Bird flu spreads in South Korea (AFP via Yahoo! News) Bird flu has spread in South Korea to a fifth farm, officials have said, despite stepped up government efforts to contain outbreaks of the deadly virus in recent weeks. [News Source]

Asian countries struggle to contain avian flu (CIDRAP) Jan 19, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The H5N1 avian influenza situation in Asia remained active today as Indonesia began clearing Jakarta of backyard fowl to curb the spread of the disease, Vietnam fought a poultry outbreak in an eighth province, and Thailand tested several people for suspected infections. [News Source]

Bird Flu (News From Bangladesh) Early this week Thailand suffered its first outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus in six months. This year Vietnam also faced a rash of the same outbreaks and Indonesia, the world capital of Bird Flu, had four human deaths due to the same flu. [News Source]

Study of 1918 flu by UW scientist, others may offer lessons. The 1918 flu virus that killed 50 million people was a wily bug with a two-pronged attack, a new study in monkeys by a University of Washington scientist and others indicates. [News Source]

Bird flu virus in Miyazaki outbreak highly virulent: ministry. The avian influenza that broke out last week at a poultry farm in Miyazaki Prefecture involved a highly virulent virus, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday. [News Source]

Indonesia to extend poultry ban in bird flu fight. Indonesia will extend a ban on backyard poultry in the capital to eight other provinces in an attempt to stem a new flare-up of bird flu, the health minister said on Thursday. [News Source]

UH seeks OK to import bird flu for research (Honolulu Advertiser) The University of Hawai'i is seeking state permission to import strains of the potentially lethal avian flu virus to research ways to detect the disease and prevent its spread. [News Source]

Study uncovers a lethal secret of 1918 influenza virus. In a study of non-human primates infected with the influenza virus that killed 50 million people in 1918, an international team of scientists has found a critical clue to how the virus killed so quickly and efficiently. [News Source]

Infection specialist says people catching e. coli or bird flu is unlikely (McKinney Courier-Gazette) The avian influenza (bird flu) and escherichia coli have caused panics in the United States. But Tom Button, Medical Center of McKinney director of infection control, said the likelihood of catching either of these diseases is unlikely. [News Source]