Bird flu is in Greece! :?

[garbitsch]

LONDON, England -- European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday declared the spread of bird flu from Asia into Europe a "global threat" requiring international action.

The ministers were due to issue a statement at a special meeting, saying bird flu posed a serious, global health threat if it shifted from birds to humans and one that required "a coordinated international reaction."

The ministers met as 12 new cases of bird flu were discovered in Romania and a day after tests in Greece indicated the virus has reached the EU for the first time.

The EU was preparing to ban sales of live birds and poultry from the Aegean Sea region of Chios pending tests on samples taken from turkeys feared infected with the deadly Asian H5N1 strain.

Poultry from Turkey and Romania have already been banned by the EU as bird flu found there was confirmed as H5N1. Tests were also being carried out on birds in Bulgaria and Croatia.

EU officials moved to reassure the public ahead of the emergency talks.

"We have already taken all steps necessary. Once it has touched European soil, then we have raised all the measures we should take," European Health Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou told reporters.

"I don't think we have to enter into panic," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, chairing the meeting, said ministers would also seek "to ensure that there are the most adequate contingency plans across Europe to deal with any transfer of the avian flu virus to human beings."

Romania detected 12 new cases of suspected bird flu in the Danube delta Tuesday, one of them close to the border with Ukraine, Agriculture Minister Gheorghe Flutur said. (Full story)

"A swan tested positive with antibodies close to the border with Ukraine, near the village of C.A. Rosetti," Flutur told reporters. "A few swans in Maliuc and a wild duck in Ceamurlia de Jos also tested seropositive."

The Greek case on the island of Inousses confirmed Monday was the first recorded bird flu infection in the EU. (Full story)

Despite the fact that 117 people in Asia have been infected by the strain and 60 have died, H5N1 in its current form does not easily infect humans.

However, its spread westward by migrating wild birds has intensified fears in Europe that the virus could mutate into one that can be easily transmitted among humans -- possibly putting millions of lives at risk.

The EU stepped up biosecurity measures and installed early detection systems along the migratory paths of birds to prevent contamination of domestic flocks. But there are concerns that European nations lack stockpiles of vaccines and anti-virals to cope with a major outbreak.

The EU's executive Commission last week said not all 25 EU states had enough stocks of anti-viral drugs in place to tackle an influenza pandemic if it hit the continent.

Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks said he doubted any country would ever be fully ready to tackle such an outbreak. "I don't think there is any country which is fully prepared for such viruses," he told reporters ahead of the Luxembourg meeting.

The World Health Organization recommends governments keep stocks of anti-viral drugs and regular human flu vaccines to inoculate at least 25 percent of their populations.

European officials say the 25 nations in the EU, as well as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, have only 10 million doses now for an area of almost 500 million people, and will have only 46 million doses by the end of 2007.

Stockpiling vaccines is difficult as flu viruses can mutate quickly.

On Thursday, EU health ministers open a two-day meeting at a conference center in Hertfordshire, England, to assess the state of national bird flu preparedness.

There is no human vaccine for the current strain of bird flu but scientists believe the Tamiflu drug may help humans fight bird flu contraction.

The European Commission said Monday Greek veterinary authorities had informed it of a suspected case of avian influenza on the island of Inousses, based on a serological test that proved positive for the presence of avian influenza H5 antibodies.

The samples were in the process of being sent for confirmation and virus isolation tests at the Greek national reference laboratory in Thessaloniki, and the European Commission said it had requested that samples also be sent immediately to the Community Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, England.

The EU said following consultations between the commission and the Greek Ministry of Agriculture, Greek authorities had agreed to restrict the dispatch of live poultry and poultry products as a precautionary measure.

Monday the mayor of the island of Chios said a farmer on nearby Inousses who raises turkeys and chickens noted on Thursday that some of his birds had died.

Two state veterinarians were sent in to look at nine turkeys. They also took blood samples from some chickens.

The mayor said a state lab in Athens confirmed Monday afternoon that one of the nine samples proved positive for an H5-type virus.

The Romanian government confirmed Saturday that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been confirmed in Romania, the first instance of the lethal strain known to have reached Europe.

A statement posted on the government Web site said the strain had been confirmed. Its existence in Romania bolsters the theory that the virus is spread by migratory birds.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/10/18/birdflu.talks/index.html

[garbitsch]

Is it true that UK does not have flu vaccinations and does not intend to import some?

[brother]

[garbitsch]

If the virus comes to UK, they estimate 20.000 causalties. What's wrong with UK GOVERNMENT? I will be safer in North Cyprus!

[brother]

[andytandreou]

This nonsence is just like SARS. We are locked in a vicious cycle of fear-mongering and over-reaction by consumers.
Probably less than 100 people will perish from this illness but nobody even batted an eyelid when 50,000 people died in an earthquake last week!

Pathetic!!!

[Dhavlos]

I kno that this probably is more serious, but they said SARS was the next 'pandemic' .... so is bird flu the same?

I know the risk is greater, but only IF it successfully is able to mutate....there is not much we can really do but hope it doesnt kill as many people

The scientists camnt make a drug to cure it cos they dont know what the virus will look like for humans

[brother]

[cannedmoose]

I think a lot of this is scare mongering... yes, they estimate 50,000 deaths from this new strain of flu, but to be honest they have absolutely no clue as to any real numbers...

At the moment, this strain has not made the jump for human-human transmission. People citing the example of the 1918 pandemic are ignoring the fact that today we can create antiviral drugs to contain such outbreaks. Yes, the UK government has only enough vaccine to cover a 1/4 of the population, but if this is targetted at any outbreaks, it is more than enough.

It could be a calamity yes, but the media are stoking the fires with this one and getting everyone hyped up about it. I was at uni the other day in a lecture and someone had a bad cold, it was noticeable how everyone had moved as far away from them as they could... and this is in the north, I dread to think what it's like in London right now.

I think we should all just calm down and realise that at the moment, this is a bird disease, it is not yet transmitted between people and should it make that evolutionary leap, the search for an antivirus will be carried out swiftly.

12,000 people die every year in the UK from flu, mostly the very elderly, young or those with other complications. We should remember that and put this into some sort of context.

[Dhavlos]

Thank you moose, like i have said....chances are there will not be muchto come of this

SARS didnt kill that many, and that was gonna be the next pandemic!!

[cannedmoose]

Weird how we all had the same thought at the same time...

Maybe we should rename the forum the 'Cyprus Psychic Circle'

[city]

Correct Moose. The actual danger is when the virus becomes human-human contagious. At the moment one can only get it through very close contact to infected birds which we do not usually have here in central europe unless you work at a chicken-farm.
There is no danger in even eating chicken meat as the virus dies at 70 degrees C. So everything cooked or fried as normal is just fine.

Imo the media exaggerating a lot...

[thebrix]

[magikthrill]

people were selling the vaccine on eBay until the price hit somthing like 105 pounds and then eBay became aware of the situation and had the product withdrawn.

[Birkibrisli]