The European Union will offer $100 million (€82.4 million) to a global fund to help combat the spread of bird flu. The donation will be made at an international donors' conference in Beijing, which hopes to raise the $1.4 billion sought by the UN to fight the virus, writes Jamie Smyth, European Correspondent
Much of the aid will be directed toward Asian states such as Indonesia, Vietnam and China, where most deaths from bird flu have occurred but which have few resources to fight the spread of the virus.
Scientists fear these are the regions where the virus could begin to mutate, raising the possibility of human-to-human transmission and a potential pandemic. To date, the virus has transferred only from birds to people, not people to people.
"Next week we have a unique opportunity to work with our international partners . . . at the forthcoming international pledging conference on avian and human influenza in Beijing," said EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. "At the conference the commission will pledge a sum of $100 million, that is €80 million . . . I am optimistic we are going to close the financial gap in Beijing."
The pledge was made as Turkish authorities carried out tests to determine if a four-year-old girl who died yesterday had caught the virus. "We have sent samples taken from her to Ankara . . . We cannot say anything more right now," said Diyarbakir hospital doctor Eralp Arikan Diarba.
However, Turkey's agriculture minister Mehdi Eker said he did not believe bird flu was the cause of death. "She had breathing problems and she died of that," he said.
The H5N1 virus has killed three children and infected a further 15 people in Turkey since the start of the year, raising fears that it will spread west across Europe.
Romania, which shares a border with Turkey, said yesterday it had stepped up measures to try to prevent the further spread of the virus. Infected birds have been found in 26 Romanian villages since October but there are no recorded cases of the disease in people.
"We are very concerned about the evolution of the avian flu virus, and this is why we must take new measures," said Adrian Streinu-Cercel, director of Romania's leading virus laboratory .
Romania plans to check passengers' luggage at its major entry points, use more disinfectant sprays on additional roads across the country and provide border officials with checklists to determine if travellers have flu-like symptoms.
The UN hopes the international donors' conference on January 17th-18th will raise the $1.4 billion it believes is needed to help finance the next phase of the global campaign to curb bird flu.
Earlier this week the World Bank approved $500 million. It also estimated that a flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion.
EU health and consumer protection commissioner Markos Kyprianou said yesterday that a global threat needed a global response.
"The [ EU Commission] will play an important role in that respect. We have to take the health and economic impact into account," he said. - (Additional reporting: Reuters)