to have contracted the dreaded bug, which generally affects more common birds such as chickens and ducks. The unlucky flamingo joins a South American parrot that died under U.K. quarantine as the most colorful birds to have contracted the well-publicized disease. Persian Gulf poultry and humans still appear to be safe, officials said.

The time is ripe for an avian version of The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. The hideous Red Death mows down the peasants of the bird world, but the flamingoes, peacocks, and other avian nobles lock themselves into an enormous gilded cage for a quarantined ball. Red Death, the vulture, sneaks into the party, killing the haughty elite. In the end, “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”

Fade to black.