USDA vows to boost avian flu prevention efforts (CIDRAP) Mar 15, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said yesterday it would step up its antismuggling efforts and monitoring of live bird markets this year to protect the country from H5N1 avian influenza. [News Source]

Metal In Feathers Could Provide Bird Flu Clues (Science Daily) Measurements of different forms of the metal strontium found in bird feathers could unravel mysteries of their migration patterns and help predict the arrival of avian carried diseases such as bird flu. Concerns about the spread of bird flu means there is an urgent need to find better ways of monitoring the movements of migrating birds. [News Source]

Forum to raise awareness of Avian flu (The Courier) By Laura Eppes Reporter Are you prepared for the possibility of a pandemic or natural disaster? The Pope County Medical Society will host a Public Awareness Forum about the Avian Flu at 9 a.m. Saturday. The forum, entitled “Prepared ... [News Source]

U.S. agencies track bird flu at ports. The government is trying to determine whether deadly bird flu can contaminate the food supply and is cracking down on smuggling of pet birds and poultry that can spread the virus, officials said Wednesday. [News Source]

Safe food for all should be the recipe. People think food to be the most important thing, goes a Chinese saying. Literally, it means people place food as high as the sky. [News Source]

More human bird flu in Egypt (Meat News) EGYPT: Egypt has identified its 25th human victim of the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza. [News Source]

U.S. and FAO sign bird flu agreement (Meat News) UNITED STATES: The U.S. Agriculture Secretary has signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization to fight avian influenza. [News Source]