MCOT English News : S. Korea extends bird flu risk level to second highest nationwide (MCOT – English News By Thai News Agency) SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has extended its avian influenza risk level to the second highest nationwide amid rising concerns bird flu could spread across the country following a series of outbreaks this month, quarantine officials said Wednesday. [News Source]

U.S. calls for bird flu virus sharing (UPI) U.S. health chief Michael Leavitt called on Indonesia to resume regularly sharing samples of new avian influenza viruses with the World Health Organization. [News Source]

Rockeby Biomed Wins Bird Flu Tests Tender from Middle East (RBY.AX, 00832676, 20080416) (Huntleys’ Stock of the Week via Yahoo!7 Finance) Rockeby Biomed announced that it has received its first tender award for its Avian Influenza Virus kits from the Middle Eastern nation of Jordan. In addition to this, the company this week has also received separate orders for bird flu tests both from Pasteur Institute's laboratory in Tunisia and from the state of Brunei Darussalam. Payment for the Jordan tender has already been received, and ... [News Source]

Small company gets U.S. go-ahead on bird flu patch (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A small biotechnology company trying to develop needle-free vaccines won a boost to its efforts on Tuesday with U.S. government approval to test a bird flu skin patch on more people. [News Source]

Scientists create monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza (News-Medical-Net) An international group of American and Turkish research scientists, led by Sea Lane Biotechnologies, has created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza (H5N1) using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey. [News Source]

BANGLADESH: Lull in bird flu no cause for complacency – experts (AlertNet) Source: IRIN Despite fewer outbreaks of bird flu in the first half of April, health experts in Bangladesh warn the threat is far from over. [News Source]

Bird flu case raises fears of undiagnosed infections. A new case of human-to-human transmission doesn't prove that H5N1 bird flu is learning to spread among humans, but it reinforces fears that there could be many more undiagnosed human infections in China. It may also point to a potential cure. [News Source]

Indonesia plans launch of bird flu pandemic plan. Indonesia, which has the highest death toll from bird flu of any country, will launch a plan later this week to deal with a possible influenza pandemic, officials said on Monday. [News Source]

BANGLADESH: Lull in bird flu no cause for complacency – experts (IRIN) DHAKA, 15 April 2008 (IRIN) - Despite fewer outbreaks of bird flu in the first half of April, health experts in Bangladesh warn the threat is far from over. [News Source]

Bird flu outbreak confirmed in Russia’s Far East (New Kerala) Vladivostok (Russia), April 15: Authorities in Russia's Far East Tuesday confirmed the presence of a deadly strain of bird flu in a village in the Primorye territory, where some birds have been found dead last week. [News Source]

Ministry investigating possible bird flu outbreak near capital (JoongAng Daily) Bird flu might be spreading throughout Korea as a suspected case was found yesterday near Seoul. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the possible outbreak was in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, just 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital city. [News Source]

Thwarting Worldwide Influenza Threat By Creating First Successful Libraries Of Avian Flu Virus Antibodies (Medical News Today) Novel Project could help thwart worldwide influenza threatAn international group of American and Turkish research scientists, led by Sea Lane Biotechnologies, has created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza (H5N1) using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey. [News Source]