51�Թ�

They come from a glittering hoard of nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, topaz, sapphires, and patterned gold sheets, first glimpsed deep inside a brick chamber near the Buddha's birthplace in present-day Uttar Pradesh in India.

Other than the report of a child death from H5N1 bird flu in Durango, Mexico on April 8, and of another child, in India's Andhra Pradesh state, who died March 15, there has been seemingly little in the news about H5N1 bird flu.

Months later, 10 newborns were killed in Uttar Pradesh state after a blaze broke out in the neonatal unit of a hospital in Jhansi district.

Usha Vance's parents migrated to the US from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and some media reports have said that Vance and his wife are keen to introduce their children to their Indian heritage.

Interest in the family runs high in India, given that Usha Vance is a daughter of Indian immigrants from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.