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(CIDRAP News) – Millions of people who use the Internet to look for information about influenza provide the fuel for a system launched by Google this week to estimate flu activity day by day in the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – Officials from several agencies recently converged on Miami's international airport to take part in a full-scale exercise of the federal government's risk-based strategy to slow the spread of a future pandemic influenza virus across US borders.

(CIDRAP News) – A 15-year-old Indonesian girl from central Java recently died from an H5N1 avian influenza infection, according to news reports that cited a local health official and a physician who treated the girl.

(CIDRAP News) – A vaccine designed to offer protection against many strains of influenza viruses appeared safe in low doses and triggered a satisfactory immune response in a phase 1 clinical trial, the vaccine's developer announced recently.

(CIDRAP News) – The United States will contribute another $44.4 million to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) campaign to prevent and control avian influenza, the FAO announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – Clostridium difficile, rapidly gaining as a source of hospital-acquired infections, is sickening from 6 to 20 times more patients than previously thought, according to a survey released today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

(CIDRAP News) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said recently it is making a few minor changes in its requirement for advance notice of imported food shipments, which is designed to give the agency time to decide which shipments need inspection for safety reasons.

(CIDRAP News) – The agriculture ministry in Thailand today confirmed an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in backyard birds in Sukhothai province, the country's first outbreak since January, according to news agencies.

(CIDRAP News) – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has listed public health emergency preparedness and food safety as two of 13 "urgent issues" that will need attention from President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress next year.

(CIDRAP News) – An independent board that advises the US Department of Defense on science and technology issues issued a report on Election Day highlighting a range of priorities for the incoming Obama administration, including measures to prevent and respond to a bioterrorist attack.

(CIDRAP News) – Salmonella infections associated with dry pet food from a plant in Pennsylvania have continued to crop up in recent months, prompting closure of the plant and concern that contaminated products may still be in use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Media coverage of infectious diseases such as avian influenza can create the impression that the conditions are more of a threat than they really are, according to a recent study from Canada.

(CIDRAP News) – Government officials in Laos today confirmed that the H5N1 avian influenza virus struck birds in a village in the northwestern part of the country, according to media reports.

(CIDRAP News) – Bioniche Life Sciences, based in Belleville, Ont., announced recently that it received full approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to market the world's first vaccine to reduce Escherichia coli O157:H7 shedding by cattle, a measure that could decrease contamination in meat and produce.

(CIDRAP News) – BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported encouraging results this week in two phase 2 trials of its injectable antiviral drug, peramivir, a potential new treatment for influenza.

Peramivir is a neuraminidase inhibitor, like the licensed antivirals oseltamivir (Tamiflu), which is taken orally, and zanamivir (Relenza), inhaled as a powder.

– WASHINGTON (CIDRAP News) – The benefits conferred by influenza vaccination—to recipients and to their close contacts—were hotly disputed at an international medical meeting this week.

(CIDRAP News) – The University of Minnesota on Oct 28 blew past the single-day Guinness world record for administering seasonal flu vaccine, delivering 11,538 shots at four campus locations.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today hosted an online conversation among experts, government officials, and members of the public that touched on emerging issues in pandemic planning, such as anticipating supply chain interruptions and keeping the momentum going during tough economic times.

(CIDRAP News) – When Ontario started offering free seasonal influenza vaccines to anyone over 6 months of age in 2000, Canadian researchers seized on a unique opportunity to compare the universal approach with a more targeted vaccination strategy, and they found that the universal model decreased flu-related deaths and healthcare visits.

– WASHINGTON, DC (CIDRAP News) – Health authorities must remain alert to new and renascent disease threats, experts warned this week at an international medical meeting.