New outbreaks fuel global bird flu jitters

LONDON – Russia, China and Romania have confirmed new outbreaks of potentially lethal bird flu, fuelling fears of a global influenza pandemic as Europe scrambles to contain the virus on its south-eastern flank.

Health ministers from the 25-nation European Union gathered in London yesterday for a two-day meeting dominated by the fear of bird flu sweeping through the continent. The informal meeting, part of Britain’s turn at the rotating EU presidency, was originally supposed to look at increasing cooperation between EU member states on a wide variety of health issues.But avian flu forced itself to the top of the agenda following the discovery of the H5N1 flu strain in poultry first in Turkey, then in Romania and possibly in EU member state Greece.Meanwhile efforts to boost production of anti-flu vaccines multiplied, after Roche announced it would allow others to produce oseltamivir, the anti-flu drug the Swiss giant sells as the patented Tamiflu.”Experts tell us that a human influenza pandemic is a real possibility, which could happen at any time in the coming years,” said European Union (EU) health commissioner Markos Kyprianou.”We need to plan for this.”In Moscow, Russia’s agriculture ministry said the H5N1 virus – already detected in Siberia in the summer – had been discovered in the province of Tula, west of the Ural mountains, apparently borne by wild ducks.The announcement marks the first time the virus has arrived west of the Urals in Russia.Russia has culled hundreds of thousands of fowl and imposed numerous quarantines in a bid to wipe out the virus.In response the EU announced plans to extend a ban on Russian bird imports from other regions of the vast country.”The exact scope of the decision will be finalised tomorrow (Thursday),” it said in a statement later on Wednesday.And in Germany authorities announced nationwide poultry quarantine measures would come into force from Saturday in response to the Russian outbreak.Europe’s jitters about bird flu were triggered by the confirmation last week that Turkey and Romania have cases of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia.The big fear among experts is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal – possibly killing millions worldwide as the influenza pandemic of 1918 did.In Beijing meanwhile authorities announced China’s first reported outbreak of bird flu in more than two months, saying the disease had killed 2 600 birds, mostly chickens, on a farm in its northern Inner Mongolia region.The national bird flu laboratory confirmed that an epidemic on a farm near the Inner Mongolian capital of Hohhot was the H5N1 strain, the Xinhua news agency reported.The brief Xinhua report said the ministry of agriculture had immediately dispatched teams to ensure necessary quarantine and disinfection measures were undertaken.- Nampa-AFPThe informal meeting, part of Britain’s turn at the rotating EU presidency, was originally supposed to look at increasing cooperation between EU member states on a wide variety of health issues.But avian flu forced itself to the top of the agenda following the discovery of the H5N1 flu strain in poultry first in Turkey, then in Romania and possibly in EU member state Greece.Meanwhile efforts to boost production of anti-flu vaccines multiplied, after Roche announced it would allow others to produce oseltamivir, the anti-flu drug the Swiss giant sells as the patented Tamiflu.”Experts tell us that a human influenza pandemic is a real possibility, which could happen at any time in the coming years,” said European Union (EU) health commissioner Markos Kyprianou.”We need to plan for this.”In Moscow, Russia’s agriculture ministry said the H5N1 virus – already detected in Siberia in the summer – had been discovered in the province of Tula, west of the Ural mountains, apparently borne by wild ducks.The announcement marks the first time the virus has arrived west of the Urals in Russia.Russia has culled hundreds of thousands of fowl and imposed numerous quarantines in a bid to wipe out the virus.In response the EU announced plans to extend a ban on Russian bird imports from other regions of the vast country.”The exact scope of the decision will be finalised tomorrow (Thursday),” it said in a statement later on Wednesday.And in Germany authorities announced nationwide poultry quarantine measures would come into force from Saturday in response to the Russian outbreak.Europe’s jitters about bird flu were triggered by the confirmation last week that Turkey and Romania have cases of the H5N1 strain of the virus, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia.The big fear among experts is that H5N1 may mutate, acquiring genes from the human influenza virus that would make it highly infectious as well as lethal – possibly killing millions worldwide as the influenza pandemic of 1918 did.In Beijing meanwhile authorities announced China’s first reported outbreak of bird flu in more than two months, saying the disease had killed 2 600 birds, mostly chickens, on a farm in its northern Inner Mongolia region.The national bird flu laboratory confirmed that an epidemic on a farm near the Inner Mongolian capital of Hohhot was the H5N1 strain, the Xinhua news agency reported.The brief Xinhua report said the ministry of agriculture had immediately dispatched teams to ensure necessary quarantine and disinfection measures were undertaken.- Nampa-AFP