Editorial

EU hopes Romania has escaped bird flu so far

Wednesday October 12, 01:49 PM

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Bird flu does not so far appear to have hit Romania, according to test results released on Wednesday by the European Commission, raising hopes that the highly contagious disease has not yet reached Europe.

But the EU said it planned to extend until next April its ban on imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey, where an outbreak of avian influenza was discovered at the

weekend at a farm near the Aegean and Marmara seas.
Test results due on Friday were expected to show whether Turkey has a low-risk strain or the H5N1 virus, which has killed or forced the slaughter of millions of birds across Asia and killed more than 60 people.

"All the virological tests carried out to date in Romania have failed to identify the presence of the avian influenza virus. Every day that passes ... reassures us that avian influenza is not in fact present in Romania," EU Commission spokesman Philip Tod told reporters.

"We hope in light of that report ... to conclude ... that avian influenza is not present in Romania," he added.

EU veterinary experts were due to meet later on Wednesday to review the latest tests.

Turkey sought to dispel fears over its outbreak.

"The disease is under control. It is has not been seen in any other place. We are monitoring it very seriously and our aim is to combat the outbreak with the least possible damage," farm minister Mehdi Eker told the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

Underlining that message, the head of the health ministry's epidemics office, Ramazan Gozukucuk, was quoted by the state Anatolian news agency as saying: "The incident remains purely local. There's no need for panic or worry."

Experts fear that the virus, known to pass to humans from birds, could mutate and start to spread easily from person to person, potentially killing millions around the world.

THAILAND OFFERS HELP

Amid fears that the virus might be creeping closer to the European Union's borders, the EU executive announced that Thailand, whose poultry sector has been ravaged by bird flu, had offered its assistance to the EU.

Bird flu began sweeping through Thai poultry flocks in late 2003, all but wiping out markets for what was then the world's fourth largest poultry exporter.

With pharmaceutical companies under pressure to increase output of drugs to fight any human pandemic, Switzerland's Roche Holding AG said it was enlisting the help of other specialised firms in producing its Tamiflu antiviral treatment.

Tamiflu is the most effective antiviral drug available for avian flu. There are fears of a shortage if the virus spreads widely among humans.

Roche said that while it was outsourcing some stages of its production it would not surrender the patents that protect the treatment and it had no plans to farm out the entire production process to other companies, not least because of its complexity.

"We are already collaborating with several specialist companies on the production process for Tamiflu," a spokesman for Roche said. "This has nothing to do with the patent."

Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs are viewed as the best way to fight pandemic flu -- and Roche has come under pressure to allow production of cheap generic versions of the medicine.

Roche plans to double Tamiflu production by the end of this year and to double it again by mid-2006, as governments place bulk orders for the drug.

asa ca mancati pui de la rotisserii, cu mamaliga si mujdei de usturoi - care-l tolereaza !

-------------------
La 2005-10-12 17:45:40, Mos Grigore a scris:

> EU hopes Romania has escaped bird flu so far
> 
>  Wednesday October 12, 01:49 PM
> 
> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Bird flu does not so far appear to have hit
> Romania, according to test results released on Wednesday by the
> European Commission, raising hopes that the highly contagious disease
> has not yet reached Europe.
> 
> But the EU said it planned to extend until next April its ban on
> imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey, where an outbreak of
> avian influenza was discovered at the
> 
> weekend at a farm near the Aegean and Marmara seas.
> Test results due on Friday were expected to show whether Turkey has a
> low-risk strain or the H5N1 virus, which has killed or forced the
> slaughter of millions of birds across Asia and killed more than 60
> people.
> 
> "All the virological tests carried out to date in Romania have
> failed to identify the presence of the avian influenza virus. Every
> day that passes ... reassures us that avian influenza is not in fact
> present in Romania," EU Commission spokesman Philip Tod told
> reporters.
> 
> "We hope in light of that report ... to conclude ... that avian
> influenza is not present in Romania," he added.
> 
> EU veterinary experts were due to meet later on Wednesday to review
> the latest tests.
> 
> Turkey sought to dispel fears over its outbreak.
> 
> "The disease is under control. It is has not been seen in any
> other place. We are monitoring it very seriously and our aim is to
> combat the outbreak with the least possible damage," farm
> minister Mehdi Eker told the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
> 
> Underlining that message, the head of the health ministry's epidemics
> office, Ramazan Gozukucuk, was quoted by the state Anatolian news
> agency as saying: "The incident remains purely local. There's no
> need for panic or worry."
> 
> Experts fear that the virus, known to pass to humans from birds, could
> mutate and start to spread easily from person to person, potentially
> killing millions around the world.
> 
> THAILAND OFFERS HELP
> 
> Amid fears that the virus might be creeping closer to the European
> Union's borders, the EU executive announced that Thailand, whose
> poultry sector has been ravaged by bird flu, had offered its
> assistance to the EU.
> 
> Bird flu began sweeping through Thai poultry flocks in late 2003, all
> but wiping out markets for what was then the world's fourth largest
> poultry exporter.
> 
> With pharmaceutical companies under pressure to increase output of
> drugs to fight any human pandemic, Switzerland's Roche Holding AG
> said it was enlisting the help of other specialised firms in
> producing its Tamiflu antiviral treatment.
> 
> Tamiflu is the most effective antiviral drug available for avian flu.
> There are fears of a shortage if the virus spreads widely among
> humans.
> 
> Roche said that while it was outsourcing some stages of its production
> it would not surrender the patents that protect the treatment and it
> had no plans to farm out the entire production process to other
> companies, not least because of its complexity.
> 
> "We are already collaborating with several specialist companies
> on the production process for Tamiflu," a spokesman for Roche
> said. "This has nothing to do with the patent."
> 
> Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs are viewed as the best way to fight
> pandemic flu -- and Roche has come under pressure to allow production
> of cheap generic versions of the medicine.
> 
> Roche plans to double Tamiflu production by the end of this year and
> to double it again by mid-2006, as governments place bulk orders for
> the drug.
> 
>