Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The World Bank said it is still awaiting $670 million of the money promised by donor countries and organizations for a global effort to fight bird flu.

About $1.2 billion of the $1.87 billion of the funds pledged by donors at a conference in Beijing in January has been committed, the World Bank said in a briefing in Singapore today.

The Bank, which funds projects to alleviate poverty, is working with developing countries to bolster disease surveillance and management of avian flu. Human fatalities from the H5N1 avian influenza strain have almost tripled this year, providing more chances for the virus to mutate into a lethal pandemic form.

The virus is known to have infected 246 people in 10 countries, killing 144, since 2003, the World Health Organization said on Sept. 14. Millions could die if it becomes easily transmissible between people, causing a global outbreak.

Governments are under pressure to stem poultry outbreaks, which create opportunity for human infection and increase the risk that H5N1 will mutate. The virus has infected more than two people a week this year, killing two thirds of them.

A pandemic similar to the one that killed 50 million people in 1918 may take 70 million lives and cause global economic losses of as much as $2 trillion, Milan Brahmbhatt, a World Bank lead adviser in the East Asia region, told a conference in Paris in June.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 16, 2006 22:26 EDT