A report from the Trust for America's Health non-profit group predicted Friday that half a million Americans could die and more than 2 millions could end up in the hospital with serious complications if an even moderately severe strain of a pandemic flu hits.

The group warns the United States only has 965,256 staffed hospital beds, an insufficient amount in the event a pandemic does hit

A health expert on Tuesday revealed that more than 2,000 suspected cases of cholera have been detected in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

He also cautioned that Kabul is on the brink of an epidemic. "An epidemic is about to break out here. Over two thousand cases have been reported so far that would meet the case definition of cholera," The AP quoted Fred Hartman, the health expert, as saying

The Agriculture Department announces Friday there is no health risk to consumers after receiving conflicting results of a mad-cow test conducted on a bovine that was unable to walk and will seek further testing of a tissue sample of the cow.

There has only been one case of mad cow disease in The U.S., an infected dairy cow in Washington State in December 2003

A World Health Organization official said on Friday that the avian flu virus is growing at a rapid pace. He also advises intensified vigilance, as the strain of Chinese avian flu seems to have increased in virulence.

"The virus remains unstable, unpredictable and very versatile," The Shigeru Omi, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director, Stated. "Anything could happen," he added, "Judging from the way the virus has behaved it may have new and unpleasant surprises in store for us

CBC News reports the surfacing of a potentially fatal sexually transmitted disease that rarely appears in industrialized countries in Canada.

According to the report, there are currently 22 cases of lymphogranuloma venereum reported to the country's public health agency. An analysis in the May 31 online edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal first announced the potential outbreak