Bird flu could hurt world economy, IMF warns

Governments are not sufficiently prepared for a possible human pandemic of the H5N1 bird flu strain which could deal a serious blow to the world economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

In a study revealed on Monday (13 March), the IMF said "if the pandemic is severe, the economic impact is likely to be significant."

Bird flu has killed at least 98 people in Asia and Turkey, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, with three more human deaths recentl...