In Brief: United States approves rapid avian flu test (AlertNet) Source: IRIN The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a test that can detect the deadly H5N1 virus in humans through throat or nose swabs in 40 minutes. Current laboratory analyses that detect the avian flu strain can take up to four hours for confirmation. [News Source]

NEWS SCAN: Avian flu happenings, PCA plant fined, E coli outbreak mystery, NY pistachio plant cleared (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) No low-path spread in Kentucky poultry Veterinary officials in Kentucky said yesterday that initial tests of poultry within a 2-mile radius of a commercial farm where birds showed exposure to the low-pathogenic H7N9 avian influenza were negative for the virus. [News Source]

Bird flu quarantine on British Columbia farms ends (AG Weekly) VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) _ A bird flu-related quarantine has been lifted on 22 poultry farms in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. The restrictions were lifted after three weeks of surveillance and testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. [News Source]

Backyard Flocks Test Negative For Bird Flu (The Kentucky Post) FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - State Veterinarian Robert Stout says an outbreak of bird flu on a western Kentucky chicken farm did not spread to nearby backyard poultry flocks. [News Source]