UK scientists seek global fight against bird flu

LONDON, Monday (Reuters) British experts from the body that discovered the flu virus in 1933 will travel to southeast Asia to boost global cooperation on fighting bird flu and other new infections, the Medical Research Council said on Monday.

Scientists from the MRC, Britain's main publicly funded biomedical research organisation, will go to China, Vietnam and Hong Kong to discuss research on infections with epidemic or pandemic potential before a global conference in December.

The move comes amid mounting fears of a bird flu pandemic after tests on Saturday showed the same deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu as that found in Turkey and Asia had infected ducks in Romania, confirming the virus has reached mainland Europe.

The MRC said the missions, which start on Oct. 23, were aimed at improving joint research on flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and HIV as well as cancer and neurosciences.

"The MRC is in a position to make a significant contribution because of our long-standing investment in flu, not least with the discovery of the flu virus by MRC scientists in 1933," the organisation said in a statement. Britain's chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, said on Sunday a bird flu pandemic could result in at least 50,000 deaths in Britain.

The MRC-hosted meeting on Dec. 7, 8 in London of scientists, politicians and industrialists will discuss the reasons for flu being so easily transmissible and the development of vaccines and drugs to control the spread of viruses.