Engineering Flu Vaccines: New Method Could Improve Vaccines For Both Seasonal Flu And Bird Flu (Science Daily) Scientists have developed a new computerized method of testing the effectiveness of both bird flu and seasonal flu vaccines. Tests suggest the computerized approach can better identify vaccines that are effective against multiple flu strains. Data from bird flu outbreaks and more than 30 years of seasonal flu records were used to confirm the findings. [News Source]

NEWS SCAN: Avian flu programs in Indonesia and Cambodia, free pandemic supplies, more Ebola testing (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) Experts criticize poultry vaccination for H5N1 in Indonesia Experts quoted in an Indonesian poultry-trade magazine criticized the Indonesian government's policy of vaccinating poultry against H5N1 avian influenza instead of culling, saying that vaccination masks the virus. [News Source]

VA-based ATCC researchers develop avian flu antibodies (TechJournal South) MANASSAS, VA - ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) researchers have developed a panel of novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against avian influenza viruses. These antibodies could lead to a rapid diagnostic test for the infection, ATCC announced today. [News Source]