World Bank finalising bird flu aid plan

The World Bank is finalising plans to provide up to €410m to help poor countries fight bird flu, as new cases emerged in China and Vietnam and Japan prepared to slaughter around 180,000 birds because of a suspected outbreak.

The plan comes as the bank prepares to take part in an international conference in Geneva next week to discuss managing bird flu in poultry and other birds, as well as plans for a possible human flu pandemic.

The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 62 people and resulted in the deaths of more than 100 million birds since 2003.