Is Our Obsession With Pandemic Bird Flu Justified? (Science Daily) While it is almost a certainty that within the next few decades humanity will experience another influenza pandemic, it may not be caused by the avian influenza strain H5N1 that many scientists believe could be a prime candidate. [News Source]

Bird flu vaccine works on mice (UPI) HONG KONG, March 1 (UPI) -- A modified vaccine once used to treat smallpox has proven effective in treating mice infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, Hong Kong researchers say. [News Source]

Two-year-old boy becomes Egypt’s 56th bird flu case (Deepika) CAIRO, Mar 1 (Reuters) A two-year-old Egyptian boy has contracted the bird flu virus and is in critical condition, the state-run news agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying today, becoming the 56th case in the Arab country. [News Source]

Two-year-old boy becomes Egypt’s 56th bird flu case (AlertNet) Source: Reuters CAIRO, March 1 (Reuters) - A two-year-old Egyptian boy has contracted the bird flu virus and is in critical condition, the state-run news agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying on Sunday, ... [News Source]

Two-year-old boy becomes Egypt’s 56th bird flu case (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A two-year-old Egyptian boy has contracted the bird flu virus and is in critical condition, the state-run news agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying on Sunday, becoming the 56th case in the Arab country. [News Source]

How TB jumps from humans to wildlife — veterinarian seeks clues. A veterinarian's tests revealed a mongoose was sick with tuberculosis—the human version. For the first time, free-range wild animals were confirmed to have contracted a human disease. [News Source]

Bird flu detected at Aichi quail farm. H7 bird flu was detected at a quail farm in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, the first time the highly pathogenic virus has been found in Japan in 84 years, officials said Friday. [News Source]

Medicine man: Robert Reid of BioOutsource. The credit crunch might be dominating most people's concerns, but not those of award-winning Glasgow biotech company BioOutsource. The company is testing a new vaccine that could ward off a flu pandemic akin to the one that wiped out 50 million people after the first world war. [News Source]

Scientists find possible bird flu panacea (Calcutta News) Hong Kong and United States scientists have developed an experimental H5N1 bird flu vaccine compounded from the smallpox vaccine. [News Source]

Experts fight H5N1 bird flu using smallpox vaccine (AlertNet) Source: Reuters By Tan Ee Lyn HONG KONG, March 1 (Reuters) - Scientists in Hong Kong and the United States have developed an experimental H5N1 bird flu vaccine for people by piggybacking it on the well-tested and ... [News Source]