Dr. Andrew Speedy was speaking at a conference reviewing the strategy on the prevention and control of bird flu, which FAO co-hosted with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi on August 13-14.

The FAO official also called on concerned agencies to be cautious when making any change to the strategy and to pay more attention to developing human resources in response to the disease in case it becomes a pandemic.

According to the Ministry, bird flu has affected 60,000 fowls in 26 provinces and claimed five people so far this year.

At present, the disease is still affecting the Mekong delta provinces of Dong Thap and Kien Giang and central Quang Ngai province.