Donors pledge fresh 476 mln dollars to fight bird flu

BAMAKO, Dec 8 (Reuters) Foreign donors today pledged a total of 475.9 million dollars in additional funds to support the global fight against bird flu, officials said.

The funds were pledged on the final day of a three-day summit in Mali, West Africa, aimed at coordinating strategies to combat the disease.

Today's donor conference, the fourth global bird flu summit since late last year, had officially aimed to secure 500-750 million dollars per year to fight the disease over the next two to three years, although some experts had hoped to raise even more.

''We know there is more in the pipeline from countries that couldn't give commitments for various reasons. I am personally confident that we will make the 500 million dollars,'' UN influenza coordinator David Nabarro told reporters.

''Whichever way you look at it, it's a really excellent result,'' he added.

World Bank and United Nations officials say the latest funds experts have sought from donors -- over and above some 1.9 billion dollars pledged at a summit in Beijing in January -- is a fraction of the 2 trillion dollars a possible human influenza pandemic could cost worldwide.

REUTERS AB VV1833