India's top drug manufacturer, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., said it was making progress in its talks with Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG to make a generic version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, which taken within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms makes the illness less severe.

Acknowledging that separation from Asia by thousands of kilometers (miles) of sea offers little protection, Australia and New Zealand also took steps to ward off a bird flu disaster.

At least 68 people have died from bird flu since it emerged in Asia in 2003 -- nearly two-thirds of them in Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization. So far, most human cases of the disease have been traced to contact with infected birds. But experts fear a human flu pandemic if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form that passes easily between people.

'Serious Epidemic'

The Shanghai city government announced new rules Monday, requiring all passengers leaving or entering the Pudong International Airport to declare if they had close contact with poultry, birds, bird flu patients or suspected cases over the past week.

They will also be screened with an infrared camera for high temperatures, and must declare coughing, fever or shortness of breath. People with temperatures over 38 Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit) will be further examined, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

China, which has the world's most chickens, has called bird flu a "serious epidemic." It has reported 22 outbreaks among poultry so far, and three confirmed human cases of bird flu. Two of them died and one recovered.

In Vietnam on Sunday, about 900 people -- including military, police, and health and agricultural officials -- ran through a scenario in which throngs of people were falling ill and dying because the H5N1 virus had mutated.

Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien said the 2 1/2-hour drill served as a valuable lesson that showed the country's strengths and weaknesses.

Australia is to hold a similar exercise this week, while other countries are planning simulations to assess how well different government and civil agencies work together.

Antiviral Drug Tamiflu

On Sunday, India's top drug manufacturer, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., said it was making progress in its talks with Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG to make a generic version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, which taken within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms makes the illness less severe.

The drug is in short supply as countries around the world try to stockpile it in case there is a human pandemic.

Among those stockpiling is New Zealand, which has more than 850,000 doses of Tamiflu -- enough to treat about 20 percent of the population in a major flu outbreak. Health experts there say the country should develop a bird flu vaccine in case a worldwide pandemic breaks out.

No vaccine is ready yet for commercial production anywhere in the world although many countries are in the development stage.

Meanwhile, authorities in Malaysia's Sarawak state seized and killed hundreds of fighting cocks that had been illegally smuggled over the border from Indonesia's Kalimantan state, enforcing a two-month-old statewide import ban, according to the Star newspaper.

Sarawak's Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said no cases of bird flu have been found Malaysia, in humans or poultry.