November 21, 2005

Balkan, Black Sea countries to cooperate against bird flu

Health officials from 14 Balkan and Black Sea countries agreed on Nov 20 to increase cooperation in fighting bird flu.

Delegates from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro and Turkey attended the closed-door meeting in Athens.

The participants agreed to monitor the bird flu situations in their countries and to immediately report any suspected cases.

As it is, all the countries there have already developed their own action plans aimed at halting a possible pandemic of bird flu in humans.

Greek Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis had called for the meeting last month. Now, the delegates have further agreed to meet regularly, with the next session to be held in Croatia.

Among the attendees, only four of the states--Turkey, Russia, Croatia and Romania--have reported bird flu outbreaks.