Bird Flu May Be on `Silent’ March in Europe, UN Agency Warns (Bloomberg.com) Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Avian influenza, the virus that has led to the deaths of millions of birds and more than 200 people since 2003, may be more prevalent than previously thought in Europe as it goes undetected in waterfowl. [News Source]

Bird flu may become endemic in parts of Europe (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Bird flu virus may become endemic in parts of Europe, with ducks and geese more of a vector for spreading it than previously thought, the U.N. said on Thursday. [News Source]

Europe: Bird flu virus a hidden risk, says UN agency (Adnkronos) Europe: Bird flu virus a hidden risk, says UN agency (AKI) - Europe should prepare for fresh waves of bird flu since the avian influenza virus H5N1 may become endemic in chickens, ducks and geese, the UN Food and Agriculture warned on Thursday. In a statement released in Rome, the agency stressed that healthy domestic ducks and geese could transmit the virus to chickens and play a ... [News Source]

Larger bird flu outbreaks more likely to involve duck meat industry FWi (Farmers Weekly Interactive) Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that 73% of bird (avian) flu outbreaks in the UK would not spread beyond the initial infected farm, but larger outbreaks are more likely to involve the duck meat industry. [News Source]

Avian Flu Model Predicts Outbreaks In UK More Likely To Involve Duck Meat Industry (Medical News Today) Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that 73% of avian flu outbreaks in the UK would not spread beyond the initial infected farm, but larger outbreaks are more likely to involve the duck meat industry. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Bird Flu Finds Children’s Lungs Faster (Medical News Today) New findings, reported today in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza,. The results also mean that previous receptor distribution studies may have to be re-evaluated. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Bird flu breaks out again in Vietnam, killing hundreds of ducks (Antara News) Vietnam has detected a new bird flu outbreak that has killed hundreds of ducks in a central province, the second outbreak found this month in the country, officials said Thursday. [News Source]

Children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza (News-Medical-Net) New findings, reported in in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza. [News Source]

Large Avian Flu Outbreaks More Likely To Involve Duck Meat Industry, Experts Find (Science Daily) Scientists predict that 73 percent of avian flu outbreaks in the UK would not spread beyond the initial infected farm, but larger outbreaks are more likely to involve the duck meat industry. Duck meat is more likely to cause large outbreaks of avian flu because ducks often do not show signs of the disease and as such delays diagnosis and control of the infection. [News Source]

Bird flu finds children’s lungs faster (EurekAlert!) New findings, reported in today in the online open access journal Respiratory Research, about how the virus binds to the respiratory tract and lung suggest children may be particularly susceptible to avian influenza,. [News Source]

UN Expert Says World Unprepared for Avian Flu Pandemic (Voice of America) A top United Nations expert on Avian influenza says the world is not yet ready to protect itself from a potential avian influenza pandemic that could kill millions of people. He says it will take another few years before countries complete their pandemic preparedness plans. [News Source]

Bird flu official says 2-3 years’ more work needed (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Two or three years' hard work are still needed to ensure the world can cope with a pandemic that could affect millions of people, U.N. bird flu coordinator David Nabarro said on Wednesday. [News Source]