Richard wrote:

> I just now heard an item on the BBC International Service reporting
> that some South Korean scientists of respectable reputation believe
> that Kim Chee may possibly have played a role in the recovery of 11 of
> 13 chickens infected by Asian Bird Flu, which I believe is usually
> fatal to chickens and its crossover to humans feared. I was not
> paying attention when the report began, so I am not sure whether the
> chickens were part of a study or just a baker's dozen of sick chickens
> seen observed walking around. (I may not have heard the story right,
> but as Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up.")

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...03080010.html\

"The first group was given only water, while the other two groups were given
either a concentrated or diluted fluid containing kimchi's lactic enzyme."

Seems like you could come up with the enzyme WITHOUT having to eat kimchi.


> I did not hear anything said about the scientists claiming that Kim
> Chee might protect against the disease being transferred to humans.
> It did say, however, that since the outbreak of SARS in China, Korean
> restaurants in China were having trouble supplying enough Kim Chee to
> meet customer demand there.

Even if this "cure" pans out, I doubt that there'll be a run on kimchi here
in the USA. But you never know: People *did* go out and buy truckloads of
plastic sheeting and duct tape not all that long ago! (I wasn't one of
them.)

Bob