China Man Recovering Gradually After Contracting Bird Flu-AFP (Nasdaq) BEIJING (AFP)--A 52-year-old Chinese man whose son died recently from bird flu and who himself has been infected with the highly dangerous virus is gradually recovering, state media reported Sunday. [News Source]

US$605 Million Pledged For H5N1 Bird Flu Fight (Scoop.co.nz) Eight nations and the European Commission pledged $605 million December 6 in the continuing fight against the spread of H5N1 avian influenza in birds and people for efforts focusing on halting the virus at its avian source, bolstering disease surveillance and integrating animal and human health services and capabilities. [News Source]

‘Human-to-human’ bird flu fears. The father of a Chinese man who died of bird flu has also been infected with the virus, raising fear of human-to-human transmission. [News Source]

Substantial Progress In Global Bird Flu Response (Scoop.co.nz) The world community has made progress in its response to avian influenza, according to a new United Nations-World Bank report whose results were announced in New Delhi December 4, the first day of the New Delhi International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. [News Source]

Calling For Changes In Early-Warning System For Bird-Flu (Medical News Today) The international science community is not doing enough to track the many avian influenza viruses that might cause the next pandemic, a UC Davis researcher says in the journal Nature.Global surveillance is critical for identifying and tracking potential pandemic viruses such as highly pathogenic H5N1. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Human Source of Bird Flu Infection Can’t Be Ruled Out, WHO Says (Bloomberg.com) Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Human-to-human transmission can't be ruled out as the source of bird flu in a man whose son died of the infection in eastern China six day ago, a World Health Organization official said today. [News Source]