Brussels, 11/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 11 September, the European Commission announced that it had approved two new vaccines against bird flu at Community level: Nobilis Influenza H5N2 (produced by the company Intervet International BV), which can be administered to chickens by injection, and Poulvac FluFend H5N3 RG (Fort Dodge Animal Health), which can be administered to chickens and ducks. The aim of this decision is to "ensure that effective vaccines are available for use during the EU throughout the autumn/winter, which is the period of greatest risk of a bird flu epidemic", the Commission explains, pointing out that at this moment in time, that are no outbreaks of bird flu in the EU (EUROPE 9259). However, the Commission stresses that the risk of the disease will increase in the coming weeks as the autumn migration period begins. For the time being, three Member States (France, the Netherlands and Germany) have already set poultry vaccination programmes in place. The scientific assessment was carried out by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), which recommended that these facts and be authorised in exceptional circumstances, stating that the benefits of immediate authorisation ahead of the forthcoming period of high risks of exposure to the virus (Autumn and Winter 2006) "outweigh the potential risks".