POULTRY producers from nine countries said today they would form an international panel to correct misinformation being circulated about bird flu before more consumers stop eating chicken and eggs.

The deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza has been found in flocks in Japan and Indonesia before moving into Romania, Turkey, Greece and Russia during the past few weeks.

"There seems to be a perception that one can get bird flu from eating chicken, which is not the case," said Toby Moore, a spokesman with the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.

"We see that (perception) in certain countries where consumption has dropped dramatically."

International Poultry Council members include poultry representatives from Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, the European Union, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, and the United States.

The panel also will tackle other issues facing major poultry-producing countries, but H5N1 will receive most of its immediate attention.

The World Health Organisation has said the primary way humans can get infected with the virus is by coming in direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces or objects contaminated with their droppings.

So far the disease has not spread by human to human contact.

Already, poultry consumption has plunged in countries that have discovered the H5N1 strain.

The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council estimated that in Greece alone consumption has dropped 70 per cent.

There is uncertainty as to whether the H5N1 virus, which has killed more than 60 people and infected others in South East Asia since 2003, will spread to the United States.

The US Agriculture Department has already taken other precautions against the disease, including banning imports from live birds and eggs from infected countries and requiring all imported birds to be quarantined and tested for the virus before entering the country.