China reports bird flu outbreak in far west (Environmental News Network) BEIJING (Reuters) - China has reported an outbreak in poultry of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in its far west Xinjiang region, Xinhua news agency said on Friday. The first bird flu outbreak in the country since September came about a month after the virus killed a 24-year-old man in the eastern province of Jiangsu. [News Source]

State Testing Yields No Evidence of Bird Flu (KOLN Lincoln) Random testing done last year on the state's wild bird populations found no evidence of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza that has jumped from birds to humans. [News Source]

Universal flu jab works in people. The vaccine, made by Acambis, should protect against all strains of influenza A - the cause of pandemics. [News Source]

Lebanon on alert after Israel reports bird flu (AFP via Yahoo! News) Lebanon on Saturday said it was increasing its vigilance after a case of H5N1 strain of bird flu that is dangerous to humans was detected in neighbouring Israel. [News Source]

Veterinary Diagnostic Lab Is Kansas’ First Line Of Defense Against Bird Flu (Medical News Today) If the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza ever comes to Kansas, diagnosticians at Kansas State University's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will be the first to know. The lab, which is part of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, is the first place samples would be tested if there were a suspected case of avian influenza in Kansas.Dr. [News Source]

Area prepared for bird flu, health officials say (Chattanooga Times Free Press) The local health department will track infections and distribute antiviral agents and vaccines should an outbreak of bird flu occur in humans here, local health officials say. [News Source]