Global vigilance needed to counter bird flu: UN coordinator (People’s Daily) While the deadly bird flu virus had not spread as widely as feared in Africa, vigilance was still needed across the world to counter its advance and deal with its impact on humans, a senior UN official said on Monday. [News Source]

Increased vigilance for bird flu needed in winter, U.N. expert warns (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ As winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, there are increased concerns that migrating birds which travel south may introduce the deadly bird flu virus into wild, domestic and commercial bird populations, a U.N. expert on the subject warned Monday. [News Source]

Study Identifies North American Wild Bird Species That Could Transmit Bird Flu (Science Daily) University of Georgia researchers have found that the common wood duck and laughing gull are very susceptible to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses and have the potential to transmit them. [News Source]

North American birds in avian flu study (PhysOrg) U.S. scientists say they've found the common wood duck and laughing gull are susceptible to the H5N1 avian influenza virus and could transmit the disease. [News Source]

New Michigan bird flu cases not dangerous H5N1 strain (Agriculture Online) The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior today announced a detection of H5 and N1 avian influenza subtypes in a wild Green-winged teal sample from Tuscola County, Michigan, that was killed by hunters. [News Source]

Bird flu: Who’s next? Bangladesh!The Role of Public Administration (News From Bangladesh) In comparison to malaria and diarroeal diseases, which together kill over 3 million people every year, bird flu has killed very few people. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the H5N1 virus may mutate into a new human flu virus against, which humans have no immunity. [News Source]

UGA study identifies North American wild bird species that could transmit bird flu (EurekAlert!) University of Georgia researchers have found that the common wood duck and laughing gull are very susceptible to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses and have the potential to transmit them. [News Source]

More bird flu vaccine capacity urgently needed: WHO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday called for a multi-billion-dollar drive to make more pandemic flu vaccines, saying bird flu still threatened a global pandemic. [News Source]