"If we find the bird flu we will let the world know. But we have not found it," he told reporters. "We understand that this is a matter of cooperation" and Yangon was working closely with regional neighbours and UN agencies.

Experts say it is only a matter of time before the virus does arrive in the former Burma, an increasingly isolated country ruled by the military since 1962.

They fear the virus will remain unreported - either through lack of surveillance or a government cover-up - long enough to mutate into a form that passes more easily between humans and trigger a pandemic that could kill millions.

"I don’t see a conspiracy by the regime. They are just not going to know," said one Yangon-based Western diplomat, pointing to the country's sheer size and dilapidated infrastructure.

"The potential for its spread is high and the capacity to deal with it is low," the diplomat said.

Animal health experts say Myanmar is particularly at risk because it lies on the flight paths of migratory birds which could be spreading the virus.

The government has stepped up monitoring of prime stopover points for wild birds, including the Moeinngyi area north of Yangon and Inndawgyi in Kachin State bordering China and India.

"There have been outbreaks of this disease in neighbouring countries and that is why we have to step up our surveillance," said Dr. Soe Win Nyein, a senior Health Ministry official.

"So far there have been no signs of bird flu in man or bird, but the risk is there," he said.

INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

State-run television has begun broadcasting information on the disease and urging people to report suspected cases in poultry or humans.

Khine, a 53-year-old chicken seller in Yangon's main poultry market, said he heard about bird flu on television.

"It's in other countries and of course we are afraid of this disease," he said, adding that inspectors were making more frequent rounds of the market and spraying disinfectant.

Soe Win Nyein said the message was slowly getting into the countryside, home to 70 percent of Myanmar's 54 million people.

In October, samples from 2 suspected human cases near the Thai border were sent to Bangkok for testing and proved negative for the H5N1 virus, he said. Nevertheless, Yangon says its field officers need more training and equipment.

The Health Ministry has drawn up a draft pandemic preparedness plan which includes hospitals with isolation wards.

The government has stockpiled 1,000 doses of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu and has ordered another 10,000 doses through the World Health Organization (WHO).

"The government is very serious. They have a preparedness plan," said Dr. Adik Wibowo, the WHO representative to Myanmar.

The big problem is resources.

Years of mismanagement have crippled the economy and, despite a relatively large number of foreign-trained doctors, there is a dire lack of infrastructure in a country where military spending far outstrips that on health care.

Myanmar is also spurned by most of the international community due to its human rights record and detention of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

But health experts say sanctions and isolation will be in nobody's interest if a pandemic breaks out.