The deadly H5N1 'bird flu' virus has been detected in 11 countries so far in 2007 but is still not being transmitted between humans, according to experts meeting in Verona.
Avian influenza, which has killed 169 people since its outbreak in Asian in 2003, is now endemic in Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria, experts said at an international conference on bird flu.
"The virus has not acquired the ability to jump from one human being to another," confirmed European Commission veterinary expert Alberto Laddomada.
The greatest fear for experts is that the H5N1 virus may mutate into a form that would easily pass between human beings and which could then cause millions of deaths.
According to some researchers, the 1918 'Spanish flu' pandemic, which killed 2.5-5% of the global population, could have been caused by a strain of the avian influenza virus.
Some 400 international bird flu experts have been in Verona since Tuesday, discussing vaccination techniques to combat the disease.
The conference's conclusion was that bird vaccination could best be used in situations in which normal security measures proved insufficient to control the spread of the disease.
Italy, despite being a key stopping off point for birds migrating to and from Africa, has so far emerged relatively unscathed.
"There have only been 16 certain cases of birds being infected, in central and southern regions," said Stefano Marangon, head of an important veterinary research centre in the Veneto region of Italy.
The measures taken nationally to isolate and destroy any threat of infection had so far proved "excellent", he continued, adding: "We have keep guard up and maintain levels of security".
Animal health experts from 15 nations were meeting in Vienna on Thursday to discuss new mobile rapid-detection technology that experts say could revolutionise the fight against bird flu.
One device unveiled this week is a $1,000 mobile test system the size of a small portable television. Work is under way to reduce it further into what researchers call a "laboratory in a pen". Quicker testing and reporting of bird flu would mean experts saving crucial time identifying the source of outbreaks and so increase the chances of containing their spread.
The five-day Vienna conference is organised by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Atomic Energy Association.
