India heedless as avian flu spreads in Pak (Business Standard India) Poultry experts feel that the threat of recurrence of the dreaded bird flu is not yet over though it is too late to take any preventive action now. “The risk of bird flu outbreak could have been averted by vaccinating all the birds on the major routes followed by migratory birds in flying back. [News Source]

Avian flu virus detected in samples at Belgachhia (Hindustan Times) The deadly H5N1 avian flu virus has been detected in the serum of about 12 samples of chicks in the blood test conducted at the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) at Belgachhia in the city last week. [News Source]

Bird-flu alert: 4 Capiz areas  at risk of avian influenza (The Manila Times) ROXAS City: The Department of Health’s (DOH) central office has identified four areas in Capiz that are most likely at risk to bird flu. These are the towns of Sapian, Sigma, Ivisan and Roxas City. [News Source]

Things we could learn from Brits. Better food information. At Marks & Spencer, a vast chain department and grocery store, fresh produce wrapped in plastic is labeled with the country of origin and, if it's from Britain, not only the county of origin but the name of the farmer. [News Source]

Bird flu warning for Siberia (Meat News) RUSSIA: An animal infections expert says the likelihood of an avian influenza situation in Siberia is higher this year. [News Source]

1 mln birds to be vaccinated from bird flu near Moscow (Moldova.org) At least a million domestic birds will be vaccinated against avian influenza near Moscow now that the disease has reached areas surrounding the Russian capital, a senior local veterinary official said Monday. "All the birds will be vaccinated for free," Olga Gavrilenko, head of the local department of Russia's veterinary watchdog, said after a deadly virus of bird flu was registered in five ... [News Source]

Bird flu outbreaks blamed on rats. Japanese scientists fear that rats were responsible for carrying avian flu into four poultry farms over the past month, in an alarming development that suggests the virus could spread more quickly than realised. [News Source]

Food industry lacks disaster plan support. Unlike other critical infrastructure sectors like water, energy, and health care, the food industry isn't getting much help from state and federal governments when it comes to disaster planning. [News Source]

1 mln birds to be vaccinated from bird flu near Moscow (Russian Information Agency Novosti) MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - At least a million domestic birds will be vaccinated against avian influenza near Moscow now that the disease has reached areas surrounding the Russian capital, a senior local veterinary official said Monday. [News Source]

IICA launches radio series and video on avian influenza (Barbados Advocate) IN an initiative to support efforts to prevent avian influenza, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA) has launched several materials on avian influenza. [News Source]

Russia confirms deadly bird flu outbreak outside Moscow – 1 (Moldova.org) The Russian agricultural watchdog confirmed Monday that a bird flu outbreak near Moscow over the weekend involved the deadly H5N1 virus. Five cases of avian flu were registered last Saturday in various districts of the Moscow Region, all of which were traced to a single market in southwest Moscow. "The virus is the Asian type of bird flu, which is dangerous for humans," said Alexei Alexeyenko, a ... [News Source]

FACTBOX-Bird flu’s spread around the globe (AlertNet) Source: Reuters Feb 19 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that bird flu killed a 37-year-old Egyptian woman. The new case brings to 21 the number of people known to have been ... [News Source]