Health experts and government officials from more than 70 countries have agreed to join efforts to prevent anticipated outbreaks of avian influenza.

The agreement came at a recent meeting of the international partnership on the avian flu in Washington.

The participants stressed the importance of information-sharing and transparency in preventing and curing avian influenza, noting the damage caused by the SARS epidemic in China in 2002.

The South Korean government’s representative, Kang Kyong-hwa, said South Korea, as the chairing nation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, is now discussing joint measures to control the disease with other states in the region.

She also said Seoul has actively supported the International Vaccine Institute’s research on bird flu vaccines and called on other countries to follow suit.

Kang said the meeting in Washington has provided an opportunity to warn the world of threats from the deadly virus.

Many health experts view the containment of the influenza pandemic as the greatest health-related task facing mankind.