Eight Arrests Increase Alarm Over Bird Flu Deaths in China — This is looking bad. The good news according to some sources is that the mortality rate is dropping to 60-percent rather than 80-90 percent dead per 100 people.

The above detail on the eight arrests indicates that they are eight of the nine who have been reporting on H5N1 in Qinghai. All of the arrests are shortly after the release of the May 27 photos showing 1000’s of dead or dying birds on Bird Island.

The two pictures include a long shot with no birds flying, and a closer shot with birds sitting. Very few birds are standing and many of the non-standing birds may already be dead.

The pictures suggest that the list detailing the deaths of over 8000 waterfowl may be low. H5N1 rarely kills waterfowl, so the massive die-off in and around Qinghai Lake is unprecedented.

The arrest of those providing information is cause for concern. China has issued blanket denials and provided little detail on reported human cases. Even for the bird cases, where H5N1 has been isolated and sequenced, only general information indicating the sequences are different than H5N1 in Southeast Asia has been released.