Local health authorities are monitoring the discovery of a new mutant strain of the deadly bird flu virus in Asia, but insist there is no cause for concern at this stage.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has carried out a risk assessment on this new development and has come to the conclusion that the risk to human health remains very low, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

“Infections with H5N1 of poultry, and occasionally humans, have continued over the past years. We have been monitoring this all along. The development of a mutant variant of a virus is not uncommon.”

Malta remained clear of the bird flu (more lethal than swine flu) virus since it surfaced on the international health radar in 2003. Swine flu reached pandemic proportions in 2009 and made it to the island’s shores, claiming five lives.

Last week the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation warned about the new bird flu mutant, found in China and Vietnam, saying there could be a “major resurgence” of the disease. The organisation was concerned as the new strain seemed to be resistant to existing vaccines.

Virus circulation in Vietnam threatens Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia, where eight people have died after becoming infected this year, the organisation warned.

There have been over 565 cases of human infection with H5N1 since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them, according to the WHO. Most fatalities took place in South East Asia, and have been associated with close contact with diseased birds.