HONG KONG, March 1 (Xinhuanet) -- World Health Organization (WHO) experts said here Monday a human vaccine for H5N1 bird flu will be available in six months.

    Dr. Robert Webster, bird flu expert from the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Laboratory on Influenza, said at a press conference that a human vaccine for the H5N1 bird flu virus is being studied and is expected to be available in six months' time.

    As told by Webster, the vaccine is devised by using the technology of reverse genetics and is now ready for testing on humans. Once it is proved to be safe and effective in protecting human from H5N1 virus, the vaccine will be released for the public.

    Since WHO evaluates human vaccines each year, there should be no worry about the vaccine failure to keep up with the ever-changing nature of H5N1, Webster added.

    At the press conference, experts from WHO and the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong also predicted that the chance for Hong Kong to experience a major outbreak of avian flu in 2004 will be very low, since the government has already gota good mechanism for the prevention and control of bird flu. Enditem