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(CIDRAP News) – Researchers have found that increases in ocean temperatures triggered by El Nino were followed by increases in the incidence of dengue fever cases in Veracruz, a state on Mexico's east coast that typically has one of the country's highest dengue rates.

(CIDRAP News) – As US officials wrap up efforts to gauge the public's response to a draft plan for allocating vaccine supplies during an influenza pandemic, suggestions to fine-tune the plan are emerging, such as giving higher priority to critical infrastructure workers, the families of key healthcare workers, and community pharmacists.

(CIDRAP News) – Poland, Russia, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia reported new outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza in birds today, according to news reports.

Poland has new outbreaks at two sites well separated from the five outbreaks reported recently in two areas northwest of Warsaw, according to a Reuters report.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia has reported its 115th human case of H5N1 avian influenza, in a 47-year-old man from Tangerang, according to news services.

The man is in critical condition in a Jakarta hospital, according to a Xinhua report today. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that he fell ill on Dec 2, was hospitalized in Tangerang Dec 5, and was referred to the Jakarta hospital Dec 10.

(CIDRAP News) – Under a food safety agreement announced today by US officials, the Chinese government pledges to register exporters of food to the United States, inspect shipments before they leave China, and set up a system to trace food products through the production system.

(CIDRAP News) – Indonesia's health ministry today announced that a 28-year-old woman who lived near Jakarta died yesterday of H5N1 avian influenza.

(CIDRAP News) – Chinese officials said today that analysis of a virus sample from a 24-year-old man who died of H5N1 avian influenza shows no signs of a dangerous mutation, as some news reports said the man and his father, who is hospitalized with an H5N1 infection, both had eaten undercooked chicken.

(CIDRAP News) – Scientists say they have found three distinct variants of H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds in Germany, two of which might have been brought in by wild birds migrating from Russia.

(CIDRAP News) – Chinese officials said today that the father of a Chinese man who recently died of H5N1 avian influenza has been hospitalized with an H5N1 infection, raising the possibility of a new family cluster and sparking fears of human-to-human transmission.

(CIDRAP News) – International donors at this week's New Delhi conference on avian and pandemic influenza pledged about $406 million, including $195 million from the United States, to fight H5N1 avian flu, according to news reports.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of people in Uganda suspected of being infected with a new strain of the Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus has grown to 93, and 22 have died, including four healthcare workers, according to news reports.

(CIDRAP News) – Experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Influenza Vaccine Summit (NIVS) in a teleconference today urged clinicians to consider extending their seasonal flu vaccination efforts through March and shared strategies for immunizing more patients during office visits.

(CIDRAP News) – Amid controversy around the construction of a biodefense laboratory in Boston, a project risk assessment from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is funding the lab, has been condemned as unsound by the National Research Council (NRC).

(CIDRAP News) – Safety inspectors still write their reports by hand, food processing plants are inspected once every 10 years at best, only two people work full-time on pet-food safety, and critical information is locked up in piles of warehoused paper documents.

Editor's Note: CIDRAP's Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools online database showcases peer-reviewed practices, including useful tools to help others with their planning. This article is one of a biweekly series exploring the development of these practices. We hope that describing the process and context of these practices enhances pandemic planning.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a toolkit to help community leaders educate their constituents about steps they can take to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

(CIDRAP News) – Chinese health officials reported today that a 24-year-old man from the eastern part of the country died of H5N1 avian influenza.

The man, from Jiangsu province, died yesterday, the provincial health department told Xinhua News, China's state news agency. If the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the man's H5N1 illness he will become China's 26th case-patient and its 17th fatality.

(CIDRAP News) – Veterinary officials in Poland today said H5N1 avian influenza has struck two turkey farms, the country's first reported outbreak in domestic birds, amid reports that meat contaminated with the virus was sold to consumers.

(CIDRAP News) – Lobbying by the maker of the only US-licensed anthrax vaccine was a key factor in causing the federal government to cancel its big contract with VaxGen Inc. for a new anthrax vaccine that was expected to be safer, according to a report published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times.

(CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Uganda involving a new subtype of the virus that officials suspect was responsible for sickening 51 patients, including 16 who died.