Experts to plan bird flu strategy

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Health, food and animal experts plan to hammer out a strategy this week to ensure that the bird flu virus does not spread from humans to humans -- a possibility that has raised fears of an influenza.
The avian flu virus, which has killed 55 people in Asia this year, currently appears to spread only by close contact between humans and poultry. But medical experts fear the virus could mutate into a form which can easily pass between people, triggering a global pandemic.
"The virus has yet to develop efficient human-to-human transmission and there is still time for action," said a statement jointly issued Sunday by three U.N. organizations set to hold a three-day conference of experts starting Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.