As the death toll from the H5N1 bird-flu virus rises, governments around the world are examining their individual preparedness and discussing joint tactics.

In a meeting in London Wednesday European Union health ministers proposed creating a 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) "solidarity fund" for use in the event of a pandemic. The proposal will be discussed next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, and must be accepted by all 25 member states.

All EU nations are preparing their own contingency plans and stockpiling anti-virals but accept that more can be done to fight avian influenza if all countries work together.

Later this year the EU will test its abilities at cross-border coordination in a series of exercises designed to simulate pandemic scenarios.

Northern Ireland is to begin catching and testing migratory wild birds in an effort to track the spread of bird flu.

Following the actions of Germany and Austria, Switzerland announced Friday that it would isolate its poultry until Dec. 15, the end of the bird-migration season.

The concern with bird flu is that it might mutate into a form transmissible from human to human and set off a deadly pandemic.

In other developments:

-- Avian-influenza antibodies were detected in three pigeons exported to Australia from Canada. While the antibodies show only that the pigeons had been exposed to the virus, Australian authorities have taken the precaution of destroying the pigeons and banning further imports of live birds from Canada until it is established why the birds were declared disease-free and safe for export by Canadian officials.

-- A number of African countries have banned the import of poultry from Asian nations affected by bird flu. The governments of Congo, Comoros, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are especially concerned, as they are on the migratory routes of birds from Asia and Europe.

-- Following a new outbreak of avian influenza, the Chinese government has culled more than 91,000 birds, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed Friday. To further strengthen their defenses against the spread of the virus, China is increasing its monitoring and immunization of birds.

-- Also in Asia, Hong Kong has raised the possibility of sealing its borders if the lethal H5N1 strain of avian influenza is found to be transmitted between humans.

-- The Nepalese government, which has not yet detected any incidents of bird flu, has banned all poultry imports from Europe as a precautionary measure.

Finally, the 7-year-old Thai boy who was hospitalized in Bangkok following the death of his father from H5N1 has also tested positive for the virus. There is no evidence that he contracted the disease from his father.

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