Bird flu bigger threat than swine flu, expert says (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) A Melbourne-based expert on influenza says bird flu poses a bigger threat worldwide than swine flu. [News Source]

Watching nervously. The new virus has now captured the world’s attention. And three big questions need answering. First, could it turn into a global killer? Second, what lessons arise from previous pandemics? Third, how should governments respond when confronted with an uncertain, but potentially devastating, threat? [News Source]

The butcher’s bill. Research can help identify the economic effects of swine flu--but global recession means, perhaps, that the economic effect of a pandemic may be less dramatic than it would be in normal times. Economists argue, however, that a pandemic would noticeably impact the economy. [News Source]

The five worst government responses to swine flu. From Cuba to Japan, countries are busy bungling their reactions to the outbreak. [News Source]

Cowboy Town families face loss of homes. A small Hispanic enclave in Gary, Indiana, known as “Cowboy Town,” is threatened by the pending cleanup of the Ralston Street lagoon. The lagoon is only yards away from resident Joe Garza’s house and filled with contaminants, according to the EPA. [News Source]

Watching nervously. The new virus has now captured the world’s attention. And three big questions need answering. First, could it turn into a global killer? Second, what lessons arise from previous pandemics? Third, how should governments respond when confronted with an uncertain, but potentially devastating, threat? [News Source]

The butcher’s bill. Research can help identify the economic effects of swine flu--but global recession means, perhaps, that the economic effect of a pandemic may be less dramatic than it would be in normal times. Economists argue, however, that a pandemic would noticeably impact the economy. [News Source]

The five worst government responses to swine flu. From Cuba to Japan, countries are busy bungling their reactions to the outbreak. [News Source]

Intensive farming breeds more than cheap food. The epicentre of the swine flu virus now spreading around the globe is an otherwise unremarkable village in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexico. The only thing particular to La Gloria is that 12 miles out of town there is a vast intensive pig "facility". [News Source]

Swine flu: The path of a pandemic. Fingers are now pointing, either at the entire pig species, or at the nation of Mexico. Such exercises in blame are not only scientifically ill founded, but are likely to prompt government actions that, at the very least, are useless and harmful for efforts to control a pandemic. [News Source]

Disease and terror. The similarities between the flu and biological terrorism are not coincidental. In recent years the world has changed in ways that have made the threats of natural and man-made epidemics more and more alike. [News Source]

Swine flu: first, sow no panic. Hand-washing is the first lesson from SARS to apply to swine flu. Another is: Masks are only rarely useful. [News Source]