Haunted by the knowledge that influenza killed 50 million people in 1918, scientists and public health officials continue to seek ways to head off the next great pandemic. Others are looking for the best way to construct a vaccine, or antiviral drugs, to prime our immune systems to grapple with the more dangerous virus that may evolve from the avian flu. And it's never been done for any influenza virus, despite the substantial death tolls from the annual flu - a complacency that has begun...

Bird flu was thought to only infect birds until the first human cases came to light in 1997 when the H5N1 strain infected 18 people in Hong Kong, killing six. More people were infected in China in 2003, followed by outbreaks among humans and poultry flocks around Asia over the next few years. All the territory's poultry - over one million birds - were culled, but the virus was not eradicated. In 2005, the virus spread across Asia as far as the Ukraine, borne either by migrating wild birds...

Fred Landeg, DEFRA's acting chief veterinary officer, told BBC News today that initial genetic sequence data suggest that the outbreak strain is closely related to H5N1 viruses found recently in the Czech Republic and Germany, "which does suggest a possible wild bird source. Authorities have declared a 3-kilometer protection zone and a 10-kilometer surveillance zone around the farm, plus a much wider restriction zone. Farmers in the zone are required to isolate poultry from wild birds, and...

He will manage the total business affairs of the association, in keeping with the policies of the board of directors, under the supervision of the officers of the executive committee and the board. We are confident that John s educational background, knowledge of the industry, and service in the environmental arena will enable him to help lead the association in the challenging years ahead. He is a registered professional engineer. Poultry and Egg Association Names John Starkey as New...

The cytokine response to the avian flu virus, H5N1, is particularly vociferous, and some thought that this cytokine storm might be the main cause of death. Infections set off the release of cytokines, which are proteins that trigger inflammatory responses, including a rush of lymphocytes and the sacrifice of virus-compromised cells. Rather helium cools the superconducting coils of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices, and the sale of those machines has grown tremendously, driving the...

More detailed information from registered producers will be gathered in private databases, such as those kept by state agencies, breed associations or commodity groups. With technology still in the infancy stage, it s ridiculous to try and implement that kind of program where the people paying the cost of it are not getting any kind of benefit. This entails not only hogs, cattle, sheep and poultry, but also more non-traditional species, such as elk, bison and horses, among others. A year...