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The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu starting Dec. 16, a step public health experts have clamored for following the detection of the H5N1 virus in U.S. dairy herds for the first time this spring. The mandatory testing system is designed to identify which states and specific herds have been affected by the H5N1 virus. So far, the virus has spread to 720 herds in 15 states. (Johnson and Malhi, 12/6)

The US Department of Agriculture will begin testing raw milk from dairy silos around the nation in an effort to better track the H5N1 bird flu that has been spreading in dairy cattle since March. The agency announced the expanded testing of the milk supply in a new federal order issued on Friday. (Goodman, 12/6)

The World Health Organization said on Friday it is deploying experts to support health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate an as-yet undiagnosed disease linked to multiple deaths in a remote area of the country. The WHO experts are on their way to Panzi, a locality in the southwestern Kwango province, where they will deliver essential medicines and diagnostic kits to help analyse the cause of the illness. (12/6)

A mystery disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading mainly among children and putting severely malnourished people at risk, according to the World Health Organization, which sent experts to the region to investigate the outbreak. In an update published on Sunday evening, the WHO said 406 cases of the undiagnosed disease were recorded between Oct. 24 and Dec. 5, 31 of which were deaths. (12/9)

The cause of an outbreak of illness in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has garnered substantial international attention is still not known. But a statement released Sunday by the World Health Organization both sheds some light on why the source of the illness hasn’t yet been identified and what the illness — or illnesses — might be. (Branswell, 12/8)