The Nepalese government on Wednesday sounded the alarm on the recurring diarrhea outbreak in the region, with over 200 people killed and 16,162 cases reported in the first six months of the year alone.

According to Dr. Manas Kumar Banerjee, project coordinator of Avian Influenza Control Project under the Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit (EDCU), the government would implement a massive campaign and operational research throughout the region to determine the causes behind the "focal epidemic

A 3-year-old boy has become 111th person in Indonesia to have a confirmed case of avian influenza. The boy became sick on Oct. 22 but was not hospitalized until Saturday and his condition has been listed as good.

He had been around chickens that suddenly died later. Officials say that two tests have confirmed that the boy is positive for the virus

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, may be more widespread in Europe than previously thought, warned the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Thursday in an email statement.

The warning follows detection of the fatal H5N1 virus strain by German scientists in healthy domestic ducks and geese two months ago

harmaceutical makers worldwide could increase the production of a vaccine against pandemic influenza up to 4.5 billion immunization courses per year in 2010 but this falls far short of actual needs, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns.

"With influenza vaccine production capacity on the rise, we are beginning to be in a much better position vis-ŕ-vis the threat of an influenza pandemic," said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research. "However, it is still far from the 6.7 billion immunization courses that would be needed in a six month period to protect the whole world

The China government has vowed to prevent the spread of communicable diseases through air travel, Monday.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) signed an international pact in Xi'an, one of the most key cities in China, promising to stop the expansion of any communicable disease via air travel