Avian flu programs irk farmers. State and federal plans for monitoring farms and backyard livestock in preparation for the imminent arrival of avian flu in the United States have already angered some farmers and privacy advocates. [News Source]

Gas leak sparks mass evacuations in China. About 7,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a leak was discovered at a gas well in a southwest Chinese town where more than 200 people were killed in an earlier gas leak. [News Source]

A pandemic of fear. Fear is a deeply rooted emotion -- one that can serve as a lifesaving response to imminent danger. But because we humans often magnify risk, fear can also cause us to overreact to remote threats, such as bird flu. [News Source]

When a disease loses its most potent ally, fear. The obituary for mad cow disease was written earlier this month. Maybe you didn't notice. The disease isn't really dead. But its power to terrify seems to be. [News Source]