The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has disbursed more than 11 million U.S. dollars to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization to counter the immediate threat posed by avian influenza, or bird flu, in the Asia and Pacific region, ADB said Wednesday.

The funds are from ADB's 38 million U.S. dollar regional project for Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza announced in March. The project aims to strengthen regional capacity and facilitate regional cooperation to prevent or rapidly control avian flu outbreaks among birds and to help countries manage cases of human influenza caused by the H5N1 virus, said ADB in a news release.

The project will also help prepare the region for a possible pandemic by supporting regional interagency collaboration, regional cooperation in sharing information, and strengthening regional networks.

To date, some 99,000 U.S. dollars have been transferred to the ASEAN, 2.59 million U.S. dollars to the FAO, and 8.4 million U.S. dollars to the WHO, said ADB.

Besides underwriting the cost of experts, equipment, supplies, drugs and services, the project includes a 14.5 million U.S. dollars avian influenza response facility to provide critical financing to contain outbreaks and meet countries' most urgent needs, said ADB.

Source: Xinhua