Chile and other Latin American countries have worked out plans to prevent the outbreak of bird flu and its transmission to human beings, a WHO official said Thursday.

Preventive measures have been adopted among American countries, which include the timely access to human resources, hospital beds and medicines in the event of a possible outbreak, Marlo Lebel, adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) of Latin America, said on radio in Chile.

Lebel stressed that the number of human infections with bird flu is limited until now, so the risk of spreading in the region is low, because the disease "only transmits from animal to person. "

Chile operates a system of avian flu vigilance in humans, including sample collections of sick people, the specialist said.