October 10, 2005

Health experts worldwide to cooperate against bird flu
 

In response to the US proposal, health experts from 85 countries have agreed to increase cooperation in the fight against bird flu, during the recent meeting in the US to address the issue.

The US has also outlined some action guidelines for countries to follow. These included:

• Transparency in reporting potential outbreaks of bird flu
   
• Immediate sharing of epidemiological data and samples with the World Health Organization
   
• Prompt bilateral and multilateral coordination of resource allocations 
   
• Continuous testing of virus samples to closely monitor its evolution, and immediate and open sharing of data  

Feedback from the meeting indicated the importance of containing the spread of bird flu to avoid the possibility of a pandemic.