Finance ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial nations warned of potential economic impact of a possible bird flu pandemic on Saturday and reaffirmed their commitments to financial support to fighting the disease.

Gathering in the Russian capital for a two-day meeting focused on the global economy and energy security, G8 finance ministers " acknowledge the risk of a possible avian flu pandemic and its potential economic and financial impacts," a statement issued after the meeting said.

The warning came on the same day that outbreaks of bird flu were confirmed in Bulgaria, Italy and Greece. On Wednesday, Nigeria confirmed the first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus in Africa.

The H5N1 virus has killed tens of millions of birds since 2003. A total of 165 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus and at least 88 of them have died, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

"We welcome progress made at the donors' conference in Beijing in securing financial support for the national and international efforts to minimize the risk posed by a pandemic influenza and confirm our commitments made at this conference," the ministers said in the statement.

The ministers called on the donor community "to provide financial support to poor countries fighting the epidemic through the existing mechanisms."

Source: Xinhua