CANBERRA, Oct. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Health experts and disaster management coordinators from the Asia-Pacific region met in Brisbane, Australia on Monday to discuss the cooperation in preparing for a possible bird flu outbreak.

    At the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, "Avian and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response," delegates are expected to consider issues such as border closures, anti-viral drugs and how to maintain essential services during an outbreak.

    Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer earlier said the focus of the APEC meeting should be ensuring appropriate measures in place should an outbreak occur.

    On Friday, Downer warned during a TV interview that the government may be forced to close its borders to people fleeing a bird flu outbreak to ensure the country free from the virus.

    "If there was an outbreak in a country and they were able to contain it very quickly to isolate the area where the outbreak took place, then we wouldn't have to," Downer told Australia's Nine Network television.

    "But if, of course, it became an epidemic, we would want to stop it becoming a pandemic, spreading across borders," he said.

    "And so only in the most extreme circumstances, the most dire circumstances, would we be reduced to closing our borders," he added. Enditem