Singapore proposed Thursday members of ASEAN create a task force to formulate a joint approach in preparing an assault on the bird flu epidemic. The deadly H5N1 strain of the virus "is endemic in this region", National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan told a meeting of agricultural and forestry ministers in Myanmar (Burma). "It is important that ASEAN and affected countries in the region work together to chart the best way forward to deal with this problem," Mah said in a speech, a copy of which was made available here. Mah suggested improving border controls to combat the spread of the disease as one of the issues for the task force to address. China, Japan, South Korea and the World Health Organization (WHO) would be invited to join the initiative by ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The two-day ministerial meeting was taking place in Yangon (Rangoon). The region is battling a second wave of bird flu, which first appeared earlier this year. A 9-year-old girl became Thailand's 11th fatality from the disease. In Vietnam, 20 people have died. Indonesian officials said the virus has also resurfaced on the island of Java. Bird flu-free Singapore partially lifted a ban on the import of Malaysian poultry and eggs last week after authorities were assured that the disease was contained within Kelantan. ASEAN groups Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. WHO warned it was more concerned about the potential devastation from bird flu than the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which erupted in the region and elsewhere last year. More than 100 million chickens and other poultry have been culled in efforts to curb the virus' spread.
