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(CIDRAP News) – Researchers who tracked national data on influenza vaccination rates and mortality in elderly people from 1968 through 2001 say they could find no evidence that flu shots reduced death rates.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers studying acute encephalitis cases in Vietnam discovered an unexpected cause of death in a 4-year-old boy, and possibly his 9-year-old sister: avian influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnamese and international officials concerned that the Lunar New Year would encourage the spread of avian influenza had some good news: the travel-heavy holiday didn't bring any new reports of human cases, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended adding a new influenza strain that emerged recently in California to the flu vaccine for 2005-06 in the Northern Hemisphere.

(CIDRAP News) – The investigation of Canada's third case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, suggests that the cow ate feed contaminated with banned materials, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

(CIDRAP News) – The Bush administration has proposed cutting funds that support state and local preparedness for bioterrorism and other health emergencies in fiscal year 2006, drawing protests from public health advocacy groups.

However, the proposal for the fiscal year that begins next October would increase funding for the nation's emergency stockpile of drugs and medical supplies by more than 50%. The budget was released Feb 7.

(CIDRAP News) – The Thai government has announced plans to cull about 2.7 million free-range ducks to stem the spread of avian influenza, the Bangkok Post reported today.

Ducks have been found to shed high levels of the H5N1 virus without appearing ill. The national avian flu committee agreed in principle yesterday to cull free-range ducks, the newspaper reported.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza vaccine doses intended for those at highest risk for serious complications from the flu made it into the arms of the right people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta said yesterday.

Feb 10, 2004 (CIDRAP News) – The United States stands by its plan to reopen the border to young Canadian cattle Mar 7 but will keep the border closed to meat from older Canadian cattle, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Thai officials this week stepped up surveillance and prevention efforts against avian influenza, mirroring events taking place across Southeast Asia.

Thai authorities announced they had 100,000 doses of avian flu vaccine in event of a serious poultry outbreak in Thailand, the Thai News Agency reported today. More laboratories also have been opened in the country to speed testing.

(CIDRAP News) – To help prevent the spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United States, a federal advisory committee recommended yesterday that anyone who received a blood transfusion in France after 1980 should not be allowed to give blood.

(CIDRAP News) – US health officials are warning travelers to Vietnam to take special precautions to protect themselves from avian influenza.

Also, H5N1 avian flu has been detected in poultry in Cambodia for the first time since last September, and a Vietnamese official has said the widespread poultry outbreaks of avian flu in Vietnam may be starting to wane.

(CIDRAP News) – The use of gloves by fast-food restaurant workers might be expected to result in cleaner food, but that isn't necessarily the case, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Food Protection.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnam, mired in a renewed avian influenza outbreak that has led to the death of 12 people and the culling of roughly 1 million poultry since Dec 30, 2004, asked the international community for help this week.

(CIDRAP News) – The US military gave anthrax shots to more than 900 soldiers after a federal judge ordered a halt to the mandatory vaccination program last October, according to news reports this week.

(CIDRAP News) – As Vietnamese prepare to welcome the Year of the Rooster, the chicken is uppermost in the minds of many.

The Lunar New Year, or Tet, is a time of extended celebration in Vietnam. But this year is different. The threat of avian influenza, which has killed 12 Vietnamese and at least one Cambodian since Dec 30, 2004, is dampening the traditional celebrations, particularly as they involve poultry.

(CIDRAP News) – Vietnamese officials have confirmed that a Cambodian woman who died Jan 30 in Vietnam had avian influenza, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

The 25-year-old woman apparently was the first person from somewhere other than Vietnam or Thailand to die of the disease since the current series of widespread poultry outbreaks and linked human cases began in late 2003.

(CIDRAP News) – Asserting that US troops face an increased risk of anthrax attacks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency order to help the Pentagon reverse a court ruling that stopped its anthrax vaccination program last fall.

(CIDRAP News) – Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, has been confirmed in a goat for the first time, but the finding poses little risk to consumers, European Commission (EC) officials announced Jan 28.

(CIDRAP News) – Two Vietnamese girls died of avian influenza over the weekend, and the disease may have claimed its first human victim in Cambodia, according to news services.

A 13-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl became the 11th and 12th people to die of H5N1 avian flu in Vietnam since late December, according to reports. Their illnesses were first reported in the news media Jan 28.