Bird Flu Could Hit Southeastern Mass. Hard (CBS 4 Boston) A startling prediction from state health officials who are preparing for a possible bird flu outbreak. They've pinpointed one section of the state that's particularly vulnerable. What You Should Know About Avian Flu More Local News [News Source]

Avian flu facts (News-Medical-Net) Avian influenza (also called "bird flu") refers to the strains of the virus that infect birds. Bird flu can cause widespread illness and death among birds, though there are many different strains, which vary in strength. [News Source]

Pandemic ‘dry run’ is cause for concern. A cluster of avian flu cases in Indonesia last month is being seen by many experts as a dry run for the handling of an emerging pandemic virus. Critics allege that the response to the virus shows how ill-prepared the international community and affected nations still are. [News Source]

State summit plans for pandemic threat. It reads like a TV movie: Millions of people suddenly fall sick with fever, chills or worse. Businesses are crippled as 40 percent of the workers fall ill. More than 8,100 people may die. [News Source]

A scary outlook of pandemic in Jersey. Two million. That's how many Americans might die in a flu pandemic. Only tough, scrupulous planning could reduce that devastating toll, federal authorities told a summit of New Jersey health, law enforcement, government and business leaders. [News Source]

Bird-flu fears bring up debate over global risks. In an era of global trade and global travel, where 70,000 multinational corporations and nearly 700,000 foreign affiliates straddle the planet, a flu pandemic would cripple entire economies. It would overwhelm public health systems. [News Source]

Bird flu deaths spike in Indonesia. Indonesia averaged one human bird flu death every 21/2 days in May, putting it on pace to soon surpass Vietnam as the world's hardest-hit country. [News Source]

Indonesia begins slaughtering poultry. Officials slaughtered more than 1,000 poultry Thursday in an Indonesian village where preliminary tests showed a 15-year-old boy died from bird flu. [News Source]

Hospitals to stockpile Tamiflu. A bloc of Canada’s largest and most influential teaching hospitals has decided to buy enough of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to protect all of their employees from becoming ill during a pandemic. [News Source]

WHO stumped by Indonesian bird flu cluster (AFP via Yahoo! News) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has admitted it was having difficulty identifying the source of bird flu infection in a case where seven people in the same family died of the virus. [News Source]

Wild birds role unclear in spreading bird flu. The role of wild birds in spreading the deadly avian influenza remains unclear, a top veterinary expert at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday after a two-day international scientific conference. [News Source]

Some countries lack resources to fully track bird flu cases. A number of countries in the throes of serious bird flu outbreaks are underreporting the extent of the problem, generally because they do not have the money. [News Source]