Bird flu doesn’t increase risk of human pandemic-EU

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The presence of bird flu in
southeastern Europe does not increase the risk of a human
influenza pandemic, the European Union’s health chief said on
Tuesday.

European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said after
briefing EU foreign ministers at an emergency meeting that
Brussels did not yet know what strain of bird flu had been
detected on the Greek island of Chios.

The virulent H5N1 strain of the virus, which has killed
more than 60 people in Asia since 2003, was found last week in
Turkey and Romania.

“The fact we have avian flu in Europe does not affect the
possibility of a human influenza pandemic,” Kyprianou told a
news conference.