Scientists claim they have found a new strain of avian flu, the H9N2 virus, which could mutate to become more easily transmissible among humans and trigger a possible bird flu pandemic.

According to a study published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, the avian influenza strain found in Nigeria is genetically different from previous African outbreaks

Scientists from Nottingham Trent University in Britain are developing a device that can detect an outbreak of bird flu in two hours.

The technology works by identifying molecules from a swab of human saliva or animal tissue, before identifying with what kind of bird flu strain it is infected, researchers said

The bird flu detected in Nigeria last month is a new strain of the deadly H5N1 virus that has not been recorded in Africa previously.

Laboratory tests from Nigeria and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Italy found the virus from "backyard poultry" in Katsina and Kano states to be an H5N1, clade 2, EMA3

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an AIDS drug made by Gilead to treat patients with hepatitis B. The drug Viread has been available in the U.S. as a treatment for HIV infection in adults since 2001.

The FDA is joining regulators in Europe, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand by allowing the drug in U.S. Generically known as tenofovir, the drug is taken in the form of a pill once daily. It works by blocking HBV DNA polymerase, the enzyme that is necessary for the virus to replicate in liver cells

President George Bush on Wednesday approved $48 billion for fighting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis around the world for next five years.

The amount authorized for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the successful U.S. global AIDS program, is $18 billion more than what Bush had requested. The measure will triple funding for these three diseases