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Europe fears global bird flu pandemic

The EU health and safety commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, expressed concerns that most European countries lacked sufficient stockpiles of anti-viral drugs after a meeting of European Foreign Ministers declared Bird Flu "a global threat". "We have not yet reached the level of preparedness that we should have," Kyprianou told reporters at an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. "This is a global threat and there is need for international action."

British foreign minister Jack Straw, meanwhile, said after warning Europe and the world must prepare for the worst, "Above all that, there are the most adequate contingency plans across Europe to deal with any transfer of the avian virus to human beings. So far within wider Europe that has not happened but we have to be prepared."

The potential continentwide outbreak of avian flu has fanned fears that the virus could mutate into a form easily transmitted to humans. If that were to happen, health experts fear a global pandemic could result in millions of deaths. Reports that consumers across Europe were stocking up on Tamiflu prompted the World Health Organization to warn against scare-mongering and the panicked stock-piling of vaccines. The WHO stressed that Tamiflu could minimize the potency of the illness but was not an effective vaccine against it.