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EU says holding public health emergency exercise

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 06:45 CDT

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.

Source: REUTERS

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