Bird flu wracks nerves in Europe

The European Union (EU) is preparing for an all-out war with avian flu as a deadly strain of the virus is approaching its borders.

EU national veterinary experts on Friday endorsed a package of European Commission (EC) recommendations that include strengthening bio-security on farms and introducing early detection systems in high risk areas.

The EU experts, who were in Brussels for a two-day emergency meeting, said measures should be taken to prevent contact between wild birds and domestic species as far as it is practicable to do so.

They also agreed that farmers needed to inform the authorities of tell-tale symptoms such as a drop in egg production or increased bird mortality rates.

The meeting was called after a deadly strain, the H5N1, was detected in Turkey. The strain has also been found in Romania.

The Commission, the executive body of the EU, subsequently banned imports of live birds and poultry products from the two countries.

Romania is already an EU candidate member and the EU has just kicked off membership talks with Turkey.

EU foreign ministers are to hold emergency talks on the bird flu threat next Tuesday when they meet in Luxembourg for Doha round talks of the World Trade Organization. A health ministers' meeting is also scheduled for Thursday.

Good news is that bird flu does not pose an immediate public heath threat in Europe as there is little evidence that the virus passes between human beings. Bad news is that an internal EC document indicates the 25-nation bloc is not properly prepared fora bird flu pandemic.

The Financial Times newspaper on Friday night quoted a top EU official as warning that the human vaccine situation in the bloc is "far from satisfactory."

Some member states have reserved all available antiviral drug supplies for years to come, leaving countries that may be the first hit by the disease without any access to drugs, said a note presented last Wednesday by EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou to his colleagues.

Financial Times claims that it has obtained the internal document.

There are 10 million doses of Tamiflu, the antiviral drug used to treat the bird flu virus on humans, in the EU and European Economic Area -- EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. A further 36 million to be delivered by the end of 2007, enough for about 10 percent of the EU population, against World Health Organization recommendations for 25 percent coverage, according tothe leaked note.

Kyprianou said Thursday that the EU should be ready for a potential bird flu pandemic and that member countries should stockpile antiviral drugs for humans.

He made the call after confirmation that the bird flu virus found in Turkey was the H5N1 strain. The threat was heightened when bird flu was confirmed in Romania's Danube Delta region, which is one of Europe's richest habitats for wild birds.

"It is a highly pathogenic and aggressive virus and we in the European Union have to deal with that," said Kyprianou.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since an outbreak in late 2003.

Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, Kyprianou advised seasonal flu vaccination for populations considered to be at risk and said governments should focus on stockpiling antiviral drugs.

"What is important is that it does become a priority for all member states and that they make an investment for preparing for this event," he said.

Another setback in preparation for a pandemic came from the scientific front. The scientific journal Nature on Friday unveiled research suggesting that Tamiflu may not always be effective. After noting partial resistance to the drug in a Vietnamese patient, experts suggest that complementary treatments may be needed.

Bird flu was first detected on Oct. 1 in Turkey when 1,800 turkeys died in a northwestern farm. So far, about 8,000 birds have been slaughtered and nine people have been put under medical observation. But none of them has been confirmed as patient of bird flu.

A laboratory in Britain, which carried out tests on apparently infected birds in Romania, on Saturday confirmed the presence of the H5N1 strain in the eastern European country.

Source: Xinhua