Scientists find how bird-flu virus ‘humanizes’. Researchers have found that by putting one or two mutations into the H5N1 bird-flu virus, they were able to give it greater ability to slip into human cells. [News Source]

Blame chicken farms for bird flu. According to Earl Brown, a University of Ottawa flu virologist, lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially produced poultry in Italy in 1878. [News Source]

Study finds mutations needed for bird flu pandemic. Scientists said on Thursday they had identified some of the mutations the H5N1 avian influenza virus needs to gain a permanent foothold in the human population, causing a greatly feared pandemic. [News Source]

Brown criticized for bucking federal disaster plan. The House committee investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina says that the former FEMA director did not give an official government disaster plan a chance to work. [News Source]

Horse owner cries foul over registry. Eventually, the government ID program could require that each horse, cow, steer, bull, pig, sheep, goat, turkey, chicken and other domestic and exotic livestock be individually registered and tagged with a radio frequency identifier that could be used to track the animal's movements. [News Source]

Bill on animal disease records being discussed. A bill to keep animal disease records secret in Tennessee has been delayed while sponsors are negotiating with open-government activists. [News Source]

A primer for pandemics. “Bird flu” has already shown that it can jump from fowl to humans, and now even to cats, which indicates that it might be the next global killer. [News Source]

EU addresses deadly threat of rising resistance to antibiotics. EU officials will tackle a looming public health crisis on Friday as options for treating for common ailments like pneumonia and bronchitis disappear after decades of overprescribing of antibiotic drugs. [News Source]

It’s a leap but scientists find threat to humans in avian flu. A possible way for a particularly virulent strain of the avian flu virus H5N1 "to gain a foothold in the human population" has been discovered, researchers reported Thursday. [News Source]

French kept Europe in dark about infected wild duck. France kept quiet about the discovery of a wild duck with bird flu while it encouraged the EU to soften its safety regime against the killer strain of the infection. [News Source]

Israel orders thousands of turkeys killed. Israeli officials on Friday ordered tens of thousands of turkeys destroyed as they awaited final word on whether the country has experienced its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. [News Source]

New bird flu cases found in 5 nations. At least five countries confirmed or warned of their first outbreaks of the deadly strain of bird flu Thursday. [News Source]