Scientists and delegates at the international conference on the bird flu have indicated that $100 million should be spent on research in order to prevent a possible world-wide pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.

The meeting was held in the Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) as Vietnamese health officials acknowledged two new possible human cases of the bird flu.

'The threat is real and the potential is very high,' said Samuel Jutzi of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. 'The longer the virus circulates the way it does in poultry production systems and in ducks, the higher is the probability of exposure of humans and if we are indeed unlucky and have human influenza at the same time, there is increased likelihood of reassortment and therefore of the generation of pandemic.'

The key to preventing the pandemic, according to experts at the conference, was to change the way poultry in Asia is handled before the disease mutates and is easily transferable between human hosts. Therefore, part of the $100 million would go towards restructuring farms and poultry markets to limit human contact with infected poultry.

Medical officials in the United States and elsewhere continue to work on a possible vaccine to combat the bird flu but because influenza mutates so quickly, it may not be effective.

The last major worldwide influenza pandemic was the 1918-1919 Spanish flu outbreak that killed between 20 million and 40 million people worldwide.