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(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization's (WHO's) latest analysis of human H5N1 avian influenza cases adds to previous evidence that young people are more susceptible to the virus and more likely to die of it than older people.

(CIDRAP News) – Public health workers are urging Americans to stock up and plan for the next emergency, but when it comes to their own lives, the cupboards are often bare, according to a recent survey by the American Public Health Association (APHA).

(CIDRAP News) – A team of researchers has achieved what has been until now a frustratingly elusive goal: a tissue-culture model that allows natural growth in the lab of norovirus, one of the most common and least understood causes of gastrointestinal illness worldwide.

Editor's note: This story was revised Feb 13 to include a clarification about the number of avian flu cases in Indonesia that have been confirmed by the World Health Organization.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia’s health ministry yesterday announced two H5N1 avian influenza deaths, involving a woman and a boy from West Java, according to news services.

(CIDRAP News) – Turkey announced today an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak at a farm in the southeastern part of the country, as English authorities explored the possibility of a connection between recent outbreaks in Suffolk and Hungary.

A report submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) by Turkey's agriculture ministry said the outbreak began Feb 5 and affected poultry in a village in Batman province, about 460 miles from Ankara.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Labor (DOL) has introduced workplace health guidelines to help businesses understand their pandemic influenza risks and what they need to do to prepare.

(CIDRAP News) – Predictions and observations at this week's conference on business preparedness for pandemic influenza ran the gamut from how fast a pandemic would circle the globe to how well the Internet would hold up, with many topics in between.

(CIDRAP News) – Orlando, FL – As businesses develop pandemic preparedness plans, they need to cut through a "fog" of uncertainty about exactly what pandemic influenza will look like and how their companies will be able to respond to it, infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, said at a summit in Orlando Monday.

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration's new budget proposes adding funds for pandemic preparedness while cutting some support for bioterrorism and local preparedness, drawing mixed reviews from national public health groups.

There are no perfect pandemic precautions. We need to say so—and push hard for imperfect precautions.

If you've been following the pandemic preparedness issue, here are some things you already know:

(CIDRAP News) – Orlando, FL – Julie Gerberding, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), today challenged health and business leaders to stay focused on the "marathon" of preparing for an influenza pandemic.

Gerberding, speaking at a conference on business preparedness, said it's not possible to maintain high public interest in the pandemic threat indefinitely, but leaders must keep preparing anyway.

(CIDRAP News) – Two new human cases of H5N1 avian influenza were announced by Indonesia's health ministry today, as the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed Egypt's latest case.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia, the country that has seen more human deaths from avian influenza H5N1 than any other, has ceased sharing viruses isolated from its patients with international health authorities, challenging the global system for flu-strain identification and vaccine development.

(CIDRAP News) – Government veterinarians confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza at a large turkey farm in Suffolk, England, 2 days ago, marking the country's first poultry outbreak and Europe's second in 2007.

(CIDRAP News) – Orlando, FL – Corporate America is showing signs of a growing recognition of the threat of an influenza pandemic, but the concern is not yet a major topic in executive suites, according to recent surveys by a business consultant.

(CIDRAP News) – New federal recommendations on nonpharmaceutical measures communities can use to fight an influenza pandemic are drawing generally high marks from public health officials and others, but they say the plan spells a massive workload for local planners.

(CIDRAP News) – Inducing just two small changes in the virus that caused the influenza pandemic of 1918 inhibits the pathogen's ability to spread, researchers reported Thursday, a finding that may help identify potential pandemic flu strains in the future.

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials today unveiled recommendations for nonpharmaceutical steps to battle pandemic influenza, tying them to a new "Pandemic Severity Index" (PSI), similar to the system for categorizing hurricanes.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that if the threat of an influenza pandemic increases, it will release viruses to vaccine manufacturers before completion of some safety tests, a step that could save about 2 weeks in vaccine development.

Next week the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy hosts the second national summit on business preparedness and pandemic influenza. I have the opportunity to address 300 or more business, government, and community leaders who will convene for the common purpose of better preparing the business world for the next pandemic.