Report: Next flu could strain health care system (CNN) A report released Thursday commended the government for developing plans and stockpiling antivirals after the avian flu scare but warned that gaps still exist and that the health system may not be prepared in a more severe outbreak. [News Source]

Fears of Avian Flu Said to Help U.S. Prepare for Swine Flu (New York Times) Concerns over bird flu helped prepare the United States for the current swine flu outbreak, but officials cautioned that there were still gaps in planning. [News Source]

Probing Question: Can a pandemic be predicted? (PhysOrg) SARS. Ebola. West Nile. Avian flu. Over the past decade, the world has watched and waited to see if these viruses would develop into global health threats. In recent weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) sent a shockwave through the public when it ranked the emergent influenza swine-A/H1N1 virus--better known as swine flu--at alert Phase 5, implying that an influenza pandemic is imminent. [News Source]

Pigs an underestimated source of flu: study (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Global health officials underestimated the risk that pig herds might be a source of new influenza strains, choosing instead to focus on the threat of bird flu, researchers in Mexico said on Thursday. [News Source]

U.S. to look for new H1N1, other flu strains in pigs. The U.S. Agriculture Department will soon launch a pilot surveillance project to look for new strains of flu virus in pigs, including the new strain of H1N1 flu, Chief Veterinarian John Clifford said on Tuesday. [News Source]

Indirect Transmission Can Trigger Influenza Outbreaks In Birds (Medical News Today) New data on the persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment has allowed a team of University of Georgia researchers to create the first model that takes into account both direct and indirect transmission of the viruses among birds. [News Source]