An Indonesian nurse puts a mask on a mock suspect of bird flu at a hospital during a drill in Jembrana, 25 Apr 2008

Indonesia has launched a massive bird flu drill to prepare for the possibility of a human-to-human outbreak of the deadly virus.

The drill began Friday and involved a simulated outbreak of a pandemic of the disease. The exercise, which ends Sunday, began with a man contracting the disease on the resort island of Bali and will culminate with officials trying to prevent infected travelers from leaving the country and taking the virus overseas.

Most bird flu cases involve contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the virus could eventually mutate and be spread from human contact.

Bird flu has hit Indonesia harder than any other country in the world, and its 107 deaths from the disease account for nearly half of the global total.

The World Health Organization says 240 people around the world have died from bird flu since 2003.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.