A fresh outbreak of bird flu has been reported in Changzhi city, Northern China.  Poultry has begun to be culled, and disinfections have also started.  More

Source:  The Hindu

Despite authorities' claims that bird flu is under control in Myanmar, the International Red Cross is going to train Myanmars people on preventing any further outbreaks of the avian influence.  More

Source:  People's Daily Online

The results of  tests in Russia for a human vaccine for bird flu will produce results within the next fortnight.  While Russian doctors and scientists test out the vaccine dosage levels, they warn that the vaccine will not be capable of preventing a pandemic.  More.

Source:  RIA Novosti

European Union countries and the US will convene in Vienna June 6-7 for a meeting to discuss global progress on preparations and other high priority issues relating to bird flu on a global basis.  More.

Source:  USinfo.state.gov

WHO has confirmed that a 15 year old boy who died in Bandung, Indonesia, last week has died after contracting human bird flu.  The confirmation brings Indonesia's official human death toll due to bird flu to 37. More.

Source:  The Courier Mail

Vietnamese authorities have revealed that there hae been no new outbreaks of avian influenza within the country since the last case in December of last year (2005).  To date more than 110  million domestic fowls have been vaccinated. More

Source: VNA

Impoverished Aghanistan has said that they require $1 milion (US) to roll out a program to prevent the spread of bird flu which has been found in several provinces in the country.  More

Source:  Kuwait News Agency

British Aid Agency, Merlin, has reported that survivors of the Indoensian earthquake may be at risk of contracting bird flu.  With homes destroyed, many people are apparently living in chicken coops, the walls of which are covered in chicken dung.  More.

Source:  Sydney Morning Herald

It is easy for the threat of bird flu to take a back seat to our daily current events.  Bombings, disasters, and local issues tend to occupy our attention.  And, yes, it's difficult for the media to keep the 'newsworthiness' of a story going if they perceive there's not really much going on.   Also, I would tend to think that as humans we become desensistized to a certain extent to issues when we've been hearing about them for a period of time.

Can we afford to let the bird flu pandemic threat continue to simmer in the background.  From the news reports I have read recently, there seems to be a great deal of 'polictically correct' criticism of certain countries and their approach to handling the bird flu threat, and their methods of handling any outbreaks.

One thing I know that is certain - infected birds are not going to respect any state or federal boundaries. 

There continues to be cases of human bird flu appearing in countries.

There appears to be a lot of talk going on, I sincerely hope that action will follow.  I have this gut feeling that the issue is just too large and complex to be tackled in an effective manner on a global basis.  That feeling doesn't augur well....

Indonesia has averaged one human death every 2.5 days during the month of May due to human bird flu.  If the death toll continues at this rate then Indonesia is expected to soon overtake Vietnam as being the country with the most human avian influenza casualties.  A WHO spokesman has reported that Indonesia's decentralization is a major difficulty in combating the spread of bird flu within the country.  More

Source:  NDTV.com

To date the WHO has to date been unable to absolutely identify the source of avian influenza that has claimed the lives of seven family members.  WHO have not ruled out the possibility of human to human transmission in the case.  More.

Source:  IOL.co.za

Improvements in public service preparedness, veterinary systems in sub-Saharan Africa and research investment were the key areas identified as needing to be addressed at a World Economic Forum in Cape Town.  More.

Source:  Business Day