Closings and cancellations top advice on flu outbreak. In the event of a severe flu outbreak, schools should close for up to three months, ballgames and movies should be canceled, and working hours should be staggered so subways and buses are less crowded. [News Source]

From two mutations, an important clue about the Spanish flu. Reversal of a small change in bird flu's proteins may lie behind its deadliness. [News Source]

Clipping the wings of 1918 flu virus hints at roots of pandemics. Two simple changes to the virus that caused the 1918 influenza pandemic take away its ability to jump between mammals in the laboratory. [News Source]

Government issues pandemic flu plans. In the first wave of a severe flu pandemic, dramatic strategies to keep people away from each other, including closing schools and day care centers for up to three months at a time, might be needed to slow the spread of illness and limit the number of deaths, federal health officials said Thursday. [News Source]

Flu trackers take a cue from storm watchers. The government will grade the severity of the next flu pandemic the same way forecasters grade hurricane strength - with a ranking system unveiled yesterday to help states determine when they should take increasingly strong steps to combat flu's spread. [News Source]

Flu pandemic warnings rated like hurricane alerts . A global outbreak of deadly influenza could set the stage for school closings of up to three months and cancellation of public gatherings, under a new federal ranking system that borrows from hurricane forecasting to gauge the severity of a flu pandemic. [News Source]

CDC issues guidelines for battling flu pandemic. States should be prepared to keep children out of school for three months, businesses should be prepared to operate with skeleton workforces - those are examples of the picture sketched by federal officials on how to fight pandemic flu before a vaciine becomes available. [News Source]

Indonesia plans to declare bird flu a national disaster. Indonesia will declare bird flu a national disaster, giving the government access to special funds to combat the disease that has killed 63 people, the planning minister said. [News Source]

New U.S. bird-flu plan advises when to close schools. Future disease pandemics will be scored in the United States much like hurricanes, with the most severe triggering school closings and changes in the workplace, under federal guidelines issued on Thursday. [News Source]

Nigerian woman was exposed to H5N1 virus. A 22-year-old woman died from bird flu after handling infected chicken, Nigeria said on Wednesday, confirming the first human fatality in sub-Saharan Africa. [News Source]

Poultry ban enforced in Jakarta. New rules have come into effect in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, banning people from keeping domestic birds. [News Source]

Small changes stop flu virus spread, study finds. Two little changes in the virus that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic stopped it from spreading from one animal to another, a finding that may help determine what will cause the next pandemic, scientists reported on Thursday. [News Source]