Brussels, 13/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - At this point, the EU does not envisage any new measures on avian flu which is continuing to spread in Turkey, where a third human death has been confirmed (see EUROPE 9106). But to ensure the continuity of its efforts, the Standing Committee on the food chain and animal health is expected, next week, to come out in favour of extending from the end of January until the end of May the ban on the import into the EU of live birds (except poultry) from third countries, as well as the decision to impose Community health measures before authorising the movement of any pet birds (such as parrots) from third countries. (These measures were introduced on 27 October 2005.)
In their conclusions circulated after the meeting of 12 January in Luxemburg, Member States' bird flu coordinators and early warning representatives declared it appropriate to reinforce surveillance and inspection and to develop information exchange on avian flu with countries neighbouring Turkey. The experts are therefore giving warning of the risks of a regional epidemic spreading out from Turkey. An FAO official also warned of the endemic risk in Turkey, where 15 regions, according to the authorities (27 according to the media) have been hit by the epizootic. After the discovery on Wednesday of suspected outbreaks in Romania, the Bulgarian Minister Hihat Kabil expressed his concern over possible spread of the virus from Turkey or Romania. On Thursday, Iran decided to cull 50,000 chickens in its border region with Turkey.
In Luxemburg, Community experts recognised that it would be appropriate to step up awareness-raising campaigns for poultry breeders whose birds live close to human habitations. “The overall assessment to date does not indicate any change in the risk to humans”, states the conclusions. The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus remains the one in question, and the deaths of the three children in Turkey (with a total of 18 contaminated) were the result of infection contracted after contact with birds. While human transmission is excluded for the moment, the virus present in Turkey presents the same mutation as those that were isolated in Hong Kong in 2003 and Vietnam in 2005. This mutation permits the virus better to attach itself to a human cell receptor without altering its make-up. According to analyses from the Mill Hill European reference laboratory in the UK, the Turkish virus remains susceptible to anti-viral drugs. But as Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told Press last Friday, this development once again underlines the need to increase epidemiological monitoring and develop research on all the viral mutations and on the behaviour of the virus in both animals and humans. The Commissioner said that a team of European experts is to be sent to Turkey and he also spoke of the possibility that 4 million euro in aid will be made available to Turkey, as an early payment of funding planned for 2007. Commissioner Rehn is studying the file.