First Human Avian Flu Case in Laos, More in China, Egypt (U.S. Department of State) Investigations are under way in Laos, China and Egypt into new human cases of avian influenza, and the World Health Organization is preparing to meet with representatives of developing countries to discuss equitable distribution of pandemic vaccine and the sharing of avian flu virus samples. USINFO recaps these and other recent developments related to bird flu and efforts to combat its spread. [News Source]

Bird flu found in Vietnam ducks (AFP via Yahoo! News) Vietnam on Friday said bird flu had struck a flock of ducks in the Mekong delta, just a day after the country lifted a ban on hatching waterfowl that was imposed in 2005. [News Source]

Bird flu outbreak ends (UPI) The governor of the Japanese prefecture of Miyazaki has announced an end to a bird flu outbreak that began 50 days ago. [News Source]

Bird flu fight is hit-and-miss across Asia. Bird flu is on the march again across Asia as winter ends, but the battle against the killer virus is being hobbled by stark differences between the region's diverse countries, health experts warn. [News Source]

Futures market to predict the next flu pandemic. Everybody agrees a flu pandemic is inevitable. But nobody knows when it will come and how bad it will be. That question led researchers to launch a new way to tap into experts' best hunches, modeled on the futures markets that farmers use. [News Source]

Anger at Bernard Matthews’ £500,000 bird flu pay-out. Turkey tycoon Bernard Matthews is set to get more than £500,000 for poultry slaughtered during the recent bird flu crisis. [News Source]

Fined after doves ‘flu’ in. An Iranian airline has been fined £5,000 for illegally bringing four doves into Birmingham International Airport during the bird flu out-break. [News Source]

Indonesia, WHO fail to resolve flap over bird samples. Indonesia said it received a guarantee from the World Health Organization that the country's bird-flu virus wouldn't be used to develop an expensive, commercial vaccine, but the global body insisted Thursday no such deal had been reached. [News Source]

China confirms new human bird flu case. Southeast China's Fujian province was on high alert after it confirmed a human case of bird flu, an official said on Thursday. [News Source]

Miyazaki bird-flu outbreak over. Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru declared an end Thursday to the outbreak of virulent bird flu that hit the prefecture 50 days ago. [News Source]

Exercise helps slow smokers’ lung function decline. Moderate to high levels of regular exercise may help slow lung function decline in smokers and lower their risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a Spanish study suggests. [News Source]

Councillors cautious of climate hype. Dont jump on to the climate change bandwagon too soon – that was the blunt message given to Wednesday’s meeting of Gisborne District Council’s planning and regulatory committee. [News Source]