Officials Mull State’s Bird Flu Plans (WCVB TheBostonChannel.com via Yahoo! News) Officials in Massachusetts held the first of five conferences Monday to devise a plan in the event of an avian flu pandemic. [News Source]

European Commission On Track To Mobilize €100 Million To Combat Bird Flu Around The World (Medical News Today) The European Commission is well on track to fully mobilize €100 million pledged at the Beijing conference to combat Avian Influenza around the world, ahead of the target date. Funds pledged will help poorer countries tackle Bird flu in the animal population, and increase preparedness for a possible human pandemic... click link for more info. [News Source]

Test Results Positive For Avian Influenza In Two More Poultry Farms In Norfolk, Defra, England (Medical News Today) Tests have provided positive results for avian influenza in chickens on two further poultry farms near Dereham, Norfolk. The preliminary results indicate H7N3, but further tests are being carried out by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency. The two free range flocks will be slaughtered on suspicion of an avian notifiable disease... click link for more info. [News Source]

Japan bans UK poultry as bird flu cases spread. Japan has become the first country to ban imports of British poultry amid growing concerns about the threat of avian flu. [News Source]

Few U.S. companies are prepared for bird flu outbreak. Just 15% of large U.S. companies have any bird-flu plan, according to a survey in March. That's starting to change. [News Source]

Chinese girl in critical condition with virus. An 8-year girl in Chengdu, China is in a critical condition in hospital with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. [News Source]

Counties plan for possibility of flu outbreak. An effort is currently under way in Contra Costa, Alameda and San Joaquin counties to ready health and emergency services in the event of a flu pandemic. [News Source]

Smuggling of birds, exotic pets concern bird flu watchdogs. Bird flu entering the U.S. through smuggled wildlife is a growing worry for government officials already on the lookout for migrating wild birds. [News Source]

Scotland’s bird-flu quarantine zone is lifted. A 1000-square mile quarantine zone to combat an outbreak of bird flu was lifted in Scotland today - despite the spread of a similar strain of the disease south of the Border. [News Source]

China stresses it isn’t hiding bird-flu cases. A senior Chinese health official reiterated on Friday that there have been delays in the country's internal reporting of possible human cases of bird flu, but he emphasized that China hasn't been hiding any instances of the disease. [News Source]

Legal aspects of feared flu pandemic are pondered. On Day 5 of a deadly flu outbreak, there's no margin for error. If missteps are made within those first several days, it could make the difference between containing a flu outbreak or helplessly watching it fan into the much-feared influenza pandemic. [News Source]

Mild form of avian flu found in New Jersey (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Authorities have discovered a mild form of avian influenza at a live bird market in New Jersey, but it is not the deadly H5N1 strain governments around the world are trying to contain, the state's agriculture department said. [News Source]