The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Tuesday for more effort, especially from the media, to combat bird flu as a conference on coordinating communication regarding the disease opened in Cairo.

At the start of the three-day WHO conference on Global Pandemic Influenza Communications in Cairo, Ibrahim el-Kerdany, a WHO regional media adviser, said the organization called on the media to raise people's awareness of bird flu with correct information.

"We need awareness, not panic," the official said.

Meanwhile, Hussein A. Gezairy, the WHO Regional Director for Eastern Mediterranean, said communications would be one of the most important tools available to contain the spread of the disease.

The conference brought together officials from governments and international organizations to discuss coordinating efforts to combat bird flu, including how to inform people about the disease in case of a possible pandemic.

At the opening of the conference, Egyptian Minister of Health Hatem el-Gabali called for international coordination to deal with any potential bird flu pandemic.

Gabali said he hoped that more funds used for combating the disease will be channeled to Africa, which was facing the same threat of the disease as Asia.

According to the WHO figures, bird flu has killed 166 of the 272 people worldwide who have contracted the disease since it reemerged in Asia in 2003.

Gabali also hailed the cooperation between Egypt and the WHO since the first case of bird flu appeared in Egypt in February last year.

The first bird flu case in dead poultry was reported on Feb. 17, 2006 and the virus has spread to 20 of the country's 26 governorates since then.

The populous Arab country reported first human case of bird flu on March 18, 2006, and 12 people have died of the killer virus.

According to statistics, Egypt is the world's fifth most affected country and the worst-hit outside Asia.

Source: Xinhua