FEATURE – Amid Bird Flu, Activists Plead for Humane US Culling (Planet Ark) LOS ANGELES - Horrified by reports from Asia of chickens being set on fire or buried alive in plastic bags, US animal welfare groups are gearing up with trepidation for the arrival of bird flu and the probability of mass killings to contain it. [News Source]

Bird flu update: 5 June 2006 (SciDev.net) Below is a roundup of the key developments on the spread of the bird flu virus (H5N1) and the threat it poses to human health. Each title is a link to the full article. [News Source]

Scientist urges review of Chinese bird flu measures (Reuters via Yahoo! News) China needs to improve its efforts to control bird flu, a leading Chinese expert on the disease said, adding to voices anxious about the country's preparedness. [News Source]

Global avian flu pledge money slow to arrive (CIDRAP) Jun 5, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – Key global organizations that are fighting the battle against avian influenza may have to cut some programs, because only $286 million of the $1.9 billion pledged by 34 countries in January has been delivered, news services have reported. [News Source]

Bird Flu Fighters Need Money to Help Contain Virus (Update2) (Bloomberg.com) June 5 (Bloomberg) -- The bird flu fight being waged across Africa, Asia and Europe is draining the cash and human resources of international agencies, which may have to abandon some programs unless donor countries honor their funding promises. [News Source]

BioWarn Announces Instantaneous Detection of Avian Flu with SmartSense(TM) System: Receives Approval of Patent Issuance (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) BioWarn, LLC, a biotechnology research and product development company, announced today that it has successfully demonstrated the capability to instantaneously detect avian influenza , also known as bird flu, using its new SmartSense system for the detection of biological substances. [News Source]

UN agencies lack funds for bird flu fight. The UN agencies working to try to contain the spread of avian influenza and help countries prepare for a possible flu pandemic are facing a dire funding shortfall. [News Source]

Wildlife officials preparing for bird flu. Michigan wildlife officials are preparing to monitor wild bird populations for Asian avian influenza, which is expected to hit North America by this fall. [News Source]

Quake victims in Indonesia facing worsening situation. Many of Indonesia's 650,000 homeless earthquake survivors are living with deteriorating sanitary conditions, forced to wash with dirty water that infects wounds and spreads skin disease, doctors said yesterday. [News Source]

Does meat-based diet contribute to global warming? What we eat affects not only our health but also our environment. [News Source]

Bird Flu Fighters Need Money to Help Contain Virus (Update2) (Bloomberg.com) June 5 (Bloomberg) -- The bird flu fight being waged across Africa, Asia and Europe is draining the cash and human resources of international agencies, which may have to abandon some programs unless donor countries honor their funding promises. [News Source]

Amid bird flu, activists plead for humane US culling (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Horrified by reports from Asia of chickens being set on fire or buried alive in plastic bags, U.S. animal welfare groups are gearing up with trepidation for the arrival of bird flu and the probability of mass killings to contain it. [News Source]