Bird flu pandemic inevitable, says EU

European Union experts today said a global influenza pandemic that could kill millions remains inevitable, although the immediate threat to human health from bird flu in Europe remained low.

“It’s when and not if,” Robert Madelin, director general of the EU’s Health and Consumer Protection department, said in Brussels.

Madelin cited scientists’ predictions suggesting a pandemic could kill 2-7 million people worldwide, 10 times the death rate from regular flu.

However, he warned forecasting was very difficult and current predictions could be “wildly wrong”.

The head of the EU’s centre for disease control said efforts to contain outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 strain among domestic poultry in Europe had been successful.

“H5N1 is a very low risk to public health in the European Union,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab.