New insights into how to combat avian flu (News-Medical-Net) An in-depth analysis of blood from patients recovering from the H5N1 avian influenza virus has provided important insights into how to combat the potentially lethal virus. [News Source]

UPDATE 1 – Egyptian woman dies of bird flu – MENA (AlertNet) Source: Reuters * Egypt's 25th bird flu death * Six-year-old's death from bird flu reported on Tuesday * A 4-yr-old boy has contracted bird flu (Adds details, background) CAIRO, April 22 (Reuters) - A 25- ... [News Source]

Egyptian woman dies of bird flu: MENA (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A 25-year-old Egyptian woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the 25th human fatality of the disease in Egypt, state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. [News Source]

NEWS SCAN: Avian flu developments in Egypt, Army probes Ft. Detrick samples, dengue drug targets (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) Egypt reports two H5N1 infections, one fatal Egypt's health ministry said yesterday that a 6-year-old boy has died of an H5N1 avian influenza infection and that a 4-year-old boy from a different governorate has been hospitalized with an H5N1 infection, Xinhua, China's state news agency, reported today. [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]

New strain of swine flu investigated. Public health authorities are investigating two highly unusual cases of a previously unknown strain of swine flu found in San Diego last month. The cases occurred almost simultaneously in children who had no contact with pigs or each other--raising the possibility of a pandemic strain. [News Source]