Indonesia seeks help fighting bird flu

At least 39 people have died from the H5N1 bird flu virus in Indonesia, and a recent surge in human cases has put the country on pace to surpass Vietnam as the worst-hit nation. At least 42 people have died in Vietnam.

"With all of these limited resources � human, financial, institutional � what should we do?"

Roeder said the $50 million in aid money would be used to lay the groundwork to strengthen surveillance, coordination and rapid response systems for the country�s vast poultry population, which consists of millions of backyard farms.

Krishnamurthi said education and public awareness were key to fighting the disease, but that was not easy in a poor country with 220 million people spread across thousands of islands. He said many people depend on backyard chickens for their survival.

The meeting comes a month after six of seven family members from a remote farming village on Sumatra island died after testing positive for the virus. An eighth relative was buried before samples could be taken, but the World Health Organization considers her part of the cluster.

"Indonesia in 2006 is the hotspot for H5N1 in poultry and, consequently, in people," said Tim Uyeki, an epidemiologist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"I can say that if there is widespread human-to-human transmission, there is no country in the world that is ready," said Keiji Fukuda, coordinator for the WHO�s Global Influenza Program in Geneva.