Hong Kong Bird Found to Have Died From H5N1 Strain of Bird Flu (Bloomberg.com) Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A dead bird found last month in Hong Kong has tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. The wild bird, a Scaly Breasted Munia, was found in the Causeway Bay district of the city on Dec. 31, the government said in a faxed statement last night. [News Source]

B20m in smuggled bird flu vaccine seized (Bangkok Post) Koh Samui's marine police yesterday seized 1,800 bottles of bird flu vaccine worth over 20 million baht at the Na Thon bus station while the smugglers were preparing to transport them to Bangkok. [News Source]

‘Irreversible’ global warming claims its first victims of the new year. A birdseed factory in Shropshire, a holy lake in China, Baltic Sea fish and new-born hedgehogs have emerged as the first tangible victims of climate change this year. [News Source]

Avian Flu Virus Unlikely To Spread Through Wastewater And Drinking Water Treatment Systems, Cornell Researchers Find (Medical News Today) A close relative of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) can be eliminated by waste and drinking water treatments, including chlorination, ultraviolet (UV) radiation and bacterial digesters. The virus is harmless to humans but provides a study case of the pathways by which the influenza could spread to human populations. [click link for full article] [News Source]

NIAID DNA Vaccine For H5N1 Avian Influenza Enters Human Trial (Medical News Today) The first human trial of a DNA vaccine designed to prevent H5N1 avian influenza infection began on December 21, 2006, when the vaccine was administered to the first volunteer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. [click link for full article] [News Source]