World health groups want help for bird flu

GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- International health and food safety agencies have appealed for funds to stop the spread of the bird flu in Asia that has eight confirmed deaths.

"This is a serious global threat to human health," said World Health Organization Director General Lee Jong-wook.

"This time, we face something we can possibly control before it reaches global proportions if we work co-operatively and share needed resources. We must begin this hard, costly work now," he said.

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jacques Diouf said farmers in at least the eight affected countries urgently needed to kill infected and exposed animals and "require support to compensate for such losses," the BBC said. However, the the agencies did not specify how much money was needed but that technical assistance was needed, including diagnostic kits and protective gear for workers culling the infected poultry.

"The international community has a stake in the success of these efforts and poorer nations will need help," Diouf said.

Health officials fear that the bird flu virus could mutate, attaching itself to a human flu virus which could spread fatally among people.