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More than 150 million birds have been killed by various strains of avian flu, according to the World Health Organization. Outbreaks in Asia and Europe have only been contained by wiping out poultry flocks. Various vaccines to date have proven ineffective or difficult to administer. But now two independent groups of researchers have shown that incorporating the proteins of various strains of bird flu into an existing virus vaccine can yield effective protection for birds. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a bird killer that has been controlled by routine vaccination in the developed world. Molecular biologist Angela Römer-Oberdörfer of the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Canada and Mexico have banned shipments of poultry and poultry products from California because of the outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease, the California Farm Bureau said. The disease, which threatens the state's $3 billion poultry industry, is harmless to humans but fatal to birds. State farm officials said Canada will stop all shipments of poultry and its products from California for 14 days. Mexico, the state's leading export market for poultry, also called for a similar ban. The California Poultry Federation, which represents about 160 poultry farmers, was lobbying for the bans to be modified to include...

<p>State authorities this week have destroyed more than 100,000 chickens near Riverside after tests confirmed that the highly virulent exotic Newcastle disease has spread from backyard flocks to commercial poultry farms in the area.</p> <p>State and federal agriculture officials imposed a three-county quarantine Nov. 13 after the disease was diagnosed in a backyard flock on Oct. 1.</p>