The EU has earmarked €80 million in aid to help countries deal with bird flu ahead of an international donors' conference to be held next week in China, the European Commission said today.
"Next week we have a unique opportunity to work with our international partners ... at the forthcoming international pledging conference on avian and human influenza in Beijing," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
"At the conference the Commission will pledge a sum of $100 million, that is 80 million euros," she told a news briefing.
"I am optimistic we are going to close the financial gap in Beijing," she said.
The United Nations has said donors will need to contribute over €1 billion to finance the next phase of the global campaign against bird flu at the January 17th-18th conference.
Earlier this week, the World Bank approved €400 million in aid for bird flu. But it has also estimated that a flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to €660 billion.
Meanwhile Turkish authorities are testing whether a four-year-old girl who died earlier today had bird flu, doctors and the family said.
"We have sent samples taken from her to Ankara...We cannot say anything more right now," Diyarbakir hospital doctor Eralp Arikan Diarba told reporters.
However, Turkish Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker said he did not believe bird flu was the cause of death.
Three children have died in Turkey from the disease and the first deaths outside Asia have sparked fears the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus may spread further into mainland Europe.
Scientists fear the virus, which is known to have killed at least 78 people, could mutate into a form able to spread easily among humans, leading to a pandemic.
"A global threat needs a global response. The European Commission will play an important role in that respect. We have to take the health and economic impact into account," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.