Bermuda is gearing up to respond to a feared world-wide bird flu pandemic caused by the possible mutation of the current avian flu H5N1 virus.

A committee is being set up to ensure the Island is prepared should the avian flu virus that has decimated birds across Asia and has now spread to Europe cross-over to become a contagious illness amongst people.

The committee?s role will be to put in place a clear plan of action involving emergency services and essential workers to safeguard the day-to-day running of the Island should a human form of the virus take hold.

More than 80 people have died around the world since the resurgence of the virus in 2003. The deaths have been confined to victims in close contact with infected birds.

?To date there has been no instance of the virus being transferred from one person to another, which would present the possibility of a global pandemic.

?If we are hit by a pandemic there may be requirements that people who are sick do not go to work or to large gatherings. Church services may be affected or suspended. This committee is to ensure that we are being equitable and fair,? said Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann.

He explained that different sectors of the community including the Health Ministry, businesses and the Government, were now involved in contingency planning should the bird flu become a human-to-human virus.

?The World Health Organisation has warned countries that a pandemic is probable and may be imminent. There is no guarantee that it will happen in the next few months or years. But WHO has said that countries must start planning,? said Dr. Cann.

?It is a requirement to start planning so that we can quickly coordinate things. We are in the process of getting the various participants to serve on the committee. The forward planning in most of the sectors has already begun.?

Feral chickens and fowl that wander freely in various locations around the Island are not regarded as a major cause for concern for contracting the avian flu that has spread westwards from Southeast Asia and has now reached Turkey.

?There is a committee working on the feral chicken problem but, in all reality, Bermudians do not live with their chickens like they do in Asia,? said Dr. Cann. ?For our birds to become a problem they would have to become infected by a migratory bird, but even then it would be unlikely that someone would become infected, so it is not a likely scenario.

?It?s more likely that a Bermudian would become infected while overseas, or that someone visiting the Island will bring the virus here.?

It is envisaged that the committee will have oversight to coordinate all the plans once they have been developed, according to Dr. Cann.

He said raising of awareness of a potential pandemic amongst the different sectors of the community was already in progress.

?The next step is to ensure that plans are coordinated and there is a line of command to see they are carried out. The intent is to avoid any confusion about who is going to have particular responsibilities and identifying where there needs to be clear authority,? he added.

Health Minister Patrice Minors, said: ?We?ll have a committee so that we can be in a state of preparedness for the avian flu, which is progressing into the European nations although there is as yet no human-to-human transmission.

?The committee?s role would be to have a policy in place with regard to our preparedness, and that involves the hospital, the departments of the environment and immigration, the Police, garbage collection, the fire service and others.?

She said talks have already been held between the Health Ministry and the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital about the setting up and objectives of the committee.

No vaccine can be created to combat a human-to-human version of the flu until the virus has actually mutated to become a threat to humans. Only then would scientists be able to see how it might be combated.