Post by Paddy by Grace on Apr 27, 2009 14:17:27 GMT -7
online.wsj.com/article/SB124084053124359345.html
The first confirmed case of swine flu in the European Union, in Spain, prompted EU countries to revive pandemic plans drawn up in 2005 and 2006 at the height of the avian flu crisis.
That crisis has prepared the 27-nation bloc to better contain the virus which has reportedly killed over 100 people in Mexico, EU officials said.
EU governments have stockpiled billions of dollars of antiviral drugs, meant for avian flu, that could also be used to fight swine flu, for which there is no vaccine. EU officials also said they fear A/H1N1 -- the latest swine flu's scientific name -- could spread far more rapidly than avian flu, because it is more easily passed among humans.
It remains unclear how far into Europe the virus is spreading. Spain said it is investigating 19 more possible infections, all travelers returned from Mexico. Officials in France, Sweden and Denmark said they are monitoring people with flu symptoms who have recently traveled to the U.S. or Mexico.
On Monday, EU governments briefed doctors and hospitals, set up telephone hotlines and required travelers from the U.S. and Mexico to fill out health forms, all measures designed several years ago for avian flu. That virus, called H5N1, has killed 195 people in 11 countries, mostly in Asia, since 2003. It didn't kill anybody in Europe, but forced the culling of over 100,000 fowl.
The single confirmed case of swine flu in Spain was a 23-year-old student who had returned from Mexico on April 22. He felt chest problems on the flight back to Spain and was admitted to hospital on Saturday. He is responding well to antiviral drugs in a hospital in eastern Spain, and his family is in quarantine, authorities said.
Spain's Health Ministry recommended that people should avoid traveling to Mexico where possible. It also said Spaniards should avoid contact with people who had returned from the affected area for 15 days. EU health commissioner Andorra Vassiliou urged EU citizens to avoid "non-essential" travel to the U.S. and Mexico, but her spokeswoman described that remark as a "personal opinion", not policy.
Like other EU airports, Madrid's Barajas hasn't yet installed the type of temperature-detecting cameras seen in many Asian airports. "Europe has too many points of entry besides airports to justify that approach," says Jan Eyckmans, a spokesman for the Belgian ministry of health.
The scanners are ineffective, said a French official. A traveler may be contagious even if he doesn't have temperature because the virus takes three to seven days to incubate, the official said.
Spanish health minister Trinidad Jiménez called on Spaniards to remain calm. "We have a sufficient reserve of antiviral drugs."
In 2005, facing widespread fears of a pandemic, EU governments bought truckloads of Tamiflu, made by Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG, and Relenza, made by U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC. These can fight swine flu, too, said Robert Madelin, director-general of the EU's health and consumer protection department.
Belgium, for example, has 3.3 million doses. "That's one-third of our population, meaning we have more than enough for the worst flu pandemic of all time, the 1918 Spanish flu," says Mr. Eyckmans, the health ministry spokesman. Other countries and regions have taken similar measures. Each German province, for example, has plentiful stocks of antivirals ready, says a German official.
Europe "has never been as prepared for a threat of this kind as we are today," says Luiza Bara, a head of policy for the European Public Health Alliance, a coalition of not-for-profit health organizations.
Some EU officials explicitly described the EU's preparedness as superior to the U.S.'s. "We have 33 million treatments," French health minister Roselyne Bachelot told reporters. "For a population six times the size, the United States has 50 million treatments."
Unlike some countries, notably Russia, the EU won't restrict trade in pigs or pork. "Pigs can't receive or transmit this virus," says Mr. Madelin. "Countries that have imposed trade bans aren't following the evidence."
All the victims of avian flu caught the virus from birds. It never mutated into a form contagious between humans. Swine flu "is a much bigger problem, because it is a human virus," says Mr. Madelin. "Calling it swine flu is unfair to pigs."
The first confirmed case of swine flu in the European Union, in Spain, prompted EU countries to revive pandemic plans drawn up in 2005 and 2006 at the height of the avian flu crisis.
That crisis has prepared the 27-nation bloc to better contain the virus which has reportedly killed over 100 people in Mexico, EU officials said.
EU governments have stockpiled billions of dollars of antiviral drugs, meant for avian flu, that could also be used to fight swine flu, for which there is no vaccine. EU officials also said they fear A/H1N1 -- the latest swine flu's scientific name -- could spread far more rapidly than avian flu, because it is more easily passed among humans.
It remains unclear how far into Europe the virus is spreading. Spain said it is investigating 19 more possible infections, all travelers returned from Mexico. Officials in France, Sweden and Denmark said they are monitoring people with flu symptoms who have recently traveled to the U.S. or Mexico.
On Monday, EU governments briefed doctors and hospitals, set up telephone hotlines and required travelers from the U.S. and Mexico to fill out health forms, all measures designed several years ago for avian flu. That virus, called H5N1, has killed 195 people in 11 countries, mostly in Asia, since 2003. It didn't kill anybody in Europe, but forced the culling of over 100,000 fowl.
The single confirmed case of swine flu in Spain was a 23-year-old student who had returned from Mexico on April 22. He felt chest problems on the flight back to Spain and was admitted to hospital on Saturday. He is responding well to antiviral drugs in a hospital in eastern Spain, and his family is in quarantine, authorities said.
Spain's Health Ministry recommended that people should avoid traveling to Mexico where possible. It also said Spaniards should avoid contact with people who had returned from the affected area for 15 days. EU health commissioner Andorra Vassiliou urged EU citizens to avoid "non-essential" travel to the U.S. and Mexico, but her spokeswoman described that remark as a "personal opinion", not policy.
Like other EU airports, Madrid's Barajas hasn't yet installed the type of temperature-detecting cameras seen in many Asian airports. "Europe has too many points of entry besides airports to justify that approach," says Jan Eyckmans, a spokesman for the Belgian ministry of health.
The scanners are ineffective, said a French official. A traveler may be contagious even if he doesn't have temperature because the virus takes three to seven days to incubate, the official said.
Spanish health minister Trinidad Jiménez called on Spaniards to remain calm. "We have a sufficient reserve of antiviral drugs."
In 2005, facing widespread fears of a pandemic, EU governments bought truckloads of Tamiflu, made by Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG, and Relenza, made by U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC. These can fight swine flu, too, said Robert Madelin, director-general of the EU's health and consumer protection department.
Belgium, for example, has 3.3 million doses. "That's one-third of our population, meaning we have more than enough for the worst flu pandemic of all time, the 1918 Spanish flu," says Mr. Eyckmans, the health ministry spokesman. Other countries and regions have taken similar measures. Each German province, for example, has plentiful stocks of antivirals ready, says a German official.
Europe "has never been as prepared for a threat of this kind as we are today," says Luiza Bara, a head of policy for the European Public Health Alliance, a coalition of not-for-profit health organizations.
Some EU officials explicitly described the EU's preparedness as superior to the U.S.'s. "We have 33 million treatments," French health minister Roselyne Bachelot told reporters. "For a population six times the size, the United States has 50 million treatments."
Unlike some countries, notably Russia, the EU won't restrict trade in pigs or pork. "Pigs can't receive or transmit this virus," says Mr. Madelin. "Countries that have imposed trade bans aren't following the evidence."
All the victims of avian flu caught the virus from birds. It never mutated into a form contagious between humans. Swine flu "is a much bigger problem, because it is a human virus," says Mr. Madelin. "Calling it swine flu is unfair to pigs."