(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-28 14:36

Vietnam, the country hardest hit by bird flu, held a large-scale drill on Sunday to test its pandemic preparedness, as Australia planned a similar exercise later this week.

India's top drug manufacturer said Sunday it was making progress in talks with Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG to make a generic version of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

The drug is in short supply as countries around the world try to stockpile it in case there is a human pandemic _ which experts fear could happen if the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form that passes easily between people.

Vietnam's exercise is believed to be the first of its kind. About 900 people _ including military, police, and health and agricultural officials _ ran through a scenario in which throngs of people were falling ill and dying.

Officials participating in the exercise were told lab results showed the H5N1 virus had mutated, and 60 people living near the infected victim were showing bird flu symptoms.

Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien said the 2 1/2-hour drill served as a valuable lesson that showed Vietnam's strengths and weaknesses.

"Our message is that Vietnam is committed to fight bird flu and a bird flu pandemic if it occurs," she said. "We call on other countries, together with Vietnam, to do their utmost and find out the most effective measures to fight bird flu if a pandemic occurs."

Chien walked through an elementary school where classrooms had been converted into wards for less-severe patients. She also watched army officials spray the school building with disinfectant, while doctors inside scurried from patient to patient armed with oxygen and Tamiflu.

The World Health Organization has encouraged countries to draft national pandemic preparedness plans, which include holding drills.

Australia is to hold a similar exercise this week, while other countries are planning desktop simulations to assess how well different government and civil agencies work together. A regional desktop drill involving the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is slated for next year.

Australia's four-day Exercise Eleusis will begin Tuesday and involve 1,000 people, Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran and Health Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday.

No bird flu cases have been reported in Australia, but it remains on high alert for the virus. The federal government has committed more than 300 million Australian dollars (US$220 million; euro188 million) to pandemic preparedness, Abbott said.

At least 68 people have died from bird flu since it emerged in Asia in 2003 _ nearly two-thirds of them in Vietnam, according to WHO.

So far, most human cases of the disease have been traced to contact with infected birds.

North Korea said on Sunday that it, too, was working hard to prevent bird flu outbreaks.

Quarantine controls have been bolstered at entry points, and officials are disseminating bird flu information nationwide, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

It said some poultry has been vaccinated, and migratory birds are being monitored to prevent contact with domestic birds.

Earlier this year, the North culled about 210,000 chickens and other poultry during an outbreak.

In India, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. said it was making progress in talks with Roche for a license to make Tamiflu.

Malvinder Singh, president of the Indian company, said if an agreement is reached, India could begin making a generic version of the antiviral by the second quarter of 2006.

Roche has been under growing pressure to allow others to make copies of the drug.

On Friday, Roche said it would allow Indonesia to produce a version of Tamiflu as long as it is not exported. Roche has no patent in Indonesia.