EU to give Asia $35m to fight bird flu

EU to give Asia $35m to fight bird flu

VIETNAM: The European Union (EU) will give US$35.7 million to
help Asia fight bird flu, its health commissioner said on Monday.

Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou is in Vietnam as part of
a 10-day tour through Southeast Asia to discuss efforts to
contain the deadly strain of bird flu that has recently spread
from Asia to Europe.

"The EU should have reacted more quickly to help Southeast
Asia to tackle the problem," Kyprianou said during talks in Hanoi
with Vietnamese Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat. "It's better
late than never. ... The EU is interested in cooperating with
Asia to solve the problem."

Kyprianou, who arrived in Vietnam on Sunday for a three-day
visit, plans to discuss measures being taken by each country to
contain the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. He also is to
visit Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Since late 2003, bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks across
Asia and jumped from birds to humans. At least 62 people have
died. Most of the human deaths have been traced to close contact
with infected birds, but experts fear the virus could mutate into
a form easily passed among humans and possibly spark a global
pandemic.

The H5N1 strain has recently been discovered in Turkey,
Romania and Russia.

Kyprianou said he had come to find out what the EU can do to
help the region fight bird flu. --AP