BRUSSELS (AP):
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) was readying precautionary measures yesterday, including the stockpiling of more anti-viral drugs, amid confirmation that the bird flu virus found in Turkish poultry was the H5N1 strain that scientists worry might mutate and cause a pandemic in humans.
An EU laboratory confirmed the virus found in Turkish poultry was the strain linked to the deaths of 60 people in Asia, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said.
"There is a direct relationship with viruses found in Russia, Mongolia and China," Kyprianou said.
TEST RESULTS EXPECTED TODAY
EU experts, meanwhile, were awaiting results of other tests from samples taken from dead birds in Romania, to see if they too were of the same virulent H5N1 strain. Officials said final test results on those samples were not expected until late today.
Tests late Wednesday in Romania came back positive for bird flu, and scientists have narrowed the strain to an H5 type virus.
PREVENTATIVE MEASURES
The confirmation set off a slew of emergency talks of EU veterinary experts here, tasked with reviewing preventative measures to ensure the strain does not enter the 25-nation bloc. The EU experts adjourned talks yesterday but were to continue talks today and to decide on measures then, officials said.
"This is the first time it has come so close to Europe," said Debby Reynolds, Britain's chief veterinary officer for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. The agency oversees the lab that tested the samples.
The bird virus would have to mutate into a form that passes easily between people for a pandemic to occur, and there is no evidence that it has done so.
The European Commission was proposing to set aside euro 1 billion (US$1.2 billion) to help make and distribute anti-virals and vaccines "in case of a pandemic," Kyprianou said.
He advised EU countries to administer the standard flu vaccine to vulnerable populations: people over age 65, young children and those with weakened immune systems or chronic respiratory conditions and also those living near the outbreak sites.
The H5N1 bird flu strain does not easily infect humans, but 117 people in Asia, mostly poultry farmers, have caught it over the past two years and 60 of them have died.
The fact that H5N1 has shown up so far west is worrying because the more the virus spreads among birds, the more opportunities it has to mutate.
The virus does not have to be inside a human to genetically mutate into a form that is dangerous to people. Some experts believe it may only take one genetic mutation to change the virus from a bird one to a human one.
The EU banned the import of live birds, poultry meat and feathers from Romania for at least six months. A similar ban was imposed earlier this week on Turkey. Customs and health checks were stepped up in the nearby Balkans.
Turkey has culled 8,600 birds and disinfected five hectares (12 acres) of land, officials said. Romania also has been culling bird populations in the east, near the Black Sea.
