The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called on here local and international media to boost coverage of bird flu-related knowledge and increase people's awareness of the disease.

At the start of a three-day WHO conference on Global Pandemic Influenza Communications in Cairo, Ibrahim el-Kerdany, a WHO regional media adviser, said that the organization is calling on the media to make people more aware of bird flu with correct information, noting "we need awareness, not panic."

The conference brings together officials from governments and international organizations to discuss coordinating efforts in combating bird flu, including how to inform the people about the disease in case of a possible pandemic.

Meanwhile, Hussein A. Gezairy, the WHO Regional Director for Eastern Mediterranean, said that the single most important tool available to all countries will be communications.

Egypt found the first bird flu case in dead poultry on Feb. 17, 2006 and then the virus spread to 20 of the country's 26 governorates.

The populous Arab country reported first human bird flu case on March 18, 2006. Since then, 12 people have died of the fatal virus.

According to statistics, Egypt is the fifth most affected country in the world and the worst-hit outside Asia.

Source: Xinhua