SAN JOSE, March 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Costa Rica has begun setting up a national program to prepare against a possible bird flu pandemic, Health Minister Maria del Rocio Saenz said on Wednesday.

    The program include measures to reinforce public health sectors to watch out for possible outbreaks, boost coordination between departments and launch a high-profile publicity campaign to tell people how the virus may be transmitted.

    "We believe this disease will reach the Americas within six to 12 months," Daniel Salas, a doctor from the health ministry told the press. "If the infection rate explodes, between 2 and 7.4 million people could die across the world," he said.

    Costa Rica has already signed a number of deals in efforts to contain the momentum of any possible outbreak, including January 2005's International Alliance Against Bird Flu, signed in Mar del Plata, Argentina, he said. Enditem