Bird Flu Update: Be prepared, put tuna under your bed:

When you go to the store and buy three cans of tuna fish, buy a fourth and put it under the bed,' Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. 'When you go to the store to buy some milk, pick up a box of powdered milk, put it under the bed. When you do that for a period of four to six months, you are going to have a couple of weeks of food. And that's what we're talking about.

Throw some canned peas and boxes of macaroni cheese down there, too, and you can have a quick, healthy meal, without ever getting out of bed.

On a more serious note, Azerbaijan has reported three cases of human bird flu:

Azerbaijan is a neighbour of eastern Turkey, which has had several human deaths from bird flu. The country also borders Russia, Iran, Georgia and Armenia.

The infected people were thought to be members of a family from the Salyan region in southern Azerbaijan who died in hospital this month. They had kept poultry in their house, a common practice in rural Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the virus has spread to the the birds of Cameroon.

And today, in my office, I heard the first of outrageous bird flu gossip. One person told my receptionist that she heard on the radio there were birds in Canada with it. (What she probably heard was this story of conjecture) and another said she heard there was a case in one the hospitals in town. (Not a clue where that one came from. Perhaps just an attempt to do the other woman one better.) And that's how rumors get started.

Better start hoarding the tuna and milk.