It is "only a matter of time" until the deadly H5N1 virus becomes capable of human to human transmission and causes global chaos, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
Presenting a report to the conference, the World Bank says that $800 billion USD amounted to 2 percent of the global economy.
The World Bank proposed to fund $500m of grants and aid to countries hit by a pandemic, and hopes to raise a similar sum through donations.
"It is fair to assume the shock during a flu epidemic could be even larger and last longer than Sars," says Milan Brahmbhatt, World Bank chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region.
