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Greece tries to allay bird flu fear, world ramps up defences
The Greek health minister visited a tiny Aegean islet to calm fears a deadly strain of bird flu may have spread deep into Europe as the world ramped up defences against a feared global pandemic.
Test results were awaited to confirm a suspected bird flu case on the islet of Oinousses, and to indicate whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain that was confirmed last week to have infected birds in Romania and Turkey.
The virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia in the past three years and the big fear is that it may combine with seasonal influenza in humans, mutating into a form that could jump from human to human in a global pandemic.
Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis finished off a chicken meal at a harbour restaurant on the Aegean islet. All poultry shipments in the region have been banned and the elderly owners of a suspect poultry flock on the islet are under medical surveillance.
"I want to send the message that the avian flu and an epidemic among humans are two radically different things, and concerning a human epidemic, we don't even know if it will happen, and if so, then when," Kaklamanis said before the chicken meal.
The European Union, which has called for greater international coordination in the face of the "global threat" of bird flu, was preparing for a meeting of health ministers from the 25-nation bloc on Wednesday in Chandler's Cross, northwest of London.
"Avian and pandemic influenza are global threats (which need) an international coordinated response," foreign ministers said in a statement after emergency talks in Luxembourg Tuesday.
The health ministers will discuss contingency plans in each country, a British health ministry spokesman said in London.
"Obviously events have dictated what happens here. Normally health informals are very low-key affairs. And obviously with the avian flu instances in parts of Europe, that's changed," the spokesman said.
Elsewhere in Europe, Macedonia began slaughtering thousands of poultry for fear the virus has spread from its neighbours, and Germany tighted up measures to contain the flu by calling on farmers in at-risk areas to isolate poultry stocks.
Romania has reported an immediate impact on its tourism industry.
In France, producers of foie gras were on high alert over the approach of avian flu, but expressed confidence that any damage to the lucrative Christmas and New Year market would be limited.
The Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said its sales of anti-viral drug Tamiflu -- the first line of defence against bird flu -- more than tripled during the first nine months of the year, rising 264 percent to 859 million Swiss francs.
Roche has said it is prepared to licence out production. Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla said it would approach the company and it has already started laboratory tests on a generic version of an anti-viral drug.
In Turkey, veterinary workers have slaughtered more than 9,000 birds, mostly chickens, around the site of an H5N1 outbreak in the northwest village of Kiziksa. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said a three-week quarantine imposed on October 8 around the village had successfully contained the virus and he ruled out any risk of further propagation.
More measures were being taken worldside.
-- Los Angeles airport, a key US hub for flights from Asia, said they were devising plans to quarantine hundreds of passengers suspected of carrying the deadly bird flu virus.
-- Taiwan held a rare coastguard drill to combat deadly bird flu as fears of a possible outbreak intensified.
-- Syria banned the import of poultry and other birds.
In the search for a vaccine, Hungary has said it expects to announce results within days of a human trial for a prototype vaccine against the H5N1 strain -- a potentially important step towards a vaccine for a future human pandemic if the virus mutates.
The Greek health minister visited a tiny Aegean islet to calm fears a deadly strain of bird flu may have spread deep into Europe as the world ramped up defences against a feared global pandemic.
Test results were awaited to confirm a suspected bird flu case on the islet of Oinousses, and to indicate whether it is the deadly H5N1 strain that was confirmed last week to have infected birds in Romania and Turkey.
The virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia in the past three years and the big fear is that it may combine with seasonal influenza in humans, mutating into a form that could jump from human to human in a global pandemic.
Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis finished off a chicken meal at a harbour restaurant on the Aegean islet. All poultry shipments in the region have been banned and the elderly owners of a suspect poultry flock on the islet are under medical surveillance.
"I want to send the message that the avian flu and an epidemic among humans are two radically different things, and concerning a human epidemic, we don't even know if it will happen, and if so, then when," Kaklamanis said before the chicken meal.
The European Union, which has called for greater international coordination in the face of the "global threat" of bird flu, was preparing for a meeting of health ministers from the 25-nation bloc on Wednesday in Chandler's Cross, northwest of London.
"Avian and pandemic influenza are global threats (which need) an international coordinated response," foreign ministers said in a statement after emergency talks in Luxembourg Tuesday.
The health ministers will discuss contingency plans in each country, a British health ministry spokesman said in London.
"Obviously events have dictated what happens here. Normally health informals are very low-key affairs. And obviously with the avian flu instances in parts of Europe, that's changed," the spokesman said.
Elsewhere in Europe, Macedonia began slaughtering thousands of poultry for fear the virus has spread from its neighbours, and Germany tighted up measures to contain the flu by calling on farmers in at-risk areas to isolate poultry stocks.
Romania has reported an immediate impact on its tourism industry.
In France, producers of foie gras were on high alert over the approach of avian flu, but expressed confidence that any damage to the lucrative Christmas and New Year market would be limited.
The Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said its sales of anti-viral drug Tamiflu -- the first line of defence against bird flu -- more than tripled during the first nine months of the year, rising 264 percent to 859 million Swiss francs.
Roche has said it is prepared to licence out production. Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla said it would approach the company and it has already started laboratory tests on a generic version of an anti-viral drug.
In Turkey, veterinary workers have slaughtered more than 9,000 birds, mostly chickens, around the site of an H5N1 outbreak in the northwest village of Kiziksa. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has said a three-week quarantine imposed on October 8 around the village had successfully contained the virus and he ruled out any risk of further propagation.
More measures were being taken worldside.
-- Los Angeles airport, a key US hub for flights from Asia, said they were devising plans to quarantine hundreds of passengers suspected of carrying the deadly bird flu virus.
-- Taiwan held a rare coastguard drill to combat deadly bird flu as fears of a possible outbreak intensified.
-- Syria banned the import of poultry and other birds.
In the search for a vaccine, Hungary has said it expects to announce results within days of a human trial for a prototype vaccine against the H5N1 strain -- a potentially important step towards a vaccine for a future human pandemic if the virus mutates.
