"The purpose of the meeting is to assess the current situation, and to analyse possible public health interventions before and during an influenza pandemic," said the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a statement.

Culling poultry could reduce the chances of a human flu strain emerging from Asia due to the bird flu, the WHO said ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

"However, experts believe that because these outbreaks come in cycles, a human influenza pandemic must still be expected at some time in the future."

"As long as avian and human flu viruses are circulating in the environment, the ingredients for a human pandemic still exist. When the next pandemic emerges, we will be able to respond properly only if we prepare properly," said the WHO's director-general Lee Jong-wook quoted in the statement.

According to WHO figures, 33 people in Thailand and Vietnam have caught bird flu, of which 22 have died. The epidemic officially emerged in South Korea in mid-December.

TERRA.WIRE