The World Organization for Animal Health says governments should consider vaccinating poultry against bird flu, which has killed hundreds of millions of birds and infected mammals worldwide, to prevent the virus from turning into a new pandemic.

The severity of the current outbreak of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, and the economic and personal damage it has caused, has led governments to reconsider vaccinating poultry.

However, some, like the United States, remain reluctant mainly because of the trade curbs this would entail.

A recent survey showed only 25 per cent of World Organziation for Anima Health member states would accept imports of products from poultry vaccinated against bird flu.

The European Union’s 27 member states agreed last year to implement a bird flu vaccine strategy.