According to the World Bank (WB), the fight against bird flu and preparations for a pandemic over the next three years will cost $1 billion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the development of a vaccine and production of anti-viral medicines would cost another $500 million.
The WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Epizootic Bureau (IEB) called on donors to allocate $35 million for urgent measures within the next six months.
The plan of action envisages tougher monitoring of the avian influenza virus among birds, a better early prevention system, a larger number of laboratories, and increased provision of vaccines and anti-viral medicines.
Experts said control over the H5N1 virus would reduce the risk of a human pandemic.
So far, the virus has only been contracted by birds, and experts have no evidence that it can be passed from one human to another. However, they expect the virus to mutate at some point in the future.
The three-day conference in Geneva was attended by more than 600 delegates from 100 countries, and representatives of the WHO, FAO, IEB, WB, and the European Commission.
In the past two years, bird flu has hit Asia and spread to Europe, killing at least 150 million birds. In December 2003, 64 out of 124 infected people died from the human form of the virus. Economic damage is estimated at over $10 billion.
