UN Hails Asian Transparency Over Bird Flu

According to top United Nations' officials quoted in this article, there are heightened levels of transparency in Asian countries over cases of avian influenza, however, more is needed to prepare for a possible pandemic. Indonesia and China, both countries where communication and sharing of information has been challenging in the past, were cited as being particularly forthcoming in terms of current information flow and building infrastructure to ensure future reliable flow of information.

"To have information promptly is the ultimate goal," said David Nabarro, the UN's senior system coordinator for avian and human influenza.

According to Nabarro, avian influenza is "entrenched" in the poultry populations of at least six countries - Indonesia, parts of northern Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.

Nabarro stressed that all countries in both the developed and developing world need to step up their efforts to cope with a possible H5N1 pandemic amongst humans.