The US government has awarded a $176 million contract to vaccine maker firm Moderna for developing a pandemic vaccine that could be used to treat bird flu in people.

US officially preparing for next pandemic, awards $176mn contract to Moderna

US health authorities reported another case of bird flu in a person on Wednesday (May 22), less than two months after the first case. This comes as the disease spreads widely among dairy cows.

Second human bird flu case linked to dairy cow outbreak reported in US

The first human case of bird flu has been discovered in Chile, the nation's health ministry announced on Wednesday. According to a statement released by the ministry, the case was found in a 53-year-old man who had severe influenza symptoms but was otherwise stable, reported Reuters.

Chile confirms first human case of bird flu in 53-year-old man with severe influenza symptoms

China has reported the first-ever case of H10N3 bird flu infection in a human being. The case, detected in a male aged 41 and living in Zhenjiang, a city in the eastern part of the province, was transmitted from poultry.

First case of human infection with H10N3 bird flu found in China