March 8, 2006                                             

UN plans crisis centre for bird flu

A top official with the US Agriculture Department said Tuesday developed countries had not done enough to fight bird flu and announced plans to create a UN crisis centre to coordinate international efforts against the spread of the virus in animals.

"We have not done all that we can do to help affected countries attack the virus in birds," said Ron DeHaven, administrator of the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Combating the virus in animals is the best way to reduce the risk of the H5N1 strain mutating into a form capable of causing a human flu pandemic, he said.

Officials from the US, the European Union and the UN were drawing up plans to make the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the global coordinating body in the fight against bird flu.

A global crisis management centre, to be set up with the FAO, would help countries deal with outbreaks, sending out experts to assess the situation and channelling financial aid and equipment, DeHaven said.

A written draft of the plan could be ready in about two weeks, he said, adding that part of the coordination effort was already in place.