November 2, 2005

Southeast Asia needs $US102 million to contain bird flu

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said poor Southeast Asian countries needed $US102 million to contain bird flu in the next three years.

FAO's chief technical adviser Subhash Morzaria said an additional $US75 million in emergency funding would be needed for containment efforts if the virus spread from Eastern Europe to Africa. Bird flu had already hit Turkey and Romania recently.

Morzaria said the general level of preparedness was "variable", during a recent Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum for health officials in Australia. He added that poorer countries would have greater difficulties in preparing against an outbreak.