Highly virulent form of bird flu can affect more species

New York, March 23 (PTI): A highly virulent form of bird flu could affect a far wider range of species, including rare and endangered, than previously believed, experts have warned.

The species that could be affected range from big cats like leopards and tigers to other mammals like martens, weasels and badgers and 80 per cent of all bird species, said a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"We are learning many hard lessons from the threatened pandemic," said the head of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is administered by the experts attending a CBD conference in Curitiba, Brazil and called for increased surveillance and vaccination as also beefed-up training.

In many ways, it is a "threat of our own making," said CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf.

For example, reduced genetic diversity in domestic animals like poultry in favour of a "monoculture" in the last 50 years has resulted in reduction of resistance to many diseases.