Is there any good website giving the latest info on the bird flu?

[The Backlash Cometh]

I was wondering how far into Iraq or other parts it's gotten and if there's an update if it's jumped from human to human?

Here's the latest about our response readiness:


States and Cities Lag in Bird Flu Readiness

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The nation's 5,000 state and local health departments are rushing to plan for an epidemic of avian flu, but they say they are hobbled by a lack of money and guidance from the federal government.

Only a few places, particularly Seattle and New York City, have made significant progress, experts say. Most departments say they expect to be unprepared for at least a year.

"It's a depressing situation," said Jeffrey Levi, a flu expert at the Trust for America's Health, a nonpartisan health policy group. "We are way, way behind."

Under the response plan issued by the Bush administration on Nov. 2, the federal government has primary responsibility for creating stockpiles of vaccines and antiviral drugs, but the states and local governments are responsible for quarantines, delivering vaccinations and assuring that the sick get medical care.

Of the $7.1 billion President Bush requested for fighting avian flu, Congress provided only $3.3 billion for this year. On Monday, Mr. Bush is expected to ask for an additional $2.65 billion for 2007. The bulk is for vaccine and drug research, while only $350 million is for local health departments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/politics/06flu.html?th&emc=th

[Atman]

1. Try SNOPES.com

Just sayin'

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Thanks, but I found some info on Reuters

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06165688.htm

SOFIA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Bulgaria shut off wetland areas on Monday and investigated the deaths of scores of birds after announcing its first case of H5 avian flu in a dead swan last week, officials said.

Veterinarians also prepared to send samples from the infected swan -- found partially paralysed in the Danube river -- to Britain to test whether it had the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

"The samples from the swan will be sent to the United Kingdom on Monday. We expect the results in a week's time," said Margarita Kozhuharova, spokeswoman of the agriculture ministry.

With its Black Sea neighbours Turkey and Romania battling outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 since October, Bulgaria has long been considered a potential destination for the disease.