Government preparing defences against spread of avian flu to Greece

   The government on Monday announced that it has already ordered medications used in the treatment of avian flu and to cope with the possibility of an influenza pandemic, adding that the country was prepared to deal with any emergency that might arise.

    Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis said 200,000 packages and 250,000 kilos of a special antibiotic powder recommended for bird flu have been ordered, as well as other medications used to fight the disease. The announcement came in the wake of the first confirmed cases of bird 'flu in wider region surrounding Greece, specifically Turkey and Romania.

    Government officials said a WHO-recommended batch of vaccinations aimed at preventing the mutation of the bird flu virus and its transmission to humans is due to arrive in Athens next week.

    Kaklamanis, a former chief of radiology at a public hospital in Athens, noted that Greece was one of the few countries to have a draft national action plan for any flu pandemic, which will be finalised in mid-November by the ministries involved, while the EU will also deal with the issue during an informal meeting of EU health ministers in London on Oct. 20.

    The minister underlined, meanwhile, that the ordinary flu vaccine provided no protection from bird or avian flu and that no vaccine for the specific flu currently exists. He stressed that there was no need for anyone apart from the usual vulnerable groups to get flu vaccinations

   

    Northern Greece veterinary services on alert

   

    Prefectural health officials across northern Greece were on high alert Monday in the wake of a recent confirmation of bird flu cases -- the first ever in the wider region -- in neighbouring Turkey and Romania.

    However, officials at Thessaloniki prefecture's veterinary service emphasised that no instances of the flu have been detected in poultry or any other type of fowl or birds in Greece.

    Farms and processing plants in the greater Thessaloniki area are being inspected, while blood tests have been ordered on poultry imported into Greece, officials said, adding that hunters' groups have also been asked to monitor the condition of migratory fowl reaching lakes Koroneia and Volvi, both near Thessaloniki.

    Further east, and specifically in Evros prefecture, which serves as the only land frontier between Greece and Turkey, authorities stressed that imports of poultry via the customs posts in the border prefecture have been banned.

    Additionally, hunters in Evros have been requested to supply 1,000 samples of game so authorities can test the fowl for the bird flu virus, with any suspicious results expected to be sent to special laboratories in the European Union for confirmation.

    Additionally, authorities in Evros warned local farmers not to cull and subsequently bury poultry without first contacting the prefecture's veterinary services.

    A meeting of veterinary officials of the prefectures in the tri-nation Thrace area -- Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria -- is set for Friday in the northeast Greek town of Orestiada to exclusively focus on the issue of bird flu precautions.

    Veterinary services went on high alert after the culling of thousands of domestic fowl (mostly turkeys) near the northwest Turkish town of Balisekir as well as in Romania over the weekend in order to stop the spread of bird flu, as both countries confirmed their first cases of the disease.

    Researchers are still examining, however, whether the virus recorded in both countries is the same H5N1 strain that swept poultry populations in Asia since 2003.

   

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