No deal on bird flu virus (TVNZ) Health officials have failed to reach agreement on a new system to ensure developing countries benefit more from sharing avian influenza viruses used to develop vaccines, the World Health Organisation said. [News Source]

Asia needs bird flu readiness boost: WHO (The Japan Times) Some parts of Asia have yet to devise a plan on how to respond to a bird flu outbreak, a disease that continues to be a threat for the whole region, according to a World Health Organization health... Read more ... [News Source]

Bird Flu In South Korea Is Non-Deadly H7 Strain (Medical News Today) The Agriculture Ministry of South Korea confirmed on Saturday 24th November that the latest outbreak of bird flu among farmed ducks was of the non-deadly H7 strain, and not the deadly H5N1 strain that is fatal to humans. There is no evidence that H7 affects humans.The outbreak occurred in a farm about 200 miles south west of the capital, Seoul. [click link for full article] [News Source]

South Korea Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak (WCSH 6 Portland) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's first bird flu outbreak in eight months forced the slaughter of thousands of ducks in the country this weekend, although the deadly H5N1 virus was not involved, the government said. [News Source]

Indonesia edges closer to sharing bird-flu samples (Nature) A deal is being negotiated that could see Indonesia end its policy of withholding samples from human cases of avian flu. [News Source]

Indonesia fights for rights to bird flu samples. Indonesia will not share bird flu virus samples unless richer countries agree to give developing nations control over their use and access to cheap vaccines, a spokeswoman from the nation's health ministry said on Monday. [News Source]

Egret tests positive for bird flu. A little egret found in a Hong Kong park has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, the government said on Saturday. [News Source]

Wales lifts bird flu ban (NewsWales) The ban on all bird gatherings in Wales which was put in place as a result of the outbreak of Avian Influenza in Suffolk has been lifted. The decision to lift the ban is based scientific and veterinary advice from the UK expert group on Avian Influenza. [News Source]

Deadly bird flu found on Saudi poultry farm (AlertNet) Source: Reuters RIYADH, Nov 26 (Reuters) - More cases of a deadly strain of bird flu have been found at a poultry farm in Saudi Arabia just weeks before the Muslims flock to Mecca for the annual haj pilgrimage, the ... [News Source]

Japan halts SKorean poultry imports over bird flu outbreak (AP via Yahoo! Malaysia News) Japan has temporarily halted poultry imports from South Korea following a bird flu outbreak among ducks in that country, the Japanese Agriculture Ministry said Monday. [News Source]

Indonesia refuses again to share bird flu samples (News-Medical-Net) The nation's health minister Siti Fadilah Supari says before any bird flu specimens are sent to the WHO, Indonesia needs assurances that poorer nations will have affordable access to any pandemic vaccines developed from the virus and they are not only available to the rich [News Source]

Bird flu case found in South Korea (New Kerala) Seoul, Nov 25: South Korean officials have detected the H7 strain of avian influenza virus at a duck farm in the country's sixth largest city Gwangju and stepped up efforts to prevent it from spreading. [News Source]