Agencies need $100 million over the next three years to fight the bird flu pandemic, but so far they have only raised about $10 million from Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia, among other countries.

"The virus has tightened its grip on the region...It has behaved in ways that suggest it remains as unstable, unpredictable and versatile as ever. Judging by its performance to date, we need to be on constant alert for surprises," he said in an opening speech at an international meeting on avian influenza in Kuala Lumpur.

Up to May this year, there were 64 people infected by the virus, 60 of them in Vietnam alone and the rest in Cambodia, Omi said.

He described Vietnam as "chronically infected."

Worrying Development

For 2004, there were 44 human cases reported across Asia. Out of the total 108 human victims thus far, 54 have died, he said. This is despite the culling of hundreds of millions of birds to date.

While scientists are still trying to figure out how the virus spreads to humans, they are mystified by the recent death of 6,000 migratory birds in China's Qinghai Province.

"Wild birds have always been considered reasonably resistant to H5N1, so we see this worrying development as yet another example of how unpredictable the virus can be," Omi said.

Experts from the WHO and other agencies from the United Nations -- the Food and Agricultural Organization and the Paris-based World Organization of Animal Health -- are participating in the three-day meeting.

The meeting focuses on interaction between humans and the production, distribution, processing and marketing of animals for food, which has been identified as the root cause of the problem.

Funding Is Still a Problem

"The role of live bird markets, especially in Asia, in the potential spread of the virus to humans has now clearly been recognized by the scientific community," Animal Health regional representative for Asia and the Pacific Teruhide Fujita said in his speech.

"This consultation should, therefore, address legislative issues to enable the sale of different animal species in separate premises as well as efficient inspection service, which will enable the detection and subsequent elimination of sick birds from the live markets prior to sale. The traditional way of living with animals in the region will also be given due attention," he said.

Meantime, the FAO and Animal Health organization are pushing for vaccination as a tool to control the disease.

Vietnam is launching a massive poultry immunization program soon in collaboration with the two agencies.

But FAO chief of animal health Joseph Domenech said funding is still a problem.

He told reporters the agencies need $100 million over the next three years to fight the bird flu pandemic, but so far they have only raised about $10 million from Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia, among other countries.

A 50 million euro pledge by the European Commission, Domenech said, could only be used in 2007 to 2011.

"We are discussing today how we could contribute immediately. Definitely, there is a lot of improvement of the situation with regards to commitment from donors, but they are not enough and still not quick enough," he said.