Avian Influenza

Governments in Europe are building stockpiles of vaccine to protect people from the avian influenza virus, known as H5N1, following its spread into Europe and Africa from Asia.

The virus has been identified in scores of dead wild birds, particularly swans and ducks, across Europe; in domesticated turkeys in France; and in a dead cat thought to have eaten infected wild birds on the Baltic Coast of Germany. To date, no occurrence of bird flu in humans in the region has been reported. But public health officials are taking no chances.

The U.K. government recently said it will spend a total of nearly $60 million on 3.5 million doses of the vaccine from Chiron and 2 million doses of the vaccine from Baxter International for stockpiles. Chiron has already netted a contract to build a stockpile of bulk H5N1 vaccine for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Sanofi Pasteur said it had supplied the Italian government with a stock of bulk H5N1 vaccine that could be formulated into 185,000 doses. Sanofi notes that it earlier reached supply agreements with the U.S., Australian, and French governments.

Meanwhile, vaccination of domestic poultry has begun in France. Akzo Nobel subsidiary Intervet is supplying the French Ministry of Agriculture with vaccine for domestic poultry in regions at risk from migrating birds. Additionally, Intervet will supply at least 30 million doses of vaccine against the virus strain known as H5N2, which the company says is closely enough related to the avian flu virus to induce protection in vaccinated poultry.