EU health ministers to discuss situation in emergency meeting

An emergency meeting has been called for EU health ministers on Thursday as the first case of swine flu surfaced in Spain.

The EU Czech Presidency wants to take stock of the situation and coordinate the EU's response as the world braces itself against the threat of a pandemic.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou also travelled unexpectedly to Luxembourg yesterday to brief EU foreign ministers, gathered for the monthly General Affairs Council, on the developing situation.

The first case to surface in Europe involves a man who was recently in Mexico, the outbreak's epicentre, as part of his University studies. He reported to a clinic on Saturday complaining of fever and respiratory problems. Another 20 people are under observation in Spain.

The Czech Minister for Europe, Alexander Vondra, chairing yesterday's ministers' meeting, told the press the EU could build on the experience of similar situations in the past.

The European Commission was ready to coordinate this action, which was crucial to be able to manage the situation in the best possible way. In Brussels, Ms Vassiliou, advised against "non-essential travel" to areas in the centre of the outbreak, particularly Mexico. At the same time, she said member states should coordinate their action.

In a technical briefing, Robert Madelin, the Commission's director general for health and consumer protection, said the outbreak was a moving target and the global response would be coordinated by the World Health Organisation.

He stressed the importance of a united EU response and warned that unilateral measures taken by individual states risked inflicting economic and personal damage without helping contain the disease.

Mr Madelin said there was no threat to the food chain or animal health and there was no human-to-pig transmission as pigs were not carriers.

"This is a novel virus. It would be unfair to pigs to call it swine flu. It is part human flu strain, part avian and part pig," he stressed.

He said the Commission was already in touch with pharmaceutical companies and the European Medicines Agency over the preparation of antivirals and vaccines.

The Commission said the speed with which a vaccine could be produced depended on developing an agreed strain that the experts believed would be effective. However a Commission official warned "this will not be done overnight".