ROME, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A U.N. agency is warning that bird flu is still a "potent threat" for the world, where many countries remain vulnerable due to a shortage of donor funds.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's warning came Wednesday, a day before a donor conference in Bamako, Mali.
Many parts of the world -- including Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Indonesia -- "remain particularly vulnerable because of a shortfall in donor funding," Rome-based FAO said in a statement.
"The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus remains a potent threat around the world -- both to animals and humans," said the U.N. agency.
Saying a lack of donor attention to the virus could create a domino effect, FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Muller warned, "Failure by any one country to contain the disease could lead to rapid re-infection in many more countries."
Since 2003, this particular strain of bird flu has spread to the Middle East and Africa, and killed at least 154 people, said the World Health Organization.
The statement said the FAO "has received $76 million (in donations) and agreements have been signed for another $25 million, with a further $60 million in the pipeline."
Another growing concern, the agency said, is the risk of virus mutation, which could make the bird flu's transference from one human to another much easier.
