UN Holds Workshop on Avian Flu (Scoop.co.nz) The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ) is holding a three-day workshop this week in Bamako, Mali, to prepare humanitarian relief providers for an avian influenza pandemic. [News Source]

Bird flu virus on the move, conference told. Some African nations are experiencing a rapid spread of the H5N1 virus in poultry while a lack of equipped public health labs, customs surrounding chickens and poor surveillance hamper pandemic plans, a conference on the flu heard yesterday in Toronto. [News Source]

Bird flu fears reignited. While the threat of a bird flu pandemic continues to hang over the world, authorities in the United Kingdom now believe a second strain of avian flu -- previously considered of little human risk -- does indeed pose a real danger to people. [News Source]

Not in their back yard. When the EPA discovered asbestos in their Little League fields, the residents of idyllic El Dorado Hills rushed to protect themselves—from reality. [News Source]

New tests on bird flu drug after teenagers’ deaths. The reputation of flu drug Tamiflu suffered a fresh blow when the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche and its Japanese partner announced new trials to establish whether there is a possible link between the antiviral and dozens of deaths. [News Source]

Vietnam plans human trial of bird flu vaccine (AFP via Yahoo! News) Vietnam plans to start its first human trial of a locally-made H5N1 bird flu vaccine as early as next month, using 20 to 30 volunteers, said health officials in the communist country. [News Source]