EU urges global fight against bird flu

LUXEMBOURG – EU foreign ministers urged global cooperation to tackle the threat of avian flu, as Greece investigated what could prove the first appearance of the deadly strain in an EU member country.

Swiss drugmaker Roche, under pressure to raise output of antiviral flu drug Tamiflu, said it might let rival firms and governments produce it under licence for emergency pandemic use. A Dutch company said it was working on a vaccine.British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, chairing an emergency meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg, said the 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.Straw said people were bound to be concerned and the European Union needed to show it was doing all it could.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, co-ordinating 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.The foreign ministers said in a statement the EU could not act effectively on its own in tackling a threat that could move so quickly across countries and continents.”The Council (of ministers) recognised that avian and pandemic influenza are global threats and called for an international co-ordinated response,” the statement said.Roche Holding AG said it would be willing to discuss giving a production licence for Tamiflu to rival firms including Indian generic drug maker Cipla.Executive David Reddy said however the firm had not yet been approached by Cipla, which has said it could make a copy-cat version to help governments build stocks.Dutch company Akzo Bobel NV said it was working on a human vaccine and would begin clinical trials next year.But scientists say development is difficult before the exact architecture of a mutated virus is known.Kyprianou said after briefing EU foreign ministers more than half of EU states had placed orders for anti-viral flu drugs.Spain said it was planning to treat between 15 and 25 per cent of the population, mostly old people and the very young.The Health Ministry said it had previously bought Tamiflu but was also considering GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza medicine.The World Health Organisation has expressed fears that alarm in Europe could distract attention from what is the real seat of the danger in southeast Asia.More than 60 people have died of the disease in Asia where, by contrast to Europe, people often live close to poultry and are exposed to a greater threat.Macedonia said one dead chicken found among hundreds in a village north of the Greek border had raised suspicions and samples were being sent to Britain for tests.The former Yugoslav republic is also awaiting the results of local tests on chickens that died near Kumanovo, on the country’s northern border with Serbia.Turkish authorities were examining the remains of some 500 quails found in the west of the country and Romania said it had testing for possible new cases in the Danube delta, one of them close to the border with Ukraine, whose agriculture minister said farmers in the area were being told to keep birds indoors.- Nampa-ReutersA Dutch company said it was working on a vaccine.British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, chairing an emergency meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg, said the 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.Straw said people were bound to be concerned and the European Union needed to show it was doing all it could.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, co-ordinating 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.The foreign ministers said in a statement the EU could not act effectively on its own in tackling a threat that could move so quickly across countries and continents.”The Council (of ministers) recognised that avian and pandemic influenza are global threats and called for an international co-ordinated response,” the statement said.Roche Holding AG said it would be willing to discuss giving a production licence for Tamiflu to rival firms including Indian generic drug maker Cipla.Executive David Reddy said however the firm had not yet been approached by Cipla, which has said it could make a copy-cat version to help governments build stocks.Dutch company Akzo Bobel NV said it was working on a human vaccine and would begin clinical trials next year.But scientists say development is difficult before the exact architecture of a mutated virus is known.Kyprianou said after briefing EU foreign ministers more than half of EU states had placed orders for anti-viral flu drugs.Spain said it was planning to treat between 15 and 25 per cent of the population, mostly old people and the very young.The Health Ministry said it had previously bought Tamiflu but was also considering GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza medicine.The World Health Organisation has expressed fears that alarm in Europe could distract attention from what is the real seat of the danger in southeast Asia.More than 60 people have died of the disease in Asia where, by contrast to Europe, people often live close to poultry and are exposed to a greater threat.Macedonia said one dead chicken found among hundreds in a village north of the Greek border had raised suspicions and samples were being sent to Britain for tests.The former Yugoslav republic is also awaiting the results of local tests on chickens that died near Kumanovo, on the country’s northern border with Serbia.Turkish authorities were examining the remains of some 500 quails found in the west of the country and Romania said it had testing for possible new cases in the Danube delta, one of them close to the border with Ukraine, whose agriculture minister said farmers in the area were being told to keep birds indoors.- Nampa-Reuters

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.