The European Union (EU) foreign ministers urged here on Tuesday the international cooperation to tackle the threat of avian flu.

"The EU Council recognized that avian and pandemic influenza are global threats and called for an international coordinated response," said a statement issued by the ministers.

Foreign ministers from all EU member states gathered here on Tuesday to discuss preventive measures against bird flu, after the first appearance of the deadly strain found in Greece, an EU member country, on Monday.

The foreign ministers said the EU could not act effectively on its own in tackling a threat that could move so quickly across countries and continents.

The ministers said they appreciate the efforts of the international organizations like WHO,FAO and the World Bank to prepare a UN meeting in Geneva on Nov. 7-9 to tackle the issue.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who chaired Tuesday's meeting, said discovery of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in Turkey and Romania was no cause for panic.

"So far there is no evidence of any transfer of the virus to human beings. Let us hope that remains the situation," Straw told a news conference after the meeting.

"But members of the public are bound to be concerned and their concerns can be allayed if they are shown that every effort is being made by the European Union and by member states effectively to coordinate action."

Scientists fear if the H5N1 virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since it first appeared there in 1997, passes from birds to humans on a large scale it could mutate into a variety that could spread easily between humans. In a virulent form, they say, this could kill millions worldwide.

EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou, coordinating the 25- nation bloc's response to avian flu, said Brussels did not yet know whether the virus detected in a bird on the Aegean island of Chios was the deadly strain. Tests were proceeding.

Greece took precautionary measures, banning exports of living poultry, meat and other poultry products from the island to EU member states and third countries.

On Thursday and Friday, an informal meeting of EU health ministers will be held in London to finalize detailed preventive measures against bird flu.

Source: Xinhua