BRUSSELS, Oct 13: A strain of bird flu that can be deadly for humans has spread from Asia to the fringes of Europe and countries should prepare for a potential pandemic, Europe’s health chief said on Thursday.

EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said a strain of the disease found in Turkey had been identified as the same virus that killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003 and forced the slaughter of millions of birds.

The European Union’s executive was also assuming bird flu found in Romania was the same virulent strain known as H5N1, he said. Final test results for Romania are expected on Friday.

“The virus found in Turkey is avian flu H5N1,” he said. “It’s a highly pathogenic and aggressive virus.”

Experts fear H5N1 could mutate into a virus which spreads easily among humans, possibly killing millions of people.

“It’s true that scientists caution us and warn us that there will be a pandemic,” Kyprianou told a news conference.

The confirmation the virus had spread to the edge of Europe, where people know little about the disease, would likely cause consternation, and affect trade, travel and economic activity.

The Commission has banned imports of live birds and poultry meat from Turkey, where it was discovered at a farm near the Aegean and Marmara seas, and from Romania.

Romania said it had detected bird flu in the delta of the Danube river, Europe’s largest wetlands and a big migratory area for wild birds from Russia, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany.

The birds mainly move to warmer areas in North Africa including the Nile delta for winter.

Albert Osterhaus, a leading expert and professor of virology at Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said the confirmation of the H5N1 virus in Turkey indicated the virus was probably brought over by migratory birds.

“If this has been introduced by migratory birds, this could just as well happen in western Europe,” he said.

“The birds would share grazing or resting grounds with other birds and in this way pass on the virus, so there are a lot of different migratory routes for this virus in Europe.”

Last month, EU experts identified 15 bird species that may pose a higher risk of transmitting the virus, including teal and mallard ducks, northern lapwing and some goose and gull types.

Thousands of birds have been slaughtered in Turkey and Romania to prevent the spread of the disease.

In Turkey, government officials said Turkey faced no general public health threat and had taken all necessary measures against a possible flu epidemic. Around 7,600 birds have been killed in Turkey since the outbreak began.—Reuters