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(CIDRAP News) – You've got to gather a lot of eggs to supply the world with influenza vaccine, but that might change before long.

(CIDRAP News) – A Japanese farm is expected to cull most of its 25,000 chickens to prevent the spread of a highly pathogenic avian influenza, identified as A H5N2, that has killed about 800 chickens, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The range of animal species that can contribute to the spread of West Nile virus (WNV) may be much broader than experts have believed, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(CIDRAP News) – As poultry were being culled in China and Vietnam to prevent further spread of avian influenza outbreaks this week, international experts were visiting both countries to better understand how the H5N1 virus is behaving.

(CIDRAP News) – A refrigerated form of MedImmune’s FluMist intranasal influenza vaccine has been shown to be as effective as the standard frozen form in stimulating the immune system, the company says.

(CIDRAP News) – West Nile virus has made its US debut in the heartland this year, with Kansas reporting the first human case.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of one human illness, the CDC announced on Jun 20. The infection had already been found in birds, horses, and mosquitoes in 14 states this year.

(CIDRAP News) – More human and poultry cases of H5N1 influenza are coming to light in Southeast Asia, with reports of two new human illnesses in Vietnam and a second poultry outbreak in China.

Two people from northern Vietnam were admitted to Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi over the weekend and later tested positive for the H5N1 virus, according to hospital director Tran Quy, who was quoted in the China Daily newspaper and other media reports.

(CIDRAP News) – International health agencies are questioning China about a report that the country has used a human antiviral drug in poultry for years, thereby causing the H5N1 influenza virus to become resistant to the drug.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially logged another four cases of H5N1 avian influenza in Vietnam, following a report to the agency today from the Vietnamese government.

The cases occurred between Jun 1 and 17. Two of the patients are from Hanoi, one is from Hai Duong, and the fourth is from Nghe An, the WHO reported. The agency said seven patients are being treated for avian flu at a hospital in Hanoi.

(CIDRAP News) – Efforts to contain an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever appear to be succeeding in the Republic of the Congo, but the longer-running Marburg fever outbreak in Angola is still claiming victims, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

(CIDRAP News) – The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is calling the US government's stockpile of antiviral drugs "totally inadequate" in the face of a potential influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Chiron Corp. has announced it won't be able to provide as many influenza vaccine doses as previously estimated for the coming flu season, fraying a thread in the nation's fragile vaccine supply web.

Chiron expects to supply 18 million to 26 million doses of flu vaccine in the United States this year, instead of the 25 million to 30 million doses projected in April, the company said in a news release yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has infected a person in Indonesia, authorities confirmed today, marking the spread of the disease among people to a fourth nation.

(CIDRAP News) – Efforts to combat avian flu in both people and poultry are continuing, although some steps have proven controversial.

Vietnam has announced plans to begin human testing this summer on a vaccine for H5N1 avian flu, a move that has evoked concern among some experts.

(CIDRAP News) – An anthrax outbreak in the small African country of Guinea Bissau has killed 4 people and sickened more than 80.

Thirteen patients have been hospitalized, according to a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) news release issued this month.

(CIDRAP News) – A company is recalling its dog and cat treats because they contain bacteria linked to the illnesses of five people.

T.W. Enterprises of Ferndale, Wash., is recalling six different dog and cat treats in the wake of cases of Salmonella serotype Thompson infections identified in Canada and the United States, according to a press release on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Web site.

(CIDRAP News) – After one inconclusive and one negative test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a tissue sample from a downer cow has shown a positive result with a third test, authorities announced in a late-evening news conference Jun 10.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several beef industry officials at a St. Paul meeting yesterday made the case for resuming importation of live Canadian cattle, which have been banned since Canada's first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) turned up in May 2003.

(CIDRAP News) – The influential journal Foreign Affairs is adding its voice to the warnings about a potential influenza pandemic by publishing a special section on pandemics in its forthcoming July/August issue.

(CIDRAP News) – The deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus is behaving in new and unpredictable ways, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman said today.

Shigeru Omi, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, spoke today in Beijing, according to news service reports. China this week announced an outbreak of H5N1 among domestic geese in a far northwestern province. An earlier outbreak in May killed more than 1,000 migratory birds in China.