he recent, worst-ever outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in the India's state of West Bengal seems to have been brought under control by the swift and comprehensive measures taken by the country's authorities, though continued vigilance was crucial, the United Nations agricultural agency says on Wednesday.

"Intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector appears to have stopped the disease in its tracks," Mohinder Oberoi, an expert of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said after a recent field trip to the affected areas, where no new outbreaks have been seen since February 2, 2008

The deadly bird flu virus, which is still wreaking havoc in West Bengal and Indonesia, has now reached Hong Kong and Pakistan with outbreaks detected in a theme park aviary and poultry farm.

An outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the Avian flu was reported Friday at a poultry farm in Karachi, where over 5,000 infected chickens have died. Health officials are ruling out the possibility of human infection, however the Pakistani farm has been placed under quarantine

he H5N1 or the bird flu Virus has claimed its 100th life in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the virus. The 9-year-old boy died at the Suliant Saroso Hospital early Monday.

On Sunday, a 23-year-old woman also died and laboratory test confirmed that the cause was the bird flu virus as the woman reportedly lived near a poultry slaughterhouse in East Jakarta. The virus has become endemic in birds in almost all 's 33 provinces

The United States has donated 10,000 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Bangladesh as combat gear for strengthening avian influenza prevention and control.

Each PPE set consists of coveralls, shoe covers, a respirator, goggles, an apron, and inner and outer gloves, a U.S. embassy press statement says in the capital, Dhaka on Monday

Despite advances in controlling the virus, recent avian influenza outbreaks in more than a dozen countries reveal that it remains a global threat, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Thursday.

"Globally, much progress has been achieved in keeping the H5N1 avian influenza virus under control," said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech, noting that great strides have been made in the past three years. "Surveillance, early detection and immediate response efforts have been bolstered and many countries have been able to eliminate avian flu from poultry