Health Officials Keep Close Watch on Bird Flu
World Health
Weighing the U.K. Avian Flu Outbreak()
February 9, 2007 Agricultural workers in the United Kingdom kill thousands of turkeys, seeking to block the spread of bird flu. Meanwhile, investigators try to trace the source of the infection. How should the United State react if faced by an outbreak of influenza on the scale of the 1918 epidemic?
Health
Experts: Use 1918 Methods to Fight Pandemic()
August 29, 2006 When the next pandemic strikes, Navy researchers suggest reviving a treatment used during the deadly pandemic of 1918. Back then, military doctors injected severely afflicted patients with blood or blood plasma from people who had recovered from the flu. Studies show the treatment reduced mortality rates by as much as 50 percent.
Health News Briefs
Government Posts Medical Procedure Price List()
June 2, 2006 The federal government is posting what it pays for certain medical procedures on the Internet in an attempt to help consumers.
Radio Expeditions
Researchers Fan Out to Find Bird Flu in Alaska()
May 19, 2006 In Alaska alone, the goal is to test and screen more than 15,000 birds this summer and fall. Despite the looming danger, the surveillance effort is still somewhat of a work in progress.
World Health
U.S. Releases Second Phase of Bird-Flu Plan()
May 3, 2006 The White House presents a new plan for implementing its national strategy in the event of an avian-flu pandemic. Phase one was released in November. Guests examine the administration's action plan.
Radio Expeditions
Alaska on the Lookout for First Sign of Bird Flu()
April 5, 2006 In the next few weeks, millions of songbirds, shorebirds and waterfowl will begin arriving in Alaska to breed. These migratory birds -- some of which wintered in Southeast Asia -- could bring with them the deadly strain of bird flu known as avian influenza A, or H5N1.
Science
Alaskan Town Fears Second Deadly Bird Flu Visit()
April 2, 2006 It's only a matter of time before the H5N1 bird flu virus reaches the United States, say health officials. Alaska's northwest coast is considered a primary point of entry, and the town of Brevig Mission, which relies on wild birds for subsistence, is worried.
Health Care
Q & A: Defining Pandemic Flu()
April 6, 2006 The H5N1 bird flu virus is the main candidate for triggering a human influenza pandemic. The virus continues to stretch around the globe, with outbreaks as widespread as China, Nigeria and Scotland. NPR's editors Joe Neel and David Malakoff answer questions about the potential for a flu pandemic and the status of influenza treatments and vaccines.
Research News
Mixed Results from Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine()
March 30, 2006 An experimental bird flu vaccine has potential to offer protection from a pandemic, according to a study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. But the research also suggests the effective dose is much greater than originally thought, and it works in only half of all patients.
World Health
Why Is Avian Flu So Hard to Catch?()
March 24, 2006 New studies show that the avian flu virus doesn't pass easily between humans. Two different teams of scientists think they know why. Their studies appeared this week in Nature and Science and detail what makes this disease different from human flu viruses.
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