Brussels, 18/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - Bird flu was one of the points on the agenda of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday, just as it has been found that Greece could, in turn, also be affected by the bird flu virus. Serological tests have revealed the presence of antibodies against avian flu in the blood of poultry on the Inouss islands in the Chios region, and further serological and virus isolation tests should allow this first information to be either confirmed or invalidated. The Commission has called on the Greek authorities to send samples to the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) in Weybridge, and it is preparing a decision aimed at banning the movements of live poultry and poultry products from fowl in the infected area, just in case the tests confirm the presence of the virus. As a precaution, the Greek authorities nonetheless decided to reduce slaughter of fowl in the high risk areas as of Monday evening while emergency regional centres have been set up throughout the country and 100 additional veterinarians have been employed to face the risk of a pandemic.
“The reference laboratory in Thessaloniki has not yet made the results of testing known and we hope they will be announced during the day”, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Health, Markos Kyprianou, told ministers in Luxembourg. The Commissioner has informed the Council of the situation and of the measures that it has taken so far. “Recent events”, he said, “suggest that the virus may be spread by migrating birds, and we cannot rule out the fact that the virus could break out in other regions”. In the assumption that a flu pandemic from a mutated H5N1 virus strain is possible, and also transmissible to Man, the Commission calls on Member States to increase their anti-viral stocks which will be “our first line of defence should the virus become transmissible to Man”. Some Member States are already well-prepared, but the “main thing for us is for all States to be ready. To put it clearly, we have not reached the level of preparedness that we should have reached”. Simulation exercises of national plans, foreseen by the end of the month, should be highly instructive as far as the effectiveness and interoperability of such plans go. The Commissioner also stressed the importance of coordination at international level, and that of showing solidarity with the most severely affected regions, above all Asia.
The British EU Council Presidency has acknowledged the fact that the States concerned by the virus had responded effectively and rapidly and that the Commission and the Member States had taken appropriate measures. Discussions on Tuesday in Council should reassure the public, as the Commission and the Member States are working in a coordinated manner to combat any spread of the virus and to improve preparations in the event of the virus being transferred to Man. The Council noted in its conclusions that work would continue on the Commission's proposal for an updated directive on the prevention, control and eradication of avian flu.
"Although public health is generally a matter for national competence, we must not be distracted by issues of competence, but instead fight together, and all possible efforts have been made up to now", Jack Straw insisted. Recently, the United Kingdom bought 14.5 million doses of Tamiflu (an antiviral drug), but there are still disparities between the Member States, and the Presidency is soon to present a complete action plan of anti-flu measures to be taken. "Spain is absolutely prepared to face a pandemic (...), and the Council has pledged its full confidence to Romania, Turkey and Greece", said the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
The Commission showed caution without being alarmist, he said, but we must now step up coordination with third countries, in order to prevent the virus from reaching Africa with migratory birds. It would be an illusion to try to act efficiently without showing solidarity to the poorest countries, who have neither the means nor the resources needed to face a pandemic, said the French Foreign Minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy. The UN conference, to be held in Geneva from 7 to 9 November, will set in place a global strategy and provide for clear financial arrangements, said the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. The General Affairs Council will keep a close eye on developments in the situation, and other configurations of the Council will discuss the details of bird flu from its various angles. The health ministers of the EU will focus on issues relating to the production and distribution of vaccines on 20 and 21 October, and the Commission is to propose to the Member States that it will play a coordinating role. The agriculture ministers will look at funds to be made available to farmers to compensate them for losses entailed in the destruction of poultry in the infected regions. The Greek agriculture Minister Evangelos Basiakos is already planning to ask for EU compensation, according to the Greek press agency ANA.