Rome – A major resurgence of avian influenza was likely amid signs that a mutant strain of the bird flu virus was spreading in Asia and beyond, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Monday.

The FAO urged increased preparedness and surveillance against the variant strain of H5N1, the virus that has infected 565 people since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them. The latest death was reported in Cambodia earlier this month.

The virus remains endemic in six countries – Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Read more: The Nation