WHO: Africa needs to prepare for bird flu. African governments need to put aside billions of dollars to compensate farmers whose chickens they slaughter to control the spread of bird flu, the head of the WHO said Wednesday. [News Source]

Bird flu found in mammal in Germany. The H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a weasel-like mammal called a stone marten, indicating the disease has spread to another animal species. [News Source]

Bird flu seen reaching U.S. within a year. Bird flu, already spreading across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is expected to jump across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas within a year. [News Source]

Bird flu kills Chinese girl, sparks fresh fears. A nine-year-old girl has died of bird flu in China, state media said on Wednesday, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said action was needed now to prepare for an influenza pandemic. [News Source]

Flu panic hits cats, dogs – and Disney. Disneyland Paris was accused yesterday of hiding a dead swan as panic over bird flu spread across Europe. [News Source]

Government steps up avian flu efforts. The federal government is boosting its effort to look for bird flu in migratory birds, planning to test five to six times as many birds this year alone as it has screened since 1998. [News Source]

Vet’s work in Cambodia may hold clues to spread of avian flu. Although avian flu has been prevalent in Asia for at least three years and hopscotched to Europe and Africa, there is no consensus among health experts about the role migratory fowl play in spreading the disease. [News Source]

Antioxidant All-stars. You can't overdo it on antioxidants, those disease-fighting powerhouses in fruits, vegetables and nuts believed to help prevent cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease -- even aging. [News Source]

Farmers hail decision to lift beef exports ban. Farmers predicted a revival of the beef industry yesterday as a 10-year-old European ban on exports of British beef was lifted. [News Source]