They may be annoying but at least pigeons won't give you bird flu.

It appears that the urban birds are unlikely to carry, or even be infected by, the deadly strain of the avian flu virus.

Scientists have discovered that even if exposed to high doses of the H-5-N-1 virus, pigeons carry the disease for only a brief time.

Specialists now look for the first signs of the deadly strain in wild migratory birds, not homebody birds like pigeons, starlings, and sparrows.