Chinese drugs giant Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group is in contact with Switzerland's Roche AG about making Tamiflu, the antiviral drug believed to be the best defense against a possible flu pandemic.

Meanwhile, Vietnam banned raw blood pudding and the raising of poultry in big cities, state-controlled media reported Wednesday.

"From now on, processing and trading raw blood pudding from poultry and animals is strictly prohibited," the Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan (People) quoted a directive from Prime Minister Phan Van Khai as saying.

Khai also ordered a ban on raising poultry in urban areas and urged authorities to raise awareness among people of the danger of bird flu, the paper said.

The prime minister also banned imports of poultry and pet birds from countries affected by bird flu and urged border guards and customs officials to increase border patrols to ensure that no birds are smuggled into the country, the newspaper said.

US$7.1 Billion Strategy

China also has suspended imports of poultry and related products from 14 countries hit by bird flu, the government said Wednesday.

The suspension took effect on Friday and will be extended to any other countries that report cases of bird flu, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

The countries listed so far include Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, Romania, North Korea, Croatia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Mongolia, Turkey, Russia and Sweden.

Amid global fears that a deadly bird flu virus sweeping through bird flocks in Asia and pockets of eastern Europe could mutate into a human flu that could kill millions, US President George W. Bush outlined a US$7.1 billion (€5.91 billion) strategy Tuesday to prepare for a possible worldwide super-flu outbreak, aiming to overhaul the vaccine industry so eventually every American could be inoculated within six months of a pandemic's beginning.

"Early detection is our first line of defense," Bush said in a speech at the National Institutes of Health. He called on other countries to admit when super-flu strains occur within their borders. "No nation can afford to ignore this threat," he said.

'Element of Scare-Mongering'

At least 62 people in Asia have been killed by the H5N1 bird flu virus since 2003, but most of the deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds. More than 40 of the victims died in Vietnam.

Despite the massive US funding commitment, Bush and other officials warned people not to panic about the threat of a human flu pandemic.

As nations try to control the H5N1 bird flu virus so it doesn't mutate into a form that can be spread between people, public fears already have affected the tourism and poultry industries in some countries, Doug Chester, Australia's ambassador to the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said Tuesday after a two-day meeting of disaster coordinators from the region.

"There is an element of scare-mongering that is undermining effective planning in some economies, and it's causing unnecessary economic damage to some economies," Chester said.

Backyard Chickens

As part of flu pandemic preparations in the world's most populous nation and home to billions of chickens, Chinese drugs giant Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group is in contact with Switzerland's Roche AG about making Tamiflu, the antiviral drug believed to be the best defense against a possible flu pandemic, a Roche spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Indonesia was gearing up Wednesday to intensify surveillance of wild birds to determine their suspected role in transmitting the H5N1 avian influenza virus.

Jakarta has vowed to step up efforts to tackle the spread of the disease, taking a hard look at backyard chickens and domestic birds, believed to be the source of infection for Indonesia's human victims.