Associated Press

Kuala Lumpur, July 3:

Health, food and animal experts plan to hammer out a strategy this week to ensure that the bird flu virus does not spread from humans to humans — a possibility that has raised fears of an influenza pandemic. The avian flu virus, which has killed 55 people in Asia this year, currently appears to spread only by close contact between humans and poultry. But medical experts fear the virus could mutate into a form which can easily pass between people, triggering a global pandemic. “The virus has yet to develop efficient human-to-human transmission and there is still time for action,” said a statement jointly issued today by three UN organisations set to hold a three-day conference of experts starting tomorow in Kuala Lumpur. There is an “urgent need to address the root cause of the problem,” the statement said. The conference will be attended by senior representatives and experts from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the World Health Organisation.