already endemic among wild birds and domesticated poultry.

"To prevent a human flu pandemic, farms should quickly upgrade farming practices and wet markets should stop risky practices like slaughtering of live poultry. We must bring pressure to bear to change these old but unhygienic practices, or the public health risk will always be with us," he said.

If the disaster could not be prevented, then the next best thing was early alert so that appropriate response could be mounted speedily before the virus spread more widely, Khaw said.

"This requires an effective monitoring and surveillance system, both in the detection of flu among birds as well as among humans. Often this boils down to proper compensation for farmers who report on their sick chickens," he said.

Those who had put in place plans in the event of an outbreak should regularly update them.

"And increasingly, we must conduct regional exercises among neighboring countries because cross-border cooperation and sharing of information are important elements in any regional preparedness plan," he said.

There were at least 79 reported deaths in six countries since 2003 due to the H5N1 virus.

Scientists say the deaths so far were the result of human contact with infected birds and not due to human-to-human infection.-- BERNAMA