Brussels, 11/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - Turkey is stepping up efforts to stem the bird flu epidemic in the country, the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) approved a measure on 11 January to extend from February until the end of the year EU Member States' surveillance of wild birds and poultry for bird flu. The decision, still to be formally approved by the European Commission, requires Member States to submit national surveillance programmes to the Commission for approval, including requirements for laboratory testing, and procedures for the sampling and testing of birds, by 7 February 2006. The European Commission will provide up to EUR 2 mil in co-funding for bird flu laboratory tests carried out on poultry and wild birds (50% of costs borne by Member States). Member States must respect the deadline for submitting their monitoring programmes to be eligible for funding. The Commission has already provided EUR 884,000 towards the cost of surveillance programmes from July 2005 to January 2006 (see EUROPE 9028), during which period the Member States carried out tests on around 25,000 wild birds and more than 215,000 head of poultry. All samples to date have tested negative for the deadly Asian strain of bird flu, H5N1 (only transmitted to human beings through contact with infected birds).
German farm minister Horst Seehofer said on 11 January that Germany would most likely introduce new measures to confine poultry indoors in Germany to avoid the spread of bird flu. Seehofer also wanted to see airlines introducing tighter controls and better information for travellers about the dangers of spreading bird flu. French farm minister Dominique Bussereau announced on 11 January that all relevant French ministers would soon be meeting to discuss measures to avoid a bird flu epidemic. In October 2005, the French authorities decided that poultry in various regions ('departements') would have to be kept indoors, and introduced a ban on feeding animals in the open air.
Turkey is stepping up its efforts to stem the bird flu epidemic, which has killed two human beings. The virus has been detected in 30 of the 81 provinces of Turkey, including the Aegean Coast and Istanbul, the country's business capital. The World Health Organisation has issued reassuring statements stressing that no cases have yet been found of bird flu being transmitted from one human being to another.