European Union Health Commissioner Markos Kypriano says the EU is increasing its pledge for the fight against bird flu to $120 million.
The EU pledged the assistance in Beijing Tuesday at a donors conference organized by health experts to raise money to help developing countries contain bird flu. The World Bank and World Health Organization are hoping to raise $1.5 billion from rich countries to help poorer nations fight bird flu and prevent a global pandemic.
The United States is expected to announce its pledge on Wednesday.
Swiss drugmaker Roche said it will donate another batch of Tamiflu, an anti-viral medication, to treat an additional two million people in the event of a bird flu pandemic.
A World Health Organization official, Margaret Chan, told the meeting there is a great risk of an epidemic, although the timing and severity is uncertain.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Bloomberg.