Vaccine Alert As Bird Flu Hits Europe

The deadly strain of bird flu that killed 60 people in Asia has spread to the fringes of Europe, officials confirmed yesterday. British scientists said the virus found in Turkish poultry was the H5N1 strain that health experts fear will mutate into a human disease that could kill billions of people worldwide. The results of similar tests on dead birds from Romania are expected today.

Last night the EU health commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, urged countries to stockpile antivirus drugs to prepare for a future pandemic. He said the commission was proposing to set aside €1bn (£680m) to help make and distribute antivirals and new vaccines.

Mr Kyprianou said: "We have received confirmation that the virus found in Turkey is an avian flu H5N1 virus. There is a direct relationship with viruses found in Russia, Mongolia and China."

He said hundreds of millions of vulnerable people across Europe - young children, the over 65s and those with weakened immune systems or chronic respiratory conditions - should be given the standard flu jab, but sought to calm fears of an imminent human pandemic spreading across Europe.

Bird flu is a potential disaster for Europe's farmers but there is no evidence that the virus has mutated into a form that passes easily between people. "We don't want to create a panic at this point," said Mr Kyprianou.

Scientists at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, Surrey, who carried out the new tests are expected to confirm today whether samples from birds in Romania also contain H5N1. Local tests have narrowed the strain to an H5 type virus.

News that H5N1 had reached Turkey triggered a series of emergency meetings and briefings across Europe. Debby Reynolds, the UK's chief veterinary officer, said: "This is the first time that this virus, which has been found in Asia, Russia, Mongolia and China, has been found so close to Europe. It shows there is a risk to the UK and this is a developing situation, which we are monitoring closely."