Inside the White House Plan for the Pandemic. A White House report establishing a national response to a global disease outbreak, including bird flu, warns that state and local law enforcement may have to enforce isolation or even quarantine procedures in certain cases to try to contain the pandemic. [News Source]

There’s more than one bird flu, experts warn. The deadly H5N1 bird flu which is currently sweeping across the globe is not the only potential candidate virus for the next human flu pandemic strain, experts have warned. [News Source]

States welcome flu plan but say they need federal money. State and local officials welcomed the federal government's latest plan for dealing with pandemic flu, but some complained that the Bush administration had failed to provide the money needed. [News Source]

‘Merchant of drumsticks’ aims to allay chicken-flu fears. For the U.S. chicken industry, with about $38 billion in annual retail sales, maintaining public confidence is crucial. Last year, the average U.S. consumer gobbled down nearly 90 pounds of chicken. [News Source]

U.S. discusses adding avian strain to influenza vaccine. The U.S. is considering adding a component of the deadly bird flu virus to the seasonal-flu shot as a hedge against a possible outbreak. [News Source]

Bird flu would ravage U.S., White House warns. The White House on Wednesday unveiled a foreboding report on the nation's lack of preparedness for a bird flu pandemic, warning that such an outbreak could kill as many as 2 million people and deal a war-like blow to the country's economic and social fabric. [News Source]

Expect the worst … it’ll happen, disaster forum told. One thing is certain if a pandemic flu hits Ontario: It will be a disaster. [News Source]

Beware Europe’s unknown viral nasties. A veritable zoo of nasty new viruses is circulating in Europe and could be killing people without even being suspected. [News Source]

Preparing For The Bird Flu (KWWL-TV Iowa City) A severe outbreak of Avian Influenza, or the "bird flu", could take 4 out of every 10 American workers off the job, for weeks at a time. On Wednesday, the White House released a revised plan to deal with the possible outbreak, but warned the federal government cannot solve the problem alone. [News Source]

Avian Flu: Can IT Handle a Pandemic? (PC Magazine via Yahoo! News) Studies find most companies have yet to prepare for the work force impact of an avian flu outbreak. [News Source]

Computer Grid Helps Fight Avian Flu (Science Daily) During April, computers in the UK have been working overtime in the fight against avian flu. As part of an international collaboration, computers at eleven UK universities and research labs have put in one hundred thousand hours of time searching for possible drug components against the avian flu virus H5N1. The analysis used a computing Grid, a new network that brings together worldwide computer [News Source]

County hopeful, state less so on bird flu (Gloucester County Times) New Jersey isn't ready to handle an outbreak of avian flu, but Gloucester County is as prepared as possible. Following a drill in Trenton Wednesday, Corzine said the state needs its own testing facility and improved communications and set up a summit meeting on the bird flu problem for May 31. [News Source]