Health officials urged pet owners not to let their felines roam outdoors or feed them raw food or raw milk — common ways avian influenza can be transmitted.

Two cats in two separate New York City households have tested positive for bird flu, the city health department says.

The government said it expected around 50% of the jobs at NHS England, which as of December had 14,400 staff, and the Department of Health, which has 3,500 staff, to go. In a speech in Hull, Sir Keir said for too long politicians had "chosen to hide behind vast arrays of quangos" - organisations funded by taxpayers but not directly controlled by the government.

Actor Gene Hackman's daughter Leslie Anne Allen had been largely out of the public eye since she was proven incorrect about the health and wellbeing of her father. But she finally emerged in public this week.