BRUSSELS ordered European poultry farmers to move their flocks indoors last night, as part of an emergency package of measures to prevent the potentially lethal bird flu virus spreading across the continent.

A committee of EU vetinary scientists also instructed governments to set up early-warning systems to detect the virus, and called on members of the public to alert the authorities to any unusual behaviour in flocks of wild birds. The measures were taken to stop the deadly H5N1 virus spreading from wild birds to domesticated birds after it was confirmed that the virus had arrived at the fringes of Europe, with cases in Turkey and a suspected case in Romania. British government scientists have said that an outbreak could cost 50,000 lives in Britain alone, with a worldwide total of millions.

The Government’s strategy of stockpiling antiviral drugs was dealt a blow yesterday, however, when a study revealed that Tamiflu, the drug they were stocking, could be ineffective.

There was panic-buying of antiviral drugs on the internet, but the Department of Health said yesterday that many of them could be dangerous fakes.

The EU’s standing committee on the food chain and animal health said that the emergency measures applied to poultry farms in high-risk areas, in particular those close to wetlands where migrating birds gather; those under the path of migrating birds; and those in areas with a high density of open-air poultry farms. The Government has until November 5 to identify the areas of high risk in Britain, which are likely to include the Thames Estuary, the Wash, the Humber, and around Morecambe Bay. It must also instruct farmers there what action they must take.

If the H5N1 virus is found in Britain, the Government’s contingency plan is to contain and stamp out the infection through culls and movement controls similar to those imposed for foot-and-mouth disease. The EU has already banned imports of poultry products from Romania and Turkey for six months and told governments of member states to give flu vaccines to the old and to diabetics.

Few people have been infected with H5N1, but 50 per cent of those who have contracted it have died. Experts say that the H5N1 strain is mutating steadily and fear that it will eventually acquire the changes it needs to spread among human beings.

Governments have been stockpiling Tamiflu, but a study reported in the journal Nature suggests that a mutant strain of the virus appears to be resistant to the drug. The finding means that giving the drug as a precaution could not only be ineffective, but could encourage the emergence of a drug-resistant form of the virus. The British Government is spending £186 million for 14.6 million doses of Tamiflu, enough to treat about one quarter of the population.

Britons have been buying treatments on the internet, doubling prices as drug firms cash in. The Department of Health said last night that drugs bought on the internet may not be safe.

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