EUROPE ON BIRD FLU ALERT

The risk of a global avian flu pandemic seems to be being taken more seriously after new cases were reported in Eastern Europe over the weekend. In the US, an alarming draft federal report has been published..

EU states are stepping up border controls after cases were reported in Romania and Turkey over the weekend. In Romania's Danube Delta, emergency measures have been taken after three migratory ducks were found ill.

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu convened an emergency government meeting on Sunday afternoon (9 October) to discuss measures. Some 3,400 people in the Danube Delta have already been vaccinated with numbers expected to reach 125,000 in the coming days, said Romanian health chief Rodica Costinea.

In Brussels, spokesperson Philip Tod said the Commission and the member states were in "a heightened state of vigilance.

"We have surveillance measures in place for poultry and wild birds. Member states have been asked to increase border inspections on live birds and poultry and we have instructed them to increase hygiene measures," Tod was reported as saying by The Independent.

A US federal report, seen by The New York Times, predicts a worse-case scenario with nearly 2 million Americans dying, riots in clinics and disruptions in power and food supplies.