For the second time in two days, and the third time this month, China is reporting a Human H5N1 infection. This time of a 27-year-old woman who died yesterday in Shandong Province.

Scientists are looking at a novel strategy to prevent the spread of pandemic avian influenza. They have developed a vaccine that protects ducks, a known natural reservoir for the virus. They report their findings in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Virology

A protein found in the virulent avian influenza virus strain called H5N1 forms tiny tubules in which it "hides" the pieces of double-stranded RNA formed during viral infection, which otherwise would prompt an antiviral immune response from infected cells, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in an online report in the journal Nature.

New evidence suggests that a booster vaccination against H5N1 avian influenza given years after initial vaccination with a different strain may prove useful in controlling a potential future pandemic. The study is published in the August 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

Influenza is currently a grave concern for governments and health organisations around the world. The worry is the potential for highly virulent bird flu strains, such as H5N1, to develop the ability to infect humans easily.

An international group of American and Turkish research scientists, led by Sea Lane Biotechnologies, has created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza (H5N1) using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey.

Preliminary research from the Department of Respiratory Disease Research at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) suggests that a rapid antigen assay test developed by Arbor Vita Corporation (AVC) shows promise as a useful diagnostic for the detection of the avian influenza virus in humans.

Manipulating a previously identified protein may be the key to developing an effective H5N1 influenza A virus vaccine say researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo. They report their findings in the March 2008 issue of the Journal of Virology.

The H5N1 Avian Flu Virus has been found in a dead wild Canadian Goose in Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, England. This is the 11th case of the virus turning up in wild birds. The goose was found on February 25, 2008.

A fresh, eighth, outbreak of H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in the north of the country, where the deadly virus was discovered earlier this month, the chief sanitary official said on Saturday.

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and University of Maryland report that a new vaccine that protects monkeys against the avian influenza virus is now a candidate for clinical trial in humans. They report their findings in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Virology.

H5N1 influenza, also known as avian influenza, is considered a major global threat to human health, with high fatality rates.