SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM 21 ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES MEETING IN VIETNAM AGREED THURSDAY TO RECOMMEND A DRAFT REGIONAL RESPONSE PLAN FOR A POTENTIAL OUTBREAK OF AVIAN INFLUENZA INTO A HUMAN PANDEMIC THAT COULD KILL MILLIONS AND CRIPPLE ECONOMIES WORLDWIDE, DPA REPORTED. THE PLAN WAS TO BE SUBMITTED TO ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) HEALTH MINISTERS FOR APPROVAL FRIDAY DURING A THREE-DAY SUMMIT ON BIRD FLU HELD IN DANANG, WHERE OFFICIALS ALSO HEARD PLANS FOR A REGIONAL PANDEMIC-RESPONSE REHEARSAL TO BE HELD JUNE 7-8. THE SUMMIT ALSO REPORTED ON THE STATUS OF THE H5N1 AVIAN FLU VIRUS THAT HAS SWEPT FROM ASIA TO EUROPE AND AFRICA IN THE LAST YEAR, KILLING MILLIONS OF CHICKENS AND 113 PEOPLE. SCIENTISTS FEAR THAT IF H5N1 MUTATES TO BECOME EASILY CONTAGIOUS AMONG HUMANS, MILLIONS COULD DIE IN THE FIRST FLU PANDEMIC IN DECADES. THE DRAFT APEC PANDEMIC PLAN CALLS FOR A TWO-TRACK FIGHT, ACCORDING TO A COPY SEEN THURSDAY. FIRST, COUNTRIES WOULD TRY TO PREVENT A PANDEMIC BY CONTAINING THE DEADLY H5N1 AND OTHER EMERGING VIRUSES IN BIRDS, TO PREVENT THEM FROM MUTATING INTO HUMAN STRAINS. AT THE SAME TIME, THEY WOULD PREPARE PLANS TO KEEP COUNTRIES AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY RUNNING DURING A FLU PANDEMIC, WHICH SOME SAY IS INEVITIBLE. "I THINK IT'S A GOOD PLAN," SAID IAN SHUGART, CANADA'S ASSISTANT DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER WHO HELPED DRAFT IT WITH HOST COUNTRY VIETNAM AND OTHER APEC REPRESENTATIVES. "IT ANTICIPATES THE WAY THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN AND ADDRESSES WHAT ECONOMIES NEED TO DO TO GET READY FOR THOSE KINDS OF POSSIBLE OUTCOMES." JOHN LANGE, THE US SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AVIAN INFLUENZA, SAID IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THIS WEEK'S SUMMIT BROUGHT TOGETHER BOTH HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE MINISTERS FROM THE 21 APEC ECONOMIES. --More 1447 Local Time 1147 GMT
