Australia's defenses against the outbreak of the H1N1 virus will be boosted when mass flu vaccinations start next month after officials fast-tracked a scheme capable of covering it's entire population of 21 million people.

VOA: standard.2009.08.25

For the moment, experts say the risk of a mass outbreak remains limited, given that the virus isn't easily spread from human to human.

WSJ: Hong Kong Steps Up Bird-Flu Measures

Hong Kong officials say they are ready to halt live poultry imports or cull birds if needed, as Shanghai has already done, to prevent a mass outbreak.

WSJ: Hong Kong Steps Up Bird-Flu Measures

The riots that began in London on August 6th last year, soon spreading to Birmingham and other cities, seemed at the time to be an outbreak of mass lunacy.

ECONOMIST: A year after the riots