Deadly bug wings its way into EU

By Emily Smith

Date: 20/10/05

Confirmed cases of avian bird flu in Turkey, Romania and Russia have left the EU fearful that the potentially deadly bug could soon be within its borders.

At the time of going to press, the European Commission was waiting for the results of tests on birds in Greece, where a suspected case was reported on 17 October. The authorities in Macedonia were also investigating a suspicious bird death on the Greek border.

On 19 October the Commission pushed ahead with the first stage of a flu pandemic simulation exercise, to test the security of EU communications in case of a major public health emergency.

The test will be followed by a full-scale two-day simulation exercise at an undisclosed date before the end of the year.

This second test will provide a dry-run for national health authorities and EU agencies faced with a hypothetical flu pandemic, and aims at improving cross-border co-operation.

The Commission is expected to revise its 2004 influenza pandemic preparedness plan before the end of the year.

Precautionary bans are now in place on the movement of poultry from Romania, Turkey and Greece, and a similar ban is likely to be introduced for Russia.

Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou has also agreed to hold talks with pharmaceutical companies on ways to speed up the production of vaccines.

But concerns remain over the risk posed by migratory birds, which are widely believed to have brought the disease to Romania.

Bird protection group Birdlife, however, said there was as yet no proof the disease was spread in this way. Spokeswoman Clairie Papazoglou said there were several other possible sources, such as wild bird trade, or even the movement of soil and mud.

Birdlife said killing wild birds was only likely to encourage the spread of the disease by disturbing species.

The group also says domestic birds and poultry should be kept apart from wild birds as a precautionary measure.

Even if migratory birds were spreading avian flu, Papazoglou explained that so long as the necessary trade bans were in place the virus was unlikely to spread across the whole of Europe.

A bird migrating for example from Asia to Africa, via Turkey and Greece, would return along roughly the same route and would only detour via Central or Western Europe if it got lost.

Papazoglou also highlighted a chance the virus might contain itself to a few regions: "If birds are affected in Africa they will probably be too ill to come back."

Article reports that confirmed cases of avian bird flu in Turkey, Romania and Russia left the EU fearful that the potentially deadly bug could soon be within its borders, 20 October 2005.