L.A. firms hatching disaster plans for bird flu.

So far the avian flu strain that is raising fears of a deadly pandemic has been confined to Asia and the Middle East--but it's now worrying executives in Los Angeles enough that many firms are putting disaster plans in place.

The flu strain also has prompted Marsh Risk Consulting, a unit of the world's largest insurance brokerage, to create a 50-person U.S. team to assist companies in their disaster planning.

While there's plenty of debate about whether the H5N1 virus strain will become transmittable from human to human, or even spread to the United States, the companies are playing it sale--and with good reason.

As of last week, the strain had infected 192 people in Asia and the Middle East and 109 of them have died, according to the World Health Organization.

"We see this as another peril that might impact American businesses in the same way as a hurricane or earthquake," said Tony Adame, a vice president at Marsh Risk Consulting, a unit of the Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.

Adame said it is "within the realm of possibility" that a company with 60 employees might have three that become infected, only to find that the remaining staff is too scared to go to work. "Many companies have to prepare themselves for the possibility that most of their employees will have to telecommute, perhaps for months," he said.

Ed Sullivan, director of business continuity services at Gemstar-TV Guide, said his company is currently discussing what to do in the event that the virus comes to Los Angeles.

"Avian flu right now is being discussed at the senior management level," said Sullivan. "The issue is really that we're looking at an environment where people could potentially be quarantined and may not be able to get to work."

No formal plans have been put in place yet, he said.

"We're trying to be proactive in terms of getting ready for this," he said.

Gregg Jacobsen, a business continuity consultant who is treasurer of the Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Contingency Planners, said a pandemic raises many issues for businesses, including whether employees who may be exposed to the virus at work qualify to receive medical benefits, workers' compensation and paid sick leave.

"Pandemic flu planning is a different type of disaster because the buildings may be fine, the systems may be operating, but 30 percent of your staff may not be able to come to work for a while," he said. "There's a tremendous amount of potential trauma that comes with that because if H5N1 mutates, you're to be looking at a significant loss of life."

That potential mutation--in which humans could be infected by fellow humans as opposed to through direct contact with infected birds--could cause a pandemic.

Hospitals are required to have enough food, medicine and back-up generators to be self-reliant for at least 72 hours. Some health care firms are putting plans in place to ensure that their suppliers or vendors are able to continue providing products during an outbreak.

Most large Fortune 1,000 firms have put contingency plans in place though there is no law requiring them to do so.

Local companies with business recovery plans include Amgen Corp., Bank of America, Boeing Corp., Computer Sciences Corp., Macy's West, Northrop Grumman Corp., Nuveen Investments, Payden & Rygel and Toyota Motor Sales USA.

Typically, recovery plans are designed to address a significant business disruption with specific plans to safeguard employees, recover and resume operations, protect financial records and enable communications with clients, suppliers and regulators.

Fred Klapetzky, a senior vice president at Marsh who is also the Western region practice leader for business continuity management, said many companies have plans to respond to an emergency and have their operations up-and-running in 24 hours. But he thinks the avian flu virus could be wildly different.

Several local firms that specialize in disaster response are seeing an increased demand for their services, including Disaster Survival Planning Network in Camarillo, and NC4 in El Segundo, which acquired a software company last year, E Team Inc., that provided some of the software used in New York City's response to 9/11.