Bird Flu Vaccine Protects Ferrets, Maybe People (Planet Ark) WASHINGTON - A lab-engineered bird flu vaccine protected ferrets against several strains of H5N1 avian influenza, offering the possibility of making a vaccine ahead of any pandemic, US-based scientists said on Wednesday. [News Source]

New evidence of cytokine storm in avian flu cases (CIDRAP) Jun 14, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – Scientists in Hong Kong have reported new experimental evidence that avian influenza infections in human cells are more likely to trigger a destructive immune-system overreaction, or "cytokine storm," than human flu viruses are. [News Source]

China reports avian flu case near Hong Kong (CIDRAP) Jun 14, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – A 31-year-old Chinese man from Guangdong province near Hong Kong has tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, according to a Xinhua news report today. [News Source]

Bird flu eradicated by July (Nine O’Clock) BUCHAREST - Yesterday, after the meeting of the Avian Flu Combating Command, Prime-Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu reviewed the developments in the situation generated by the virus since he had taken over the Command on May 24, stating that the current bird flu wave was heading to an end and that it would be extinguished by July. He stressed the fact that, for a while, the number of hotbeds had [News Source]

Bird flu vaccine protects ferrets, maybe people (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A lab-engineered bird flu vaccine protected ferrets against several strains of H5N1 avian influenza, offering the possibility of making a vaccine ahead of any pandemic, U.S.-based scientists said on Wednesday. [News Source]

Bird flu worries prompt new Alaska animal test law. A new Alaskan law increases the state's power to test and quarantine animals suspected of carrying contagious diseases. [News Source]

Bird Flu Vaccine May Protect Against Pandemic Virus (Update1) (Bloomberg.com) June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Vaccines based on the bird flu strain that's killed more than 120 people may reduce fatalities caused by any pandemic the lethal virus spawns, according to a study. [News Source]

HK bird flu experts head for Shenzhen (People’s Daily) Hong Kong medical and veterinary experts will go to Shenzhen City in south China's Guangdong Province to gather more information on the human case of avian influenza there, a Hong Kong official said Wednesday. [News Source]

Hong Kong Sends Team to China to Probe Bird-Flu Case (Update1) (Bloomberg.com) June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong sent a team of doctors and veterinarians to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to probe a suspected human case of bird flu, a day after a resident of the border town was reported to have the virus. [News Source]

Hong Kong Sends Team to China to Probe Suspected Bird-Flu Case (Bloomberg.com) June 14 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong will send a team of doctors and veterinarians to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to probe a suspected human case of bird flu, a day after a resident of the border town was reported to have the virus. [News Source]