31 January, 2006 22:00 GMT
The deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, which has killed at least 86 people worldwide, will inevitably reach Greece, Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis said on Tuesday."Until now, our country has had no problem whatsoever with bird flu," Kaklamanis told a parliamentary committee. "But let's not delude ourselves; at some point --nobody knows when -- there will be outbreaks of the virus among poultry in Greece."
Kaklamanis said state health officials are fully prepared, while hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, will conduct drills next week for an outbreak among humans.
Boosting Its Defenses
Greece suffered a bird flu scare in October, when preliminary tests indicated a turkey could have been infected on a small island near Turkey -- where the disease has killed four people and infected another 21. But subsequent tests proved negative.
Angelos Hatzakis, head of the health ministry's Center for Infectious Diseases Control, said that if the virus mutates into a form that can be transmitted among humans, it could spark a pandemic.
"In such a case, it is expected that 30-50 percent of the planet's population will fall sick," he told the parliamentary committee.
Greece has earmarked |
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