EU says holding public health emergency exercise

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union states tested
communications procedures in case of a public health emergency
on Wednesday amid growing fears of a flu pandemic, the European
Commission said.

“It is an exercise that involves all member states … It
is designed to test the security of communications of our
European networks in case of a major public health emergency,”
the EU executive’s health spokesman Philip Tod told a briefing.

The test was a precursor to a fuller simulation of the
25-nation bloc’s preparedness to handle a flu pandemic to be
conducted by the end of the year, he said.

Romania and Turkey are fighting an outbreak of the deadly
strain of bird flu. Neighboring Greece is awaiting the results
of tests to see if it also has the highly virulent H5N1 virus
which has killed over 60 people in Asia since 2003.

Separately, the Commission has said risks of a human
influenza pandemic are growing and advised member states to
stockpile anti-viral drugs. Sixteen EU states have placed
orders for anti-viral drugs.

Tod said EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou would hold
talks with the pharmaceutical industry about speeding up
production of vaccines after he discusses the situation with EU
health ministers in Britain on Thursday and Friday.

EU foreign ministers declared bird flu a “global threat” on
Tuesday and urged greater international cooperation to combat
the problem, which started in Asia.