Global plan to halt bird flu unveiled

"It's an international crisis, it has to be an international vision for awareness, surveillance and early response," said Joseph Domenech, chief veterinary officer for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

"This disease is endemic in Asia... It will not be possible to eradicate the virus from the entire region of Asia in a few months or even in a few years," he told reporters at an international conference on the disease.