WHO seeks more collaborative research on bird flu

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation called on Friday for more collaborative research into the bird flu virus, which it said could help reduce death and illness in a human influenza pandemic.

Current international research is highly competitive and the results of studies are often held back pending publication, which could delay their usefulness in a public health emergency, WHO officials said.

Keiji Fukuda, coordinator of WHO's global influenza programme, said that more sharing of research was required, as happened informally between experts during the deadly SARS epidemic in 2003 which spread from southern China to Canada.

"In developing a WHO public health research agenda (on influenza) we are trying to push for a paradigm change," Fukuda told the final session of a four-day WHO meeting on bird flu.

"What we hope to improve is the kind of sharing and flow of information and take it to another level," he said.

Some 150 experts from 30 countries took part in the meeting to update WHO's guidance to countries on how to boost their defences against a deadly global epidemic. The United Nations agency plans to issue new advice by year-end, officials said.

The H5N1 avian flu virus has infected flocks in much of Asia, Africa and some parts of Europe. Experts fear it could mutate into a form that passes easily from person to person, sparking an influenza pandemic that could kill millions.