New Zealand took no chances with a Korean Air flight from Seoul to Auckland this morning.  A woman took ill and everyone, from the pilot down to the authorities, took it very, very seriously.  Apparently, New Zealand authorities are aware of the South Korea-to-Vietnam link with last week's reported death of Lu Chin-chu (I do not believe in coincidences when it comes to H5N1).  Lu's death is still, apparently, a mystery, as is the condition of his father.  But that has not stopped the New Zealanders from scratching their itchy trigger fingers when it comes to erring on the side of extreme caution.  Which is good for all.

The following is from today's Chicago Sun-Times, via AP:

The woman was later deemed to be ''no risk'' and suffering from suspected gastroenteritis, airport police Inspector Richard Middleton said, congratulating the flight crew for notifying authorities about the potential problem.

The woman, whose name was not released, was briefly treated at a hospital in Auckland, Middleton said.

Crew on the flight, from South Korea via Australia, alerted airport authorities when the woman began vomiting and showing other possible bird flu symptoms, sparking a lockdown on the tarmac as the plane landed, said Norman Upjohn, an ambulance duty manager.

The 223 people aboard the Boeing 747 were held for about an hour under ''full quarantine procedure'' while a paramedic in protective clothing examined the woman, Upjohn said.

South Korea declared itself bird flu free in June, after reporting no new cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu -- in birds or humans -- for three months. Australia and New Zealand have reported no infections of H5N1, which has killed at least 206 people worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

So what DID happen to Lu Chin-chu?  Was he indeed South Korean, or Taiwanese as one Vietnamese newspaper is now reporting (thanks, Dr. Niman)?  What killed him?  No one is saying, which tells me something is afoot -- if for no other reason than the authorities would like to quickly put everything behind them if Lu was indeed negative for H5N1.  Pasteur moves quicker than this.