La. Prepares For Possible Bird Flu Pandemic (WDSU TheNewOrleansChannel.com via Yahoo! News) Is Louisiana prepared for the possible bird flu pandemic? [News Source]

Galesburg lab certified for bird-flu testing (Pontiac Daily Leader) SPRINGFIELD - Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced today that the Illinois Department of Agriculture laboratory in Galesburg is the first lab in the state to receive certification to perform viral testing for avian influenza (AI). [News Source]

S.C. getting ready for bird flu. S.C. agricultural officials say the state is prepared for an outbreak of bird flu, even though one is not expected here. [News Source]

Bird flu cases multiply around Pakistani capital. Pakistan reported more cases of the deadly H5NI bird flu virus in poultry on Monday after discovering more infected farms near the capital. [News Source]

Aid agency funds bird flu vaccine study in 5 Asian nations (INQ7.net) BEIJING -- To vaccinate or not to vaccinate birds against avian flu? That is the question researchers from five Asian nations are tackling in a bird flu study launched Tuesday by a Canadian aid agency. [News Source]

Yolo gets ready for bird flu (The Davis Enterprise) Published Apr 16, 2006 - 18:30:13 CDT. It seems almost every year, there’s a new disease that might have the ability to threaten humanity. For the last several years, H5N1, or bird flu, has been waiting in the wings, watching as SARS and West Nile virus took their turns on the stage. [News Source]

Researchers race to develop bird-flu vaccine (Contra Costa Times) Health scientists and engineers are racing to find new ways to produce a vaccine that will protect people from the threat of a worldwide bird-flu pandemic. [News Source]

EU agrees extra aid for bird-flu hit farmers (AFP via Yahoo! News) EU agriculture ministers approved extra aid to farmers hit by a serious slump in poultry sales owing to the spreading bird flu crisis. [News Source]

S.C. getting ready for bird flu (The Myrtle Beach Sun News) S.C. agricultural officials say the state is prepared for an outbreak of bird flu, even though one is not expected here. The Clemson University Animal Diagnostic Center in Columbia has increased testing for avian flu, including at the state's 631 chicken farms, and the state veterinarian's office is hiring extra employees to test at 20 auctions and flea markets where live birds might be sold. [News Source]

Fourth Afghan province hit by bird flu (AFP via Yahoo! News) The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in pet chickens in a fourth province in Afghanistan, the United Nations revealed. [News Source]

New bird flu case confirmed in Afghanistan (Pravda) A new case of the deadly bird flu strain has been confirmed in poultry in the eastern Afghan province of Kapisa, a U.N. official said Tuesday. A United Nations -approved laboratory in Italy confirmed that samples recently taken from birds in Kapisa, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of the capital, Kabul, carried the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus, said Assadullah Azhari, the Kabul-based [News Source]

EU agrees extra aid for bird-flu hit farmers (AFP via Yahoo! News) EU agriculture ministers have approved extra aid to farmer hit by the slump in poultry sales due to the bird flu crisis. [News Source]