British tourists are advised to ensure their travel insurance includes cover following health officials fearing that the bird flu virus could cause a flu pandemic - .
British tourists travelling to Asia should consult their travel insurance company to make sure they are covered for bird flu.
Yesterday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the bird flu epidemic as a "serious global threat to human health".
Health officials fear the lethal H5N1 virus could combine with an easily transmissible human flu virus and cause a flu pandemic.
Bird flu has already spread to much of Asia. At the moment the Foreign Office has issued no warning to British tourists travelling to, or already in, Asia. UK travel insurers are still applying the same compensatory guidelines as with any other flu-like virus.
So far all those infected with the disease are thought to have caught it from contact with birds. Millions of chickens have been slaughtered across Asia in an attempt to curb the virus.
The WHO says eating infected chickens or eggs do not pose a risk if they are cooked properly. However, concerns have been raised over the possible spread of the disease to those handling uncooked meat.
