Britain announced Wednesday plans to purchase enough vaccine to cover every person in the country in the event of a flu pandemic.

The Department of Health said the country needed 120 million doses, two for everyone, after a possible outbreak and the government was inviting manufacturers to tender for a contract to supply.

But a vaccine cannot be developed until the exact strain of the flu virus causing a pandemic is known. It takes four to six months from the time a pandemic flu strain emerges to develop and manufacture a vaccine.

"We cannot prevent a flu pandemic, but we can reduce its impact, " said Liam Donaldson, Britain's chief medical officer.

"One of the most effective counter-measures we can take against a flu pandemic is to make sure we develop and manufacture a vaccine as quickly as possible," said Donalson.

Earlier, an outbreak of flu in birds has been reported in poultry in the Russian province of Tula, to the south of Moscow.

Romania has also confirmed birds infected in a second outbreak in the country did have the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

Donaldson published updated guidance on Wednesday on how the UK would prepare for a possible pandemic.

Source: Xinhua