Bird flu stories
Worried about bird flu? Wash your hands
The best way to protect yourself from bird flu and other diseases is to wash your hands. Other advice from health experts includes not trying to buy your won Tamiflu, and to stay at home if you get sick.
Poll: Bird Flu Worries Italy, Spain Most, Â Amid bird flu fears, EU tests health procedures,
China: 2,600 Birds Dead of Bird Flu, Â Roche says could allow others to produce Tamiflu,
Help world's children and fight bird flu: experts
An Ipsos poll found that Spain and Italy were more worried about bird flu than people in America, France, Germany and Britain. The poll was taken before the disease reached Europe. Governments have taken a variety of steps to prepare for a pandemic.
The European Union tested its communications procedures in case of a major public health emergency on Wednesday. There will be a fuller simulation later in the year. The disease has been detected in birds in Romania and Greece.
China reported the deaths of 2,600 birds of bird flu in northern China. Russia has reported the first cases in European Russia, in the Tula region west of the Ural Mountains and 125 miles south of Moscow. More cases have been found in Romania and there is a suspected case in Macedonia.
Swiss drugmaker Roche says it is wiling for others to make Tamiflu if they have the capability of doing so. The company said it had not yet been approached by any companies.
Help world's children and fight bird flu: experts
The Global Health Council says that there is not much that can be done about a bird flu pandemic in the short term other than to move swiftly against diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia, which kill many children. This would build up the so-called public health system and save millions of deaths and would cost only $5 billion more a year.
Other stories
Survivors of Iraq chemical attack want Saddam dead
On March 16, 1988 around 5,000 residents of Halabja in Iraq did as a result of a poison gas attack. Kurds believe that the Saddam government ordered the attack and want him punished. The mixture of napalm and mustard gas has left many with cancer, asthma and other ailments.
Senate panel OKs oil drilling in Arctic refuge
The U.S. Senate Energy Committee has voted to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
Chertoff Says He Relied on FEMA Experts
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that he relied on Federal Emergency Management Agency experts with decades of experience when responding to Hurricane Katrina, saying that he was not a hurricane expert.
Fuel Costs Hamper Mass Transit Systems
Mass transit systems throughout the U.S. are struggling and having to make cuts because of rising diesel fuel prices. Next they will have to raise fares.
Situation at Mass. Dam Called 'Volatile', Â Buckling Massachusetts dam stabilizes
Water is continuing to be released from the weakened 173-year-old timber Whittenton Pond Dam on the Mill River above Taunton, Massachusetts. Thousands of residents were evacuated when it buckled earlier in the week. Heavy rain is forecast for this weekend.
Strong Earthquake Hits Japan; No Injuries
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake shook eastern Japan late Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami.
Ice Storm Contributes to Surge in Births
A baby boom in Muncie, Ind. is being blamed on an ice storm last January which brought down power lines.
Air inside car said to be more harmful than outside
Scientists have found that the air inside cars is more contaminated than the air outside.
FDA to Hear Concerns on Anti-Germ Soaps
The Food and Drug Administration says it has found no evidence showing that anti-bacterial soaps which aim to kill germs in the home are any more effective than ordinary soaps which remove the germs from the hands. Critics say that germs could become resistant to them. The Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee was due to look at the issue Thursday.
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