BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday called for an urgent and unified response to an "alarming" rise in avian influenza in humans and animals across the Asia-Pacific.
The H5N1 virus has spread more widely than ever before, reaching as far as South America and Antarctica and infecting new species of wild and domestic animals, it said in a statement.
"Since late 2023, we have observed a rise in human cases and the virus spreading to new animal species," said Kachen Wongsathapornchai, regional manager of the FAO's Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases.
