Hospital staff clean and disinfect room in isolation ward where bird flu patient was treated in Abbotabad, Pakistan, 17 Dec 2007

World Health Organization, WHO, officials say there has been limited human transmission of bird flu in Pakistan - with no new cases reported recently.

WHO's top bird flu official David Heymann Friday, said there appears to be no threat of the further spread of the H5N1 virus, with the last human case reported December 6.

At least eight people were infected in Pakistan's northwest in recent weeks - in the country's first human cases of bird flu.

One man who worked on poultry farm in North West Frontier Province has died. His brother also died recently, but was not tested for the virus.

Heymann says the cases appear to be part of a small chain of human-to-human transmission.

A WHO team is investigating the outbreak and results from initial laboratory tests are expected in the next few days.

Pakistan's Health Ministry began sending out messages Thursday, asking people to take proper care when slaughtering and handling chickens.

Earlier this week, a WHO team visited a hospital in the northern city of Peshawar to educate doctors on controlling the spread of bird flu.

WHO says more than 200 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.