Public meeting raises awareness about avian flu (Statesville Record & Landmark) A public meeting on bird flu will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Iredell Agricultural Resource Center at . This is just one of six regional meetings that aim to reach the public and the poultry industry with information on avian flu. [News Source]

Avian Flu: More Hospital Beds, Fewer ‘Ridiculous’ Ideas Needed (Occupational Hazards) Birds infected with H5:N1 – avian flu – likely will arrive in the United States by September or October, according to the former director of the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness. [News Source]

Fluidigm TOPAZ(R) System Expedites Structure Determination for the Hemagglutinin of the H5N1 Avian Flu Virus (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.----May 16, 2006--The TOPAZ® system for protein crystallization figured prominently in structure-based research on receptor specificity of the hemagglutinin from an H5N1 avian influenza virus, commonly known as "avian flu". [News Source]

PhilHealth covers avian flu and flu pandemic (Sun Star) THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has expanded the benefit for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome by including "bird flu" and influenza pandemic in its coverage. [News Source]

Bausch & Lomb pulls lens solution. Bausch & Lomb Inc. said Monday it has permanently removed from the market a contact-lens solution that has been linked to an outbreak of fungal eye infections that can cause blindness. [News Source]

Balanced diet blamed for meat market glut. After years of people stuffing themselves with chicken, pork and beef while they were following low-carb diets like Atkins, the meat industry is looking at a glut as the diet trend turns toward a more balanced approach. [News Source]

Officials Hope Bird Flu Movie Provokes Preparation Not Panic (Fort Wayne News Channel 15) (Ft Wayne, IN)- A network movie about the a strain of avian influenza that can easily pass from person to person is creating a new buzz about bird flu. Indiana says it's ready. [News Source]

Roche identifies 12 partners to produce avian flu drug Tamiflu (Business Report) Zurich - Roche had identified 12 potential partners to produce Tamiflu, it said yesterday, in a move that may silence criticism that the Swiss drug company is guarding the formula for its avian influenza drug too closely. [News Source]

Colorado lab monitors birds for signs of avian flu (Casper Star-Tribune) FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) -- A key element of the nation's multimillion-dollar bird flu early-warning system is sealed in 2-inch plastic tubes filled with murky brownish liquid and broken Q-Tips. [News Source]

Avian Flu Wanes in Asian Nations It First Hit Hard (New York Times) Even as it crops up in Europe and Africa, the bird flu that raised fears of a human pandemic has been largely snuffed out in Southeast Asia. [News Source]