World should mount ‘pre-emptive’ strike against bird flu, prepare for pandemic. The 1918 flu pandemic caught the world by surprise when it killed up to 40 million people, but experts are informed enough today to mount a pre-emptive strike against another such catastrophe. [News Source]

Bird flu shock wanes in West Africa. Across West Africa there are many who think the danger of bird flu is over or consider it too distant to be of serious concern. [News Source]

US bird flu plan stresses school closures. A White House bird flu plan is blunt about how little the country can do to defend itself from a pandemic of influenza, giving details of how quarantines and border closures are likely to be futile. [News Source]

Russia bans British poultry imports. Japan has already banned all poultry, eggs and breeding birds from the UK and Hong Kong has banned exports from Norfolk, which is at the centre of the avian flu alert. [News Source]

Vital businesses prepare for flu pandemic. Business experts say that keeping the supply lines open could be a major challenge in a bird-flu pandemic. [News Source]

U.S. flu report predicts chaos. A White House report on pandemic flu paints a grim picture of the social and economic chaos that could overtake the country in a serious outbreak, including widespread illness and 40% absenteeism, potential school closures and travel restrictions. [News Source]

Clinton group announces deal to stop most soda sales to schools. The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all sales of sodas to public schools - a step that will remove the sugary, caloric drinks from vending machines and cafeterias around the country. [News Source]

Flu Fears: Masking issue. The Bush administration has drafted a national plan for responding to a pandemic flu outbreak. Among the responses would be a requirement that flight and shipboard crews put surgical masks on any traveler who is coughing. [News Source]

US bird flu plan a “template” for others: official (Reuters via Yahoo! News) The new U.S. plan for preparing for a pandemic of bird flu, to be released later on Wednesday, has 300 specific ideas but is more of a template for state and local governments, schools and individuals, officials said. [News Source]

Egypt: Health Ministry Reports 13th Human Bird Flu Case (AllAfrica.com) A new human case of avian influenza was announced on 2 May, bringing the total number of reported human infections in Egypt to 13. [News Source]

Bird flu? No need to panic (Watauga Democrat) While the avian flu, or “bird flu” as it’s commonly called, has dominated headlines, the actual threat posed by the disease doesn’t match the headlines. [News Source]

Pandemic Possible From at Least Four Bird Flu Strains (Update3) (Bloomberg.com) May 3 (Bloomberg) -- At least four strains of bird flu are capable of sparking the next pandemic, including the H5N1 virus that's killed more than half the 205 people it's known to have infected since 2003, virologist Robert Webster said. [News Source]