BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- An Australian drug manufacturer claimed that the country will be able to vaccinate its entire 20 million population against bird flu within six months, local media Wednesday quoted its spokesman as saying.

    Developed with government backing, the new vaccine is the first to be registered in the Southern Hemisphere and could later be made available for supply and stockpile in Asia, said CSL, a world top plasma products maker.

    "With the current strain we're looking at, the Indonesian and Vietnamese strains, the ones that are a problem in this region," said CSL spokeswoman Rachel David, "we should be able to vaccinate the Australian population within six months."

    After successful completion of clinical trials, two 30mg doses of its vaccine delivered three weeks apart produced a strong immune response against the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in adults aged 18 to 65, according to the company.

    The new vaccine would be registered with Australia's drug safety watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which had promised to accelerate assessment given the potential threat posed by bird flu.

    The H5N1 virus has killed at least 164 people worldwide since 2003, most of them in Asia, and experts fear it could spark a global flu pandemic if it mutates into a form that passes easily among humans, media reported.

    (Agencies)