Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here Sunday reminded the international community of the danger of bird flu, saying that it could be worse than that of tsunami, local media reported.

"This plague can be more dangerous than the tsunami, which last year killed hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of minutes, " he said when delivering a keynote speech through a long distant teleconference to the parliamentarians from 80 countries attending the Parliamentary Network Conference on the World Bank held in Helsinki, Finland.

If the plague had really attacked, the president said, the avian influenza virus could spread in a few minutes and kill people in large numbers in many regions.

"It will be the worst nightmare," the head of state said.

He also noted that the world had experienced bird flue plague for about six times in the past three centuries.

As history had it, the plague killed in millions at each major occurrence, he said.

Bird flue could also spread to other regions of the world such as China, Europe and Southeast Asia, he added.

Meanwhile, he said, development projects already made by the state could ran into confusion if the avian influenza virus moved in and spread to human beings.

The impact of the plague on the world economy could be horrible, he added.

"Under such circumstances we all should exercise more caution against the spread of this plague. At least we have to make a contingency plan if this virus emerged or moved from one region to another," he said.

More than 60 people have died from the virus in Southeast Asia since the disease began ravaging poultry stocks in the region two years ago.

So far, most humans deaths have been linked to contact with birds.

Source: Xinhua