International talks jointly hosted by Japan and the World Health Organization opened Thursday in Tokyo to discuss how to contain a possible global pandemic sparked by the spread of bird flu among humans.
The two-day gathering of delegates from more than 30 nations mainly in Asia and international organizations comes at a time when concerns are mounting that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has been spreading throughout Asia and has recently cropped up in Turkey, could change into a form that could pass easily among humans and potentially kill millions of people.
The delegates are expected to discuss and recommend regional and international response mechanisms such as an early warning detection system for a pandemic and operational support for early response efforts in Asia, organizers said.
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