The global battle against bird flu needs $750 million extra a year to stem its spread and prepare for any pandemic it spawns, the United Nations said.
Outbreaks of the lethal H5N1 avian flu virus, which is constantly changing and may mutate to be easily transmissible between humans, could spark the next flu pandemic, David Nabarro, the UN’s pandemic-flu coordinator, said.
Between $500 million and $750 million a year is needed to fund efforts to monitor, manage and eradicate the virus and to bring animal and human health services to the standards sought by the World Organization for Animal Health and World Health Organization.