As people across the world have been investing in hand sanitiser and face masks to protect themselves from the dreaded swine flu, those who have worked for the last few years in controlling bird flu might feel that their chickens and ducks are no longer getting the attention they deserve. But fear not!

According to the satirical news website Not the Nation, birds may yet have a place in the spotlight, with the potential emergence in Thailand of “swird flu” — a new virus coming from “a pig with swine flu spending time with a chicken with bird flu”. According to an unnamed “official” quoted by Not the Nation, “swird flu,” would be more devastating than either bird flu or swine flu because it “just would be”.