Australia urges calm over bird flu

Australia urged calm today over fears about the spread of bird flu as it hosted disaster co-ordinators from Pacific Rim nations to hammer out ways to stop emerging diseases from skipping across the region’s borders.

“There is no need to panic at this stage and we shouldn’t overstate the risk,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said before addressing the officials, who represent the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.