Unprepared for the attacks; Preparing for flu pandemic. In the aftermath of 9/11 and that fall's anthrax scare, it became clear to Tommy G. Thompson, then the secretary of health and human services, that the United States was seriously unprepared for major emergencies. [News Source]

Sharad Pawar lauds Bhopal scientists for devising bird-flu vaccine (Yahoo! India News) New Delhi, July 16 (ANI): Minister for Agriculture and ICAR president Sharad Pawar on Sunday congratulated the scientists of High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal for devising the H5N1 vaccine to combat Avian Influenza (bird flu). [News Source]

India Develops Vaccine To Fight Bird Flu (CattleNetwork.com) NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--The Indian government Sunday said that it has developed a vaccine to fight the deadly avian influenza or bird flu. "It is a significant research breakthrough. [News Source]

Indonesia Reports 42nd Human Bird Flu Death (Medical News Today) A 44-year-old man has died as a result of bird flu infection, say authorities in Indonesia. The man was from eastern Jakarta. He was hospitalized on 10 July with a temperature, breathing problems and a bad cough. Authorities said the man had been in close contact with live poultry. Local tests indicated he died of H5N1 avian flu infection. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Sharad Pawar lauds Bhopal scientists for devising bird-flu vaccine (New Kerala) New Delhi: Minister for Agriculture and ICAR president Sharad Pawar on Sunday congratulated the scientists of High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal for devising the H5N1 vaccine to combat Avian Influenza (bird flu). [News Source]

Local tests show Indonesian man died of bird flu (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A 44-year-old Indonesian who died four days ago has tested positive for bird flu, a senior Health Ministry official said on Sunday, citing a local test. [News Source]

Questions and Answers On Avian Influenza (The Valdosta Daily Times) Q. What is “bird flu?” A. “Bird flu” is the common name for avian influenza, a respiratory disease of birds that is caused by a virus. Q. How serious is it? [News Source]

Georgia’s prepared for avian flu (The Valdosta Daily Times) VALDOSTA — Georgia has been proactive in developing a plan to combat the avian flu, should the disease fly past the U.S. defense systems in place. [News Source]