Russian bird flu outbreak to end within two weeks: official (AFP via Yahoo! News) An outbreak of bird flu at eight Moscow region sites, five of which have been confirmed to have the deadly H5N1 virus, will be over within two weeks, a top veterinary official said Thursday. [News Source]

Factory Farms Fuelling Avian Flu, Say Researchers (OneWorld.net via Yahoo! News) UNITED NATIONS, Feb 22 (OneWorld) - UN efforts to control the spread of avian flu in the developing world could actually do more harm than good, warns a new study. [News Source]

Official: Avian flu confirmed in Moscow (USA Today) The H5N1 bird flu strain has been confirmed in eight suburban Moscow districts, a top Russian veterinary official said Thursday, as experts enforced a quarantine in several villages and sought to keep the disease from spreading. [News Source]

Europe warned on flu pandemic planning. Europe needs at least two more years to be prepared adequately for a pandemic flu outbreak in humans, according to the head of the European Union agency in charge of tackling infectious disease. [News Source]

Indonesia to share its samples of avian-flu virus with WHO. Indonesia agreed to resume sharing its samples of the bird-flu virus with the WHO under condition that developing countries will have equal access to an affordable vaccine in the future. [News Source]

Russia finds bird flu in new region, suspects more. Russia confirmed another outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu, potentially dangerous to humans, on a farm in a southern region on Wednesday and suspects two more outbreaks on farms near Moscow. [News Source]

Moscow braces for bird-flu surge as virus is traced to animal market. New outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu are likely in Moscow and the surrounding provinces, the government veterinary service warned Wednesday, as officials also confirmed the presence of the virus in a southern region of Russia. [News Source]

Dead birds in Hong Kong test positive for avian flu (AFP via Yahoo! News) Initial tests on two dead birds found in Hong Kong indicate they had a strain of avian flu, the southern Chinese territory's authorities said Thursday. [News Source]

Bird flu containment strategy working, says animal health chief (AFP via Yahoo! News) Countries working to contain bird flu on farms have also rolled back infection amongst humans, the head of the world agency tackling animal health said on Thursday. [News Source]

Fears and questions still flying over bird flu (Pocono Record) Q: I keep hearing things about bird flu. What exactly is it, and is there any cause for alarm? Avian influenza, or bird flu, is an infection caused by avian influenza viruses that occur naturally in birds. [News Source]