Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra warned Thursday that neglect could cause a bird flu pandemic after the lethal virus spread from Asia to Europe and into parts of Africa.

Thaksin told reporters at the Government House, "If every country knows how to handle it and take good care of it, I think the pandemic will not happen." "But if we neglect one area or another, that might be a mutation of the disease and the pandemic might happen," he added.

Since the deadly H5N1 virus was first detected in Thailand in early 2004, 14 out of 22 confirmed bird flu patients have died. Most of the bird flu deaths in the country were either children or elderly people with weak immune systems.

"I think a country like France can be protected much easier than a country like us because we have free-range poultry. In the beginning we did not understand the nature of the disease. We did not know its effect and how it can spread from birds, chicken to mammals like cats and tigers," Thaksin said.

"Now we understand it better. We can take care of it better. I think we are in a very good shape in handling it," he said.

The Thai government said in November that it would begin producing its own generic version of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, believed to be the most effective defense against bird flu.

The lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, which humans can catch from infected birds, has killed at least 90 people in Asia and is now spreading rapidly through Europe and parts of Africa.

Experts fear a pandemic if the virus mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans.

Source: Xinhua