ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: The authorities on Saturday confirmed the country’s first human death due to bird flu infection. Experts of the World Health Organisation are arriving here on Sunday to assess the situation.

Two WHO teams will visit the affected districts and collect data on the eight bird flu cases reported in the NWFP in an effort to determine epidemiological link between them.

The health ministry on Saturday changed its stance on the two deaths reportedly linked to bird flu, saying one of them was caused by the infection. It had previously said there was not enough evidence to say the two deaths in Peshawar had been caused by bird flu.

Seven people infected with the virus have either recovered or are under treatment.

WHO representative Dr Khalif Bile told Dawn that the visiting teams would validate the findings of the National Institute of Health and see if Pakistan needed any help to deal with the situation.

Asked if they would study the possibility of human-to-human transmission in the reported cases, he said they would certainly study that aspect, but that the teams were not coming with any preconceived notions.

Since five of the infected people, two of whom have died, are relatives (four brothers and their cousin), there are concerns that the infection could have a human-to-human transmission element. These fears intensified when it became clear that one of the infected people did not have contact with the birds. However, no proof has surfaced about human-to-human transmission of the disease.

According to experts, the events in Pakistan and other parts of the world can be a warning of a pandemic. The WHO believes the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century’s three pandemics began.