EU expected to launch bird flu awareness campaign

EU health ministers were today expected to agree to launch a targeted public information campaign to raise awareness across Europe over bird flu and to calm fears of an imminent human pandemic.

A co-ordinated and targeted campaign was needed amid the deadly H5N1 virus’ spread among wild birds across Europe, said Austria’s Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, who was chairing hastily arranged EU talks on the subject in Vienna.

“Priority must be given to the health of the population,” she said before the start of the meeting, which was called to assess what the 25-nation bloc could do to prevent the further spread of the disease among birds and to prevent it from spreading to farm poultry.

“The most important thing is to send a strong message,” said Rauch-Kallat. “We will focus on communication of rules and behavioural standards to be applied.”

She said such rules, targeted on poultry farmers and other risk groups including children and the elderly, would focus on ensuring the clean and safe handling of poultry and poultry meat products.

German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt said it was key not to raise panic among people, but to reassure them that EU governments were taking the needed precautionary measures to prevent the disease from spreading.

“We need to have necessary precautionary measures without making the public panic because there is no reason to panic,” Schmidt said. “But there is reason to prepare thoroughly so that we are prepared if the virus mutates.”

“It is important that we co-ordinate better,” said Irish Health Minister Mary Harney.

Health experts were to brief the EU ministers over the latest news on the virus in Europe, which has already spread to 10 countries.

Rauch-Kallat said that some EU governments were ill-prepared to deal with large scale H5N1 outbreaks.

“EU-wide there are still qualitative and quantitative differences (in preparedness),” Rauch-Kallat said. “There are countries that are very well-prepared, such as Austria, and there are countries that are less well-prepared.”

EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said it was vital the EU “do everything possible to minimise the spread of the disease and its impact.”

French authorities sealed off a turkey farm yesterday that authorities suspect may have been infected by H5N1, which if confirmed would make it the first time the strain has spread to poultry stocks in the EU.

The spread to farms of the disease would mark a new battle ground.

So far, the virus has only hit wild birds across Europe and small outside stocks.

The EU ministers were also to discuss progress in preparing for a possible human flu pandemic. There have been no human cases of the virus reported in the EU.

H5N1 has devastated poultry stocks and killed at least 92 people, mostly in Asia, since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation.

Most human cases have been linked to contact with infected birds. But scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between humans, possibly sparking a human flu pandemic.

Experts have expressed concern over how fast H5N1 has spread from Asia to Europe and Africa over the last year. WHO says, however, it remains difficult for humans to catch H5N1.

Health and veterinary authorities across the EU have recently adopted tougher preventative measures, including increased surveillance of wetlands and farms and ordering farm poultry indoors.

Fears have risen in recent weeks after outbreaks of the virus were confirmed in Nigeria. Governments fear migrating birds wintering in Africa will take the disease with them when they return to their summer nesting grounds in a few weeks time.