Bird Flu spreading? Hmmm

The Bible says in the last days there will be plagues. Hmm can something like this be one of those of Biblical proportions?China treats toddler for bird flu - BBC
A girl aged two is critically ill with the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Shanxi, northern China, in the second case reported by China in as many weeks. The girl was discovered ill on 7 January in the central province of Hunan and taken to a hospital in her home province, Chinese state media say. Health officials did not say how the child had become infected. A woman infected with bird flu died in Beijing earlier after buying ducks at a market in Hebei province.China's health ministry said that the girl had been transferred to another hospital after her symptoms grew worse.

Fresh bird flu outbreak in India

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

Birds being slaughtered in Assam to prevent bird flu
Thousands of birds have been slaughtered in the state of Assam. Authorities in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal say they have identified the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in thousands of dead chickens. Tests on poultry from two villages around Englishbazar town in the Maldah district have returned positive results, a health official said. He "few thousand" birds in the area will be slaughtered, he said. The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.

Japan vaccinates bird flu workers

Health officials wearing protective suits put ducks into sacks to bury them at a poultry farm where the bird flu virus was found in Muan, South Korea, 8 April 2008
Bird flu has mainly affected countries in East Asia. Japan is to become the first country in the world to vaccinate thousands of officials against bird flu. Six thousand health workers and other staff will be inoculated over the next few months, and the programme might be extended to cover millions more. Although bird flu has caused 240 deaths since 1993, none has been in Japan. But there are fears that an outbreak elsewhere in Asia could spread quickly in Japan, which has some of the world's most densely-populated areas. Bird flu is currently relatively difficult for humans to catch, but health authorities fear it could mutate into a form that is much more easily spread among humans, which could cause a pandemic.

Sensible or over-sensitive?

Japan has already stockpiled 20 million doses of so-called "pre-pandemic" bird flu vaccine for use after a major outbreak. The vaccine has been made using the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease collected in Vietnam and Indonesia. Japanese Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe made the proposal for vaccination on Tuesday, and it was backed by a government-appointed panel of experts on Wednesday.
The plan is to initially use 6,400 doses of vaccine to inoculate doctors, quarantine inspectors and other health and immigration officials. If successful, the government aims to expand the programme to others.