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]

Oil industry braces for drop in U.S. thirst for gasoline. Gasoline demand is expected to decline with a growing emphasis on efficiency and alternative fuels. [News Source]

Keep disease-free status, local animal farmers told. Agriculture Assistant Secretary of the Philippines, Salvador Salacup, has urged local animal farmers to maintain the status of Negros Occidental as an area free of major animal diseases, particularly foot-and-mouth disease and bird flu. [News Source]

Egypt Seeks UN Bird-Flu Probe After Non-Fatal Cases (Update1) (Bloomberg) April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Egypt asked the World Health Organization to help investigate an outbreak of bird flu after a dozen non-fatal cases of the disease this year prompted speculation the virus may be becoming less virulent. [News Source]

Mass vaccination against bird flu begins in Altai region (Itar-Tass) BARNAUL, April 13 (Itar-Tass) - Large-scale vaccination of domestic poultry against bird flu began in Russia’s Altai region on Monday. All in all, 1.3 million vaccinations will be made, sources from the Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog told Tass on Monday. [News Source]