Bird Flu - Israel now confirms H5N1 strain

Israeli officials have confirmed that thousands of turkeys and chickens found dead in the south of the country had the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.

Tests were ordered after the dead poultry were discovered on two farms in Ein Hashlosha and Holit, next to the Gaza Strip in the western Negev desert.

Several people have been admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms.

A quarantine has been imposed around the area and thousands of birds are expected to be culled over coming days.

On Thursday, Israeli Agriculture Minister Zeev Boim said the authorities were prepared to contain the virus' spread if an outbreak was confirmed.
Read full story via bbc news

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Low carb diet health risk fears

Following a low carb diet could cause serious health conditions, doctors in the US have warned.
Medics from New York, writing in the Lancet, describe a 40-year-old woman on the Atkins diet who developed dangerously high acids in her blood.

Public health doctors writing in the journal said low carb diets were "far from healthy".

But a spokeswoman for the Atkins Foundation said the diet would not cause such health problems.

The patient treated by the New York team was obese.

She had been following the Atkins diet rigorously in order to lose weight and had taken recommended precautions, including using vitamins and other supplements.
Read full article via bbc news

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