Bird Flu Story:
Tourists photograph them, and artists paint them. They peck and cluck in parking lots, backyards and alleys. And, yes, they cross the road, any time they please.

Key West is famous for its roaming chickens, but the birds could soon be cooped up. Worried about bird flu, City Commissioner Bill Verge wants the city to begin rounding up the island’s 2,000 to 3,000 chickens.

Now, however, the bird battle has a new source of urgency: avian flu.

More than 100 deaths have been blamed on the avian flu virus around the world, none of them in the Americas. The Bird Flu virus can infect people who have had close contact with sick birds.

Tags: Bird Flu in US, Avian Flu, Key West Bird Flu, Chickens